Flap's Blog – FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

Apparently so, according to new polls.

Mitt Romney’s headed for a big victory in Florida today but new PPP polls in Missouri and Ohio find the road ahead might be a little bit tougher for him, especially if Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum drops out of the race and leaves a single conservative alternative.

Rick Santorum is leading the way for next week’s ‘beauty contest’ primary in Missouri with 45% to 34% for Romney, and 13% for Ron Paul. Newt Gingrich is not on the ballot for that, but he will be in the picture for Missouri’s caucus and leads the way for that with 30% to 28% for Santorum, 24% for Romney, and 11% for Paul.

In Ohio Gingrich is at 26% to 25% for Romney, 22% for Santorum, and 11% for Paul.

What might be most interesting in both states is what happens in a head to head between Romney and either Gingrich or Santorum:

• In Missouri Santorum leads Romney 50-37 and in Ohio Santorum leads 45-38.
• In Missouri Gingrich leads Romney 43-42 and in Ohio Gingrich leads 42-39.

My guess is that Rick Santorum may be prevailed upon to drop out after a while – or simply run out of money. Newt Gingrich has a sugar daddy in Las Vegas and says he will go on to the summer Republican Convention.

A one on one race with Romney is what Newt wants. But, will he get it in time?

This race is NOT over today with a Romney win – no matter how big the victory is.

According to the latest Pew Research Center.

Republicans evaluating the field of potential GOP presidential nominees are increasingly negative about the current slate of candidates, according to a new poll from the Pew Research Center.

Fifty-two percent of Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters said the GOP field was “fair or poor,” an eight percentage-point increase since the question was asked in early January.

Likewise, the number of Republicans who had positive feelings about the candidates dropped. Forty-six percent rated the current field of four candidates “excellent or good,” a drop from the 51% who had that response in January. The GOP field has undergone substantial change since then, with former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and Texas Gov. Rick Perry dropping out of the contest.

Monday’s poll from Pew, which was conducted in partnership with the Washington Post, is the first time since this election cycle the negative response from voters outweighed the positive. Pew began asking the question in May 2011.

I know I am not very pleased with any of the remaining members of the field.

To be honest, I don’t see Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich able to beat President Obama at this point. Neither of them are consistent conservatives, who can articulate a contrasting theme to the left-leaning Democratic President.

Either the GOP should induce a new candidate or two into the mix or be prepared for another four years of President Obama.

According to the latest Gallup Poll.

Mitt Romney leads Newt Gingrich, 59% to 39%, in U.S. registered voters’ perceptions that each “has the personality and leadership qualities a president should have.” Romney also has solid advantages for being “sincere and authentic” and able to manage the government effectively. Romney and Gingrich are about tied, however, on understanding the problems Americans face in their daily lives.

These findings are based on registered voters nationally, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll conducted as part of Jan. 27-28 Gallup Daily tracking.

If GOP voters are looking at electability, it appears Romney has a definite edge in general election voter perceptions. Romney is perceived as sincere and Presdiential – Gingrich is NOT.

These are likely the reasons why in head to head general election polls, Romney is close or beating President Obama, whereas Gingrich trails.

This is a big knife in the back of Newt Gingrich on the eve of the Florida GOP Primary election. With Ann Coulter and Elliott Abrams attacks of Gingrich, conservatives and Tea Party voters may very well be less enthused to vote for him.

Over the last week, several people that worked in the Reagan administration have come forward and countered former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s claim that he is a “Reagan Republican.” These people say Gingrich “wasn’t on board with a lot of what President Ronald Reagan tried to accomplish during his two terms.”

And although that claim has been disputed by other Reagan administration officials, former Reagan communications director Pat Buchanan told “The McLaughlin Group” this weekend that Gingrich wasn’t seen favorably by those in the administration.

“[I]n the Reagan White House, Newt Gingrich was considered quite frankly by a lot of folks to be something of a political opportunist and who was not trusted and who had played no role whatsoever,” Buchanan said. “He was a Rockefeller Republican in the great Goldwater-Rockefeller battle, where conservatism came of age.”

There is little doubt that Gingrich Campaign will be able to survive after the Florida Primary tomorrow. However, the RIGHT is split as to whether Gingrich is the conservative alternative to Romney.

The nominee will either be Romney or somebody else, should Gingrich catch fire on Super Tuesday and win sufficient delegates to deny Romney a majority. With all of these conservative attacks on Gingrich, I doubt he can consolidate support within the GOP.

And, Mark Levin has this criticism of Pat Buchanan.

As I said, the RIGHT is split over the Newt Gingrich candidacy.

According to the latest Gallup Poll.

Republican registered voters nationally continue to prefer Newt Gingrich over Mitt Romney for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, with no sign in Gallup Daily tracking from Jan. 22-26 that Gingrich is giving back any of his recent gains.

The 32% of Republican voters now choosing Gingrich as the candidate they are most likely to support for the nomination is his highest level of support since the 2012 primary voting began in early January. The 24% supporting Romney is his lowest.

Despite the heavy media focus on the two front-runners, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are each holding their own at just under 15%, putting the two men in a statistical tie for third.

It looks like the concentrated attacks of the GOP Establishment, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former U.S. Senator Bob Dole have had little effect. It could also be that Mitt Romney just does not command that much support for himself.

Romney has pummeled Gingrich in Florida this past week with negative ads. Perhaps people just no longer respond to Romney’s negativity.

But, I suppose we will see what Florida voters do on Tuesday.