From Jacksonville, Florida -
The battle over the Florida Primary started here in Jacksonville this morning, as Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich kicked off their final full day of campaigning with dueling morning rallies in this city.
Romney left no doubt what message he wanted out first, as after being introduced, he launched into a scathing attack on Gingrich, once more blasting Gingrich's time as Speaker and his ties to mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
"I think the real reason he hasn't done so well connecting with the people of Florida is that people saw him in those debates," Romney said, aiming again at Gingrich's ribs.
"He was paid $1.6 million to be a lobbyist for Freddie Mac and they (the voters) said that's not what they want in the White House," Romney said to cheers at an industrial machine shop on the south side of Jacksonville.
Romney again mocked Gingrich repeatedly, calling him "Goldilocks" as he rattled off Gingrich's complaints about the crowd not being allowed to cheer in a recent debate and complaints about unfair ads being run against him.
Romney once more also made fun of Gingrich's call for a new era of space exploration on the moon.
"The idea of the moon as the 51st state would not come to my mind as the campaign basis here in Florida," Romney said to laughter, blasting Gingrich's call for a lunar colony in this state that's home to NASA.
Mitt Romney speaks at a morning rally in Jacksonville, where he repeatedly attacked fellow Republican Newt Gingrich.
Across town at the same time, Gingrch was appearing with Michael Reagan, the son of President Reagan, as the former Speaker said he was feeling more confident about his chances.
"Insider Advantage said last night we are closing the gap, despite all of the ads and all of the falsehoods," said Gingrich, referring to a poll that showed him down by only five points.
Other polls, including one from Quinnipiac released this morning, have shown Gingrich down by double digits; Romney aides said there was no way the race was only a five point difference.
Gingrich said he still hopes that voters will look past what he labeled Romney's "dishonest" attacks in radio and TV advertising.
"The Romney team has outspent us somewhere between four and nine to one, depending on how many weeks you want to measure it," Gingrich added.
One thing Gingrich noted is something that reporters are wrestling with right now - that is the size of the Gingrich crowds, which are consistently much larger than those at Romney events.
Again - you cannot say that someone will do well just because he or she draws a lot of people to a rally - but you can't ignore that either.
We'll see tomorrow if the polls are right and Romney is far ahead, or if as Gingrich put it, that "people power" is bigger than "big money."
