Poll shows Romney gaining lead over Gingrich in Florida

TALLAHASSEE

Mitt Romney heads into the final four days of campaigning in Florida’s presidential primary having delivered a commanding performance in Thursday’s debate and with a new poll showing him moving past his main rival, Newt Gingrich, in the state.

They, along with Rick Santorum, are campaigning across Florida even as the television and radio air war intensifies with negative ads. Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney — and “super PACs” backing them — are pouring millions of dollars into the race before voting on Tuesday.

A Quinnipiac Poll released on Friday morning showed Mr. Romney with 38 percent of the vote in Florida and Mr. Gingrich with 29 percent. The previous survey, released on Wednesday, showed the top candidates in a virtual tie.

At an afternoon campaign stop in Miami, Mr. Romney seemed pleased with his debate performance the night before.

“I thought it was a delightful debate,” he said. “I loved it.”

Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich made back-to-back appearances at a meeting of the Hispanic Leadership Network. The two men did not interact or continue their duel from Thursday night’s debate as they highlighted their immigration policies and courted Hispanic-American voters.

At the debate, Mr. Gingrich and Mr. Romney clashed over Mr. Gingrich’s accusation in a Spanish-language radio ad, since withdrawn, that Mr. Romney was the most “anti-immigrant” candidate in the race. In the most heated exchange of the evening, Mr. Romney called the accusation “repulsive” and demanded that Mr. Gingrich stop “labeling people with highly charged epithets.”

At his appearance Friday, Mr. Romney was introduced by his youngest son Craig, who addressed the group in Spanish.

Mr. Gingrich began Friday with a recitation of his stump speech to the Latin Builders Association Inc., a relatively subdued business crowd of about 150 people in a hotel ballroom. Mr. Romney called for a “fundamental” overhaul of the Army Corps of Engineers and said that President Obama’s canceling of the Keystone XL pipeline was “totally, utterly irrational.”

Mr. Gingrich kept a relatively low profile, not discussing his reaction to Thursday night’s debate or his prospects for Tuesday’s primary. But his campaign unleashed a new attack ad on Friday, accusing Mr. Romney of being dishonest and untrustworthy.

Mr. Romney’s aggressive stance during the debate on Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla., helped win him loud applause from the audience, normally a strength of Mr. Gingrich’s in such forums. Early Friday morning, a Gingrich aide complained that the debate hall had been packed with Romney supporters.

“They definitely packed the room,” Kevin Kellems, one of Mr. Gingrich’s senior advisers, told The Huffington Post. Another aide to Mr. Gingrich told the Web site that “I was getting calls and e-mails from all over saying this.”

A spokesman for the Florida Republican Party, which co-sponsored the debate with CNN, told The Huffington Post that most of the tickets for the event went to people who were not “knowingly affiliated” with any of the campaigns.

The new Quinnipiac survey showed Ron Paul and Mr. Santorum battling for third place, with Mr. Paul getting 14 percent of the vote and Mr. Santorum getting 12 percent.

Mr. Santorum told reporters after the debate that he would head back to his home in Pennsylvania on Saturday, prompting some speculation that he might soon quit the race. But in an interview on “Fox and Friends” on Friday morning, Mr. Santorum vowed to stay in the race and compete.

“I’m coming back within 24 hours, and I’m here through, up ‘til election day,” Mr. Santorum said. “I’ve spent every minute here in Florida, and I’m going to work in Florida.”

Mr. Paul is set to campaign in Maine on Friday ahead of the state’s caucuses there on Feb. 4.

Mr. Gingrich, whose recent days have been packed with campaign events, has scheduled only one afternoon event, a rally with the Republican Jewish Coalition.

After spending the night in the Palm Beach area, he plans to head back up to Tampa on Saturday and will begin a bus tour on Sunday across the I-4 Corridor, the state’s Republican-rich midsection.

On Monday, he plans to fly around the state.

Aides to Mr. Romney expressed confidence on Friday that he had started to beat back Mr. Gingrich’s challenge during the past week in Florida. Mr. Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina had given him momentum entering the state on Sunday. But that momentum appears to have been staunched, they said.

Mr. Romney’s campaign will continue to run aggressive ads attacking Mr. Gingrich’s record and his character, the aides said, speaking on background to discuss strategy.

The Democratic National Committee appeared on Friday to agree with Mr. Romney’s campaign about the likelihood of his victory in capturing the Republican presidential nomination. The committee released a new Web video called “Mitt versus the Truth.”

The video notes that Mr. Romney defended himself on Thursday night by saying that his money was kept in a blind trust. But as the video pointed out, Mr. Romney mocked that as a dodge when his one-time Senate rival, Edward M. Kennedy, used the same excuse.