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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney waves to supporters during his victory celebration after winning the Florida primary election Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012, in Tampa, Fla.
Published Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 | 4:49 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012 | 8:50 p.m.
Mitt Romney routed Newt Gingrich in the Florida primary Tuesday night, rebounding smartly from an earlier defeat and taking a major step toward the Republican presidential nomination. Gingrich vowed to press on despite the one-sided setback.
Romney, talking unity like a nominee, said he was ready to take the Republican helm and "lead this party and our nation." In remarks to cheering supporters, the former Massachusetts governor unleashed a strong attack on Democratic President Barack Obama and said the competitive fight for the GOP nomination "does not divide us, it prepares us" for the fall campaign.
"Mr. President, you were elected to lead, you chose to follow, and now it's time to get out of the way," he declared.
Returns from 98 percent of Florida's precincts showed Romney with 46 percent of the vote to 32 percent for Gingrich, the former House speaker.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum had 13 percent, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul 7 percent. Neither mounted a substantial effort in the state.
For the first time in the campaign, exit polls showed a gender gap, and it worked to Romney's advantage.
He was leading Gingrich 52-28 among women voters and was winning men by a far smaller margin of 41-36.
Ominously for the thrice-married Gingrich, only about half of women voters said they had a favorable view of him as a person, compared with about eight in 10 for Romney.
Nor was Romney's victory a narrow one. His winning percentage approached 50 percent and a majority that would demolish Gingrich's oft-stated contention that the voters who oppose Romney outnumber those who favor him.
Still, the former speaker said, "We're going to contest every place and we are going to win."
As in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, about half of Florida primary voters said the most important factor for them was backing a candidate who could defeat Obama in November, according to exit poll results conducted for the Associated Press and the television networks.
Not surprisingly, in a state with an unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent, about two-thirds of voters said the economy was their top issue. Nearly nine in 10 said they were falling behind or just keeping up. And half said that home foreclosures have been a major problem in their communities.
The winner-take-all primary was worth 50 Republican National Convention delegates, by far the most of any primary state so far. That gave Romney a total of 87, to 26 for Gingrich, 14 for Santorum and four for Paul, with 1,144 required to clinch the nomination.
But the bigger prize was precious political momentum in the race to pick an opponent for Obama in a nation struggling to recover from the deepest recession in decades.
That belonged to Romney when he captured the New Hampshire primary three weeks ago, then swung stunningly to Gingrich when he countered with a South Carolina upset 11 days later.
Now it was back with the former Massachusetts governor, after a 10-day comeback marked by a change to more aggressive tactics, coupled with an efficient use of an overwhelming financial advantage to batter Gingrich in television commercials.
Gingrich brushed aside any talk of quitting the race.
"We are going to contest every place," he said, standing in front of a sign that read "46 states to go."
"It is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader, Newt Gingrich, and the Massachusetts moderate," he said.
Santorum disagreed, and said so. In Nevada, where he was campaigning for the state's caucuses on Saturday, he said, "Newt Gingrich had his chance, had his shot, had a big boost and win out in South Carolina and couldn't hold it." He said the voters are "looking for a different conservative and alternative to Mitt Romney now."
Already, Romney and restore Our Future, an organization that supports him, were outadvertising the field in Nevada. Figures provided to the AP showed the two combined had spent $370,000 so far. Paul has spent $209,000, but neither Gingrich nor Santorum had aired any commercials.
Romney won the Nevada caucuses four years ago and is favored to repeat his triumph this Saturday. Caucuses in Colorado, Minnesota and Maine follow, with primaries in Wisconsin on Feb. 21 and in Michigan and Arizona at the end of the month.
Gingrich, from neighboring Georgia, swept into Florida from South Carolina, only to run headlong into a different Romney from the one he had left in his wake in South Carolina.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, shed his reluctance to attack Gingrich, the former House speaker, unleashing hard-hitting ads on television, sharpening his performance in a pair of debates and deploying surrogates to the edges of Gingrich's own campaign appearances, all in hopes of unnerving him.
Restore our Future, an outside group supporting Romney, accounted for about $8.8 million in the ad wars, and the candidate and the "super PAC" combined outspent Gingrich and Winning the Future, the organization backing him, by about $15.5 million to $3.3 million, an advantage of nearly 5-1.
Gingrich responded by assailing Romney as a man incapable of telling the truth and vowed to remain in the race until the Republican National Convention next summer. He won the endorsement of campaign dropout Herman Cain and increasingly sought the support of evangelicals and tea party advocates, a former House speaker running as the anti-establishment insurgent of the party he once helped lead.
Bombarded by harsh television advertising, some Floridians said they had soured on both candidates.
"The dirty ads really turned me off on Mitt Romney," said Dorothy Anderson, of Pinellas Park, adding she was voting for Gingrich. She said of Romney, "In fact if he gets the nomination, I probably won't vote for him."
At the same polling place, Romney supporter Curtis Dempsey expressed similar feelings but about Gingrich. "The only thing Newt Gingrich has to offer is a big mouth," he said.
Voters frequently say they are offended or appalled by negative ads. But polls show consistently that the commercials are able to sway the opinions of large numbers of voters, and they are a staple of nearly all campaigns.
Santorum had no money for television ads to back up his strong debate performances. He left the state at one point, saying he was going home to Pennsylvania to prepare his income tax returns. But he stayed longer than anticipated, because of the hospitalization of his 3-year-old daughter with pneumonia. The girl has a rare genetic disorder, Trisomy 18.
