Nomination race ‘toughens Romney for Obama fight’

Barreling out of Florida with money and momentum on his side, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney said yesterday that the bare-knuckled nomination fight thus far has toughened him up for contests to come.

Chief rival Newt Gingrich is regrouping after a significant loss and faces big disadvantages in the next states to vote.

Romney, who won big in Florida with a barrage of attack ads, predicted the tone of the GOP campaign was “just a precursor to what you’ll see” from President Barack Obama in the general election. And he said voters paid more attention to the campaign debates than whatever ads were flooding the airwaves.

“Perhaps what we’re getting now inoculates us, or at least prepares us, for what will come down the road,” Romney said on morning television shows yesterday.

House Speaker John Boehner dismissed any notion that the bitter tone of the GOP race and the prospect of a drawn-out battle for nomination is worrisome for Republicans.

“I understand that people are concerned about how long the primary process is dragging out,” Boehner said. “I would remind people that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a fight that went through June of 2008.”

Looking ahead, Romney said his campaign is focused squarely on middle-income Americans — to the exclusion of others at either end of the spectrum. But his comments yesterday about the poor appeared certain to be fodder for critics.

“I’m not concerned about the very poor,” he said. “We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich. They’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90%-95% of Americans who are struggling.”

Pushed about his comment on the poor, Romney reiterated that they have “a very ample safety net” but that “we can talk about whether it needs to be strengthened”.

Obama’s campaign, looking to gain from the GOP squabbling, issued a fundraising appeal yesterday focused on the millions Romney and his supporters had poured into attack ads.

“That’s ugly, and it tells us a lot about what to expect from Romney if he wins the Republican nomination,” said campaign manager Jim Messina. “They’re going to try to spend and smear their way to the White House.”