TAMPA, Fla. – Mitt Romney embraced a killer instinct and leveraged a dominant political machine to crush chief rival Newt Gingrich in Florida’s Republican presidential primary.
It was a remarkable turnaround for a candidate who lost big just 10 days earlier in South Carolina.
“I stand ready to lead this party and our nation,” a jubilant Romney told cheering supporters Tuesday night in Florida, claiming a resounding victory in a state that rejected his White House bid in 2008.
Romney was beaten down as he came into Florida after Gingrich trounced him in South Carolina. The former House speaker’s triumph fueled a wave of momentum that threatened to unite anti-Romney conservatives in Florida and beyond.
Recognizing the threat, Romney had hatched a new strategy even before the South Carolina loss was official.
It would be the end of nice-guy Romney, the man who had usually saved his sharpest barbs for President Barack Obama and let his allies run the attack ads. From the start of the Florida campaign, voters here witnessed Romney’s new go-for-the-jugular approach on their television sets, debate stages, and even at Gingrich’s campaign stops.
“If you’re attacked, I’m not going to just sit back,” Romney said Tuesday, warning his competitors that the tough
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