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TAMPA, Fla.—His lead in this state's polls having evaporated, Newt Gingrich risks leaving Florida with little momentum and few immediate opportunities to regain an edge against his top rival, Mitt Romney.
Mr. Gingrich, the former House speaker, has seen his rise blunted by a series of attacks on his leadership style and personal qualities coming from Mr. Romney, from Romney supporters and from a range of prominent figures within the Republican Party. Four polls released over the weekend showed Mr. Romney holding leads of between eight and 16 percentage points ahead of Florida's GOP presidential primary on Tuesday.
The harsh tone of the race here has put Mr. Gingrich on the defensive and diverted him from talking about his ideas to retool the economy and government services. Instead, his campaign has spent time defending Mr. Gingrich's record as speaker and the work he did for mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
Mr. Romney pressed that very attack on Sunday, telling a crowd in Naples that Freddie's lending practices were a cause of the state's housing downturn. He said Mr. Gingrich had accepted $1.6 million in consulting fees to protect Freddie and its cousin, Fannie Mae, from people who wanted to change its practices.
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Naples Daily News / Associated Press
Mitt Romney greeted supporters at a rally in Naples, Fla., on Sunday.
"The reason Speaker Gingrich has been having a hard time in Florida is the people of Florida have watched the debates, have listened to the speaker, have listened to the other candidates and said, 'You know what, Mitt Romney's the guy we're going to support,' " Mr. Romney said.
Mr. Gingrich on Sunday called Mr. Romney a "pro-abortion, pro-gun-control, pro-tax-increase liberal." He also said Mr. Romney had failed to rally conservatives behind him—giving Mr. Gingrich every reason to carry his fight beyond this state's vote and into the party's national convention.
Citing his combative style and personal life, many women in Florida say they won't support Newt Gingrich in the Republican primary. That gender gap has allowed Mitt Romney to open a commanding lead in Florida over the former Speaker, WSJ's Neil Hickey reports.
With the Florida primary inching closer, support is swinging heavily toward candidate Mitt Romney, and it appears for a very practical reason: what many see as his ability to beat President Obama. WSJ's Neil Hickey reports from Orlando.
"When you take all of the non-Romney votes, it's very likely that the convention will be a non-Romney majority and maybe a very substantial one. My job is to convert that into a pro-Gingrich majority," Mr. Gingrich said after visiting a Baptist church in the Tampa suburb of Lutz.
Mr. Gingrich still leads most national polls, and on Saturday night he won the endorsement of a former rival for the nomination, when Atlanta businessman Herman Cain announced his support.
The nastiness of the campaign in Florida has further inflamed a rift between elected Republicans and grass-roots activists. Two former GOP standard-bearers—former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole and Arizona Sen. John McCain—have questioned Mr. Gingrich's character as a leader, prompting former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Mr. McCain's running mate on the 2008 presidential ticket, to rise in his defense.
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But the path ahead for Mr. Gingrich is harder to determine than it is for Mr. Romney, who will benefit from a string of February caucuses and primaries in states he won four years ago.
Gingrich aides insist the former speaker plans to contest each of the coming elections, including the nonbinding contests in Colorado, Maine and Minnesota. R.C. Hammond, a spokesman for the campaign, dismissed speculation about whether the candidate has enough money to push on. "We'll be just fine," he said.
Former Rep. Bob Livingston, a Gingrich supporter who plans to campaign for the former House speaker in Pensacola on Monday, said Mr. Gingrich is getting an earful from supporters who offer mixed advice about which course he should pursue.
"There are people who say 'attack, attack, attack,' " Mr. Livingston said. "Others say, 'Be positive.' My own view is that his own best role is as the visionary, creative genius."
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Female Support Slips for Gingrich
Romney Keeps Bashing Gingrich
Romney aides said the campaign expects to emerge from Florida with a substantial margin of victory and facing a calendar over the next month that plays to their advantages. The next two big races before the March 6 Super Tuesday are the Michigan and Arizona primaries, both on Feb. 28. Mr. Romney won in Michigan in 2008 and came in a strong second in Arizona. His campaign plans to advertise and campaign heavily in both states.
Mr. Gingrich will have to wait until Feb. 22 for another nationally televised jousting session with Mr. Romney—the longest stretch without a debate since the campaign took off in earnest in September.
"Newt was living off the land a bit with a few debate moments, but now the bigger test is demonstrating an ability to deliver a message and reach voters across a diverse range of state contests," said Kevin Madden, a Romney adviser. "We feel we're in a strong position as we look at the next few weeks.". -
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