(Associated Press)
Mitt Romney decidedly won a once close Florida primary on Tuesday, running past the rejuvenated Newt Gingrich and re-establishing himself as the forerunner for the Republican presidential nomination.
Before 7 p.m., members on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook predicted that Romney would secure a victory. An hour later, nationally recognized media organizations like The New York Times and The Washington Post declared that Romney would win Florida by more than 12 percent of the vote.
Just 10 days ago, Romney looked fallible as he lost appeal among evangelical and born-again Christians.
His counterpart, Gingrich, was coming off a South Carolina victory that caused many analysts to doubt Romney’s long-term electability.
Political analysts have predicted that the Florida race will put Rick Santorum and Gingrich in a corner.
Santorum has already started running negative campaign advertisements against Gingrich in Nevada and Colorado.
Because Romney has a large campaign team and an even larger resource base, Republican candidates have been forced to fight for limited portions of the GOP demographic.
Gingrich, however, has vowed to march on and remains optimistic about his chances.
“We were dead in June and July, but we came roaring back and we will again,” Gingrich said to a crowd on Monday.
Gingrich’s chances of bouncing back as a presidential nominee hopeful for the third time in four months seems highly unlikely.
The former Speaker of the House will have to compete in a geographically and socioeconomically diverse group of states where he has little funding and grassroots support.
In states like Colorado, his views on drugs, immigration and foreign policy will hurt him among Republican moderates.
The timetable is also working against Newt Gingrich. Only six more primaries and one more caucus remain until Super Tuesday on March 6.
Because the number of debates will dramatically decline as the race winds down until the weeks before Super Tuesday, Gingrich will be unable to win voters over with strong debateperformances.
Meanwhile, Romney, who has the ability to outspend any candidate and has a strong physical presence in upcoming primary states, started campaigning in Nevada and Colorado weeks ago.
Romney also improved upon his public perception as a possible presidential candidate with his Florida win.
The Florida primary brought more than three times the voters of the South Carolina and New Hampshire primaries combined. The state is also one of the most electorally diverse states in the nation.
Voters looking forward to the November election believe that Romney has a strong chance to win Florida against President Obama in the general election.
“I stand ready to lead this party and to lead this nation,” Romney told supporters in Florida, as he urged Republican voters to focus their attention on President Obama.
The long and grueling Republican primary process has taken its toll on Republican voters.
Many argue that President Obama is helped by intraparty competitio amongst Republicans.
“Primary contests are not easy, and they’re not supposed to be,” Romney said in his victory speech. “Our opponents in the other party have been watching, and they like to comfort themselves that a competitive primary will leave us divided and weak. A competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us and we will win.”
Republicans who cast votes in Florida said they voted on a candidate’s ability to defeat President Obama in the general election.
Other factors like experience, moral character and conservative values were not as high on the list.
The race is long from over, as candidates and voters believe there is room for improvement.
Gingrich and Santorum believe that their conservative values and policies still have sway within the Republican base.
An exit poll among voters indicated that four in 10 voters wanted someone else to run for the nomination.
As the winding and sporadic election cycle continues, President Obama, Mitt Romney and the nation look forward to a tough Nevada caucus on Saturday.
