Gingrich Campaign Press Release - Gingrich Draws Thousands in Florida; Romney, Santorum Draw Just Hundreds
The Palm Beach Post reported on Newt's campaign swing through Sarasota, Fort Myers, and Naples today, and noted a large gap in crowd size and enthusiasm between the thousands of people at Newt's events and the hundreds at the other candidate's events.
If former Florida frontrunner Mitt Romney hoped Newt Gingrich's rise in popularity was a temporary blip, Gingrich's campaign appeared to prove otherwise Tuesday as it drew crowds estimated at 4,000 in Sarasota and 6,000 in Naples.
The size of the early afternoon rally at a hangar at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport surprised even Gingrich. "When they told me how big the crowd was, I was stunned," he said.
Then came the rock star treatment at an evening event at Cambier Park in Historic Old Naples, where the throng screamed with excitement as he spoke from under a bandshell with the American flag behind him and converged on him when he was finished, forcing him to squeeze his way back to his bus.
Those cheering crowds, as well as one of about 500 people in Fort Myers, showed one week before Florida GOP voters head to the polls for the Jan. 31 primary. Florida is the first winner-take-all state in terms of delegate, and three of four polls released since Gingrich's South Carolina win Saturday show him the clear leader in Florida.
Unlike Monday night's debate, when Gingrich frequently criticized Romney's political record, he made few references Tuesday to his closest Republican opponent, instead focusing his oratory skills and venom on President Obama. The crowds ate it up.
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Romney, meanwhile, slammed the former U.S. Speaker of the House during one of his two appearances Tuesday -- to a crowd of about 250 people in front of a foreclosed home in Lehigh Acres.
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Rick Santorum, the third candidate actively campaigning in the state, made stops in Okeechobee, Stuart and Punta Gorda, where he attracted crowds of 200 to 400 people. The fourth candidate, Ron Paul, has no events scheduled in Florida other than a CNN debate Thursday in Jacksonville.
Newt Gingrich, Gingrich Campaign Press Release - Gingrich Draws Thousands in Florida; Romney, Santorum Draw Just Hundreds Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/299909