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Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich by two points in Florida, a margin well within a new poll's
margin of error, reflecting a close race in the key primary.
Thirty-six
percent of Republicans likely to vote in Florida's primary said they
intend to vote for Romney; 34 percent would choose Gingrich, according to a CNN/TIME/ORC poll released Wednesday. The
poll underscores the tightness of what has essentially become a two-man
race in the largest state yet to hold its nominating contest in the
past month. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has seen his numbers
plummet to 11 percent from 19 percent in CNN's last poll of Florida,
conducted Jan. 13-17. Nine percent of Florida Republicans voiced support
for Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who is not competing in earnest in Florida's
primary.
The new data reflect the closeness of the race following Gingrich's
win in the South Carolina primary last Saturday; Romney had led the
former speaker by a 25-point margin in the previous version of this
poll, a lead that's shrunk to two points, within the five percent margin
of error of this survey. The poll is the first statewide survey
in Florida conducted completely after South Carolina's primary, in which
Gingrich trounced Romney by 12 points, reviving his campaign and
seemingly claiming the mantle of the candidate who presents a
conservative alternative for Romney. In the intervening days since
that primary, the Romney campaign has spent millions on advertising
assailing Gingrich's record, and a super PAC spending on Romney's behalf
has spent millions more. A pro-Gingrich super PAC has also reserved
millions in ads, but it's still dwarfed by the spending done by Romney
forces in the state. Moreover, Romney's been voicing sharper
criticism of Gingrich and his record in Congress and advocacy work for
Freddie Mac, most pointedly in a high-rated debate on Monday night in
Florida. To that end, the CNN poll suggests that Romney might have
regained some footing against Gingrich in recent days. While Gingrich
led Romney, 38 to 32 percent, in Sunday's polling, respondents on Monday
and Tuesday were slightly more for Romney, 38 to 29 percent. Source: msnbc.com
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