Las Vegas – Trailing in the polls here, former Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich highlighted his proposals to boost the economy and jabbed at Mitt Romney during a rally Thursday at a forklift manufacturing plant, where hundreds of enthusiastic supporters cheered and chanted "Newt!"
Also Thursday, a spokesman for Gingrich confirmed his campaign is preparing to challenge the Florida GOP primary results. The campaign says Republican National Committee rules specify that no primary -- including Florida's -- can be a winner-take-all contest before April 1. Romney decisively defeated Gingrich in the Sunshine State's primary Tuesday.
Gingrich took a shot at the former Massachusetts governor's recent televised comments that he was "not concerned about the very poor" because they have an "ample safety net." Romney later sought to clarify his comments, saying he was focused on helping the middle class but would work to patch any holes in the safety net for the poor.
"I really believe that we should care about the very poor, unlike Gov. Romney," Gingrich said. "But I believe we should care differently than President Obama. Both Gov. Romney and Barack Obama sincerely believe a 'safety net' is all the poor need. I don't believe that. What the poor need is a trampoline so they can spring up."
Gingrich concluded by vowing to repeal the federal healthcare overhaul and sign executive orders to abolish all White House czars, move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and repeal all of the Obama administration's "anti-religious acts."
"This is about bureaucracies, judges, laws and an entire system that is on the wrong track," Gingrich said. "If you want somebody who will comfortably manage the decay... then don't vote for me."
Gingrich added that he would stand up for freedom of religion, saying: "We have been under assault from anti-religious bigots for a half a century."
Later, Gingrich spoke to Hispanic community and business leaders at the Mundo Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas.
A new polls shows Romney is poised to rack up a decisive victory in Nevada’s Republican caucuses Saturday with 45 percent of the vote. Gingrich collected 25 percent support among likely caucus-goers in the Las Vegas Review-Journal/8NewsNow telephone survey.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum got 11 percent, while Texas congressman Ron Paul collected 9 percent. Nine percent said they were undecided.
Romney won the Silver State’s GOP caucuses in 2008 with 51 percent of the vote. Paul came in second with just under 14 percent.
The Las Vegas newspaper reported the Cannon Survey Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas conducted the poll Friday through Tuesday and questioned 426 Republicans who said they plan to participate in the caucuses. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.75 percentage points.
Matching his 2008 win in Nevada with about half of the vote would give Romney a big boost, said David Damore, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"Romney is going to be able to claim clear wins in two key swing states and further enhance the narrative that he is the inevitable nominee," Damore said in an email. "Gingrich is going to say, ‘Of course Romney won, but still half of the party does not want him to be the nominee.'"
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