The Florida primary is three days away. Here are ten things you need to know.
- The Sunday shows line-up: John McCain, Fred Thompson, and David Axelrod will be on Meet the Press. Ron Paul will be on State of the Union on CNN and Tim Geithner will be on GPS on CNN. Newt Gingrich and John Boehner will be on This Week on ABC. Newt Gingrich and Paul Ryan will be on Fox News Sunday. Newt Gingrich, then Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Reince Priebus, Michele Bachmann and Donald Trump will be on Face the Nation on CBS.
- Romney pulls ahead in Florida: A Public Policy Polling survey on Saturday shows Romney leading in Florida with 40%, followed by Newt Gingrich with 32%, and Rick Santorum with 15%. The NBC/Marist Poll out Sunday morning has Romney leading by even more, 42% to 27%. The TPM Poll Average (not yet updated to include the NBC/Marist Poll) shows that Romney has grown his lead over the last few days to 40.1% to Gingrich’s 31.7%.
- Nate Silver predicts Romney win in Florida: The New York Times’ Nate Silver predicts that Mitt Romney will win Florida by about 9 points. He puts the chances that Gingrich pulls an upset at a mere 12%.
- Herman Cain endorses Gingrich: After dropping out of the race, Herman Cain had stayed out of the fray and refused to endorse a candidate. But days before the Florida primary, Herman Cain weighed in and endorsed Newt Gingrich. He also agreed to co-chair an Tax Reform and Economic Growth Advisory Council” for Newt.
- Palin says Gingrich would “clobber” Obