Politics: Inevitability Restored

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Politics Inevitability Restored Romney crushes Gingrich with a big Florida win. By John Dickerson Posted Wednesday, Feb 01, 2012, at 03:56 AM ET Newt Gingrich promised Florida voters the moon and he crashed to earth. Mitt Romney won the crucial state big with 46 percent of the vote, beating Gingrich by 14 points. In Brevard County, where Gingrich's pledge to build a lunar colony might have wooed voters who worked in the space industry, Romney won by 7 points. Inevitability restored. Romney has won snowbird victories in New Hampshire and Florida. He won Florida with almost 50 percent of the vote, a key psychological threshold for a candidate whose detractors once said he had a ceiling of 25 percent. Romney now rolls on with bragging rights: He dominated the biggest contest to date in a state that is representative of the Republican coalition and that is the largest contested prize in the general election. And he rolls on with wheels that are made of money. As the Florida polls were closing, his campaign announced that it had raised $24 million in the fourth quarter to Gingrich's nearly $10 million. Romney has $20 million in the bank he can use. Romney won by vast margins on the two key questions of the election. According to exit polls, among the 45 percent of voters who wanted someone who was in the best position to beat Obama, Romney won 58 percent to Gingrich's 32 percent. Among the 62 percent for whom the economy was the number one issue, Romney won 52 percent to Gingrich's 29. Romney's strongest argument will be that ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate How Newt Lost Florida: It Wasn't Just His Bad Debating and Moon Base Nonsense What Is Causing the Mass Hysteria Afflicting Those Girls in Upstate New York? America Has a Huge, Pent-Up Desire—for Getting Divorced	Advertisement
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