Santorum and Paul both also campaigned in Colorado on Tuesday as Florida Republicans were voting. The state has caucuses on Feb 7, the same day as Minnesota.
Even before that come caucuses in Nevada, a state that Romney won when he sought the nomination in 2008 and is favored to capture again.
By contrast, both Romney and Gingrich campaigned across Florida on primary day as the polls opened.
Exuding confidence, the former Massachusetts governor said — even though the figures said otherwise — that he had been outspent in South Carolina.
"I needed to make sure that instead of being outgunned in terms of attacks, that I responded aggressively, and hopefully that will have served me well here," he told reporters.
Gingrich, combative as usual, said the race for the nomination won't be decided until summer, "unless Romney drops out."
Now Sheldon can figure out why he pi**ed away 10M bucks on Gingrich, who, by the way, isn't even coming to Nevada for the GOP "Crockus".
Romney... my man.
It will be a Venture Capitalist Romney vs. Crony Capitalist Obama smackdown election.
The top concern is jobs and the economy. Mitt Romney is passing himself as the job creator. Mitt
Romney was never been in business to create jobs. Mitt Romney was in business to make money and any human cost incurred is inconsequential. Mitt Romney was emptied whole companies into his pockets putting working women and men into the streets when he sent their jobs to China and
Mexico. Mitt Romney was also raided retirement funds and put the workers money in his pockets.
Mitt Romney like a Bernie Made-off was robbed women and men of their Golden Years. Mitt Romney
is receiving the working women and men sweat and blood at a rate of over $51,000 DOLLARS a DAY
!!!!! Mitt Romney is to jobs and the economy as a Undertaker is to a maternity ward and health
care. Furthermore the Republicans are such hypocrites saying that they and the Republican party are Pro-Life. However when it comes to money everything else including their so called Pro-Life position is set aside for the promises of MONEY. Mitt Romney who was run on a pro-abortion platform is enthusiastic in-braced by Floridians. Furthermore Mitt Romney's fellow Mormons support Mitt Romney. However the Christian right will stand tall and oppose Mitt Romney to the bitter end.
Sheldon is NUTS.
Romneys poor dollar to vote ratio in Florida does not impress me. At the rate he spent, there is not enough money in the world to get him the nomination, let alone the Presidency. All that money for a lousy 14 point lead. And Gingrich barely even campaigned in Florida. Romney had been running for 10 years!
GO GINGRICH!
OMG!!! Look at the chin on this guy!
We are still living the damage that these greedy,
heartless republicans caused to our economy and
middle class.
It took Clinton two terms to fix the republican
mess that father bush left him.
It will take two terms for Obama to fix the bush
jr./republican mess.
Willard Romney, stay out of the way.
Stay home and count your money.
FOUR MORE YEARS FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!
Gingrich is out, period. The disrespect shown by him by not sending a congratulation message to Romney will turn even more against him.
On a side-note, evangelicals have possibly even more dis-like for Catholics than they do the Mormon Church, ask JFK. This is bound to be a problem for Newt in the South where he hopes to run strong with them. (I think he might have forgotten the legacy of the KKK.)
As for Santorum, I have one word: Google.
Florida has shown that there are Republicans who will set aside religious morality and focus on economics as the driving force behind a conservatism that has a chance against Obama.
This is underscored by the continuing support for Ron Paul, though he has no chance of being the nominee. I hope his voice will be heard at the convention.
On the 10th of the first month, Nissan, Joshua led the Jewish people across the Jordan River
Posted on April 13, 2011 by Editor
By STEVE FELDMAN and ROBERT SKLAROFF
PHILADELPHIA (JTA)--One of the most significant dates in Jewish history and Israeli history is here, but again will pass by with hardly any attention and no fanfare. The Book of Joshua states that on the 10th of the first month, Nissan, Joshua led the Jewish people across the Jordan River, which God had parted so the crossing could be made, and into the Land of Israel (Ch. 3: 14-17). This year the date corresponds with tonight, the evening of April 14 to sundown April 15.
http://jewishworldnews.org/2011/04/13/on...
Interestingly enough, Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary on the 10th day of our first month.
So, how do you run a campaign? Timing is not based on the physical circumstances. The river was at flood stage. To be sure, there must be a sense of inevitability - a chosen people of the powerful God. "Israel is the rod of his inheritance" (Jeremiah 10:16). Though Abraham and Jacob gave tithes, the Jews still require a sign.
God stopped the waters. The ark passed before the people and the priests stood in the dry river bed until the people passed over. After placing 12 stones, they moved out and the river returned.
Greeks seek after wisdom. However, even witnesses cannot agree. Reagan would hold news conferences and press conferences as the Time magazine was going to press. He would release information that would make the magazine look outdated and less than accurate.
"Let your children know" (Joshua 4:22). Put stones on the dry riverbed. "On that day the Lord magnified Joshua" (Joshua 4:14).
So teamster again with your mocking what someone looks like. You're a piece of work. Wonder what you'd say if someone said look at the Presidents ears. Would that be a racial remark? probably according to you.
@ Tesamster: Funny for some one that touts unions and work you sure spend alot of time on the internet.
Personally I don't much care for Romney. Some of his so called accomplishmenst like Sports Authority and Staples have maybe made those companies succesful but cost other small busineeses greatly. His decisions have been good for some but there's always two sides of the story. I've seen both and decided he wouldn't get my support.
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