Another local Florida poll comes out, this one countering the Dixie Strategies/First Coast News poll that had Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney in a dead heat in Florida, the Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald/Tampa Bay Times poll has Mitt Romney ahead of Gingrich by 11 percentage points.Other polls show the swinging pendulum of polling results is definitely favoring Romney in Florida, while nationwide Gingrich is maintaining his lead over Romney according to NBCNews/Wall Street Journal and Gallup.
Normally, with this type of lead in Florida just days from primary day, one would assume Romney had Florida locked down, but as South Carolina showed the country, it only takes a couple of days for the whole race to turn on in the opposite direction. On the Tuesday before the South Carolina Primary, Romney was up in the polls by 15 points and by the weekend Gingrich was ahead and was declared the winner within minutes of the polls closing.
A reminder of what was written here yesterday:
Pollsters be damned, the only pattern seen over the last two weeks has been a pendulum swinging back and forth and depending on which candidate's side that pendulum is favoring on the day of the primaries, that will be the candidate that takes Florida.
What this tells us is that each state is going to count.
With Santorum having won the Iowa Caucuses, Romney having taken the New Hampshire primary and Gingrich beating Romney by 12 points in the South Carolina primary, every state, every delegate is going to be hard fought.
Just days before January 31, 2012, Primary day, it seems like everyone is throwing themselves into the fray that has become Florida.
The Tampa Tribune endorsed Gingrich in this mornings edition.
Herman Cain jumped into the mix yesterday to "officially and enthusiastically" endorse Newt Gingrich.
Sarah Palin took to her Facebook page to call the Republican establishment "cannibals" for their attacks against Newt Gingrich.
Rudy Giuliani praised Newt Gingrich and criticized Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper.
Actor John Voight, joined Mitt Romney at a rally held at the Fish House in Pensacola, Florida and gave his endorsement.
Chair National Republican Hispanic Alliance Florida, Nancy C. Acevedo joined in with other Hispanic leaders across the country to send an open letter to Mitt Romney on why they cannot support him but are supporting Newt.
Rosario Marin and a group of other Latino leaders endorsed the former House Speaker’s bid for the GOP nomination.
Former Fort Lauderdale mayor and U.S. Congressman E. Clay Shaw and his wife, Emille, endorsed Mitt Romney two days ago.
The TEA Party of Florida, the only political tea party registered with the state Division of Elections, has endorsed Newt Gingrich as has The Florida Tea Party Coalition With Newt, just days after an ABC News report showed that Florida Tea Party supporters find Gingrich's "beating the pavement" more appealing than Romney's paid ads.
The battle for Florida continues............
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