Visual source: Newseum
NY Times:
Close to 60 corporations and wealthy individuals gave checks of $100,000 or more to a “super PAC” supporting Mitt Romney in the months leading up to the Iowa caucuses, according to documents released on Tuesday, underwriting a $17 million blitz of advertising that has swamped his Republican rivals in the early primary states.
David Firestone:
In the end, [Newt] lost every major demographic group and every region of Florida but the conservative and less-populated panhandle. Mr. Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina, where his race-baiting and media-bashing found a more receptive audience, can now be seen as an aberration in comparison to a far more diverse state.
But Florida cost Mr. Romney some standing as well. He was relentlessly negative in the final days of the campaign, frustrating many voters who wanted to hear an upbeat message. Exit polls showed that he tacked further to the right on issues such as immigration than most Floridians, and his claim that he would get millions of illegal immigrants to “self-deport” may have cost him the endorsement of Jeb Bush, as well as the backing of many other moderate Republicans and independents.
Let the debate rage: is there something wrong with Romney or is it the Republican base who pushed Romney to be this way? And if he is so weak he can't stand up to his base, what difference does it make? He'd be a terrible president.
Chris Cillizza:
Mitt Romney’s across-the-board victory in the Florida Republican presidential primary on Tuesday night serves as a direct rebuttal to the criticism that he simply isn’t conservative enough to be the party’s nominee and leaves his remaining rivals with few obvious next steps as the nomination fight moves to Nevada next month.
Cillizza isn't wrong, but remember what we said before the primary: don't let Romney's strength in a Republican primary obscure his weakness in a general election.
EJ Dionne:
Another sign of dissatisfaction on the right: Roughly four Florida voters in ten said that Romney’s positions on the issues were not conservative enough.
None of this mattered to the outcome in Florida, but it does suggest there is a base of support for a Romney opponent.
Yes, indeed. It's called the Republican base.
Kathleen Parker:
It isn’t that Romney can’t connect with people, as has been pronounced repeatedly. It is that people can’t connect with him. This also helps explain why the far less perfect Newt Gingrich can attract support against all reason, or at least against all reasonable expectations.
It's always amusing to see conservatives struggle to explain why no one likes Romney. Parker lists the minor reasons. Having no core beliefs, using your privileges to pay less taxes and buy yourself a nomination, and strapping your dog to the roof of a car while going on vacation seem a lot easier to grasp. But this is a free country. You are welcome to dislike him for whatever reason you feel he's earned.
Mark Barabak/LA Times:
Mitt Romney may have won a blowout victory in Florida's presidential primary, but Newt Gingrich is not about to concede defeat.
Did you know
Jennifer Rubin really, really, really doesn't like Newt? She didn't like his non-concession speech, either.
He obnoxiously ended by pledging: “My life, my fortune, my sacred honor.” But he’s not doing any of that. And it’s quite an insult to American patriots who have said that and meant it.
The WaPo lists opinion columns as "left-leaning" or "right-leaning". The right should be split into "likes Romney, hates Newt" and "dislikes Romney, hates Newt". You know, for balance.