Gingrich, Romney take final swings before Florida primary
With one day left before the Florida primary, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has taken a wide lead over his GOP rival Newt Gingrich in the latest poll, but both candidates are still pounding away at each other.
In a Quinnipiac poll released Monday, the former Massachusetts governor leads among likely Republican primary voters in the Sunshine state with 43 points while Gingrich garners 29 percent. Former Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Ron Paul both win 11 percent support.
Romney has widened his lead over the former House speaker by five points since a January 27 Quinnipiac poll -- and he also wins key GOP constituencies Gingrich would need to overtake Romney. For instance, of the four candidates, Romney wins the most support from self-described conservatives, white evangelical Christians and Tea Partiers.
Still, on "CBS This Morning," Gingrich continued to hammer Romney and suggested "the next 24 hours will make a big difference" in the Florida race -- though he stopped short of saying he would win. (Watch the interview in the video above)
"Governor Romney was a liberal in Massachusetts, pro abortion, pro tax increase, pro gun control. He's bought an amazing amount of ads to try to pretend he's somebody he's not," Gingrich told co-anchor Charlie Rose. "I think he'll find this a long campaign. I don't think the Republican Party is going to nominate somebody who whose 'Romneycare' is essentially the same as 'Obamacare.'"
Later on the campaign trail, a fired up Gingrich continued to slam the former governor, telling a Florida crowd that Romney eliminated serving kosher food for Jewish residents under Medicare in Massachusetts.
Romney has been no less aggressive. On the campaign trail this morning, the former governor wasted no time attacking Gingrich, mocking his idea of establishing a lunar colony, saying, "The idea of the moon as the 51st state is not on my mind."
On NBC's Today Show Monday morning, Romney called into question Gingrich's leadership, pointing out that "he worked with hundreds of people in Washington but only a handful of those people are willing to support him."
In an interview Sunday Night with CBS News political director John Dickerson, Romney said Gingrich "is not revealing himself to be the kind of person I think he would want to be seen in this race for president, because fundamentally, we look for qualities in a president, but we don't look for whining and excuses."
The Florida primary has essentially become a two-man race, after Santorum left the campaign trail to be with his sick three-year-old daughter. Paul has chosen to largely skip campaigning in Florida in favor of states that are friendlier to his campaign.
With reporting from CBS News/National Journal reporters Sarah Boxer and Sarah Huisenga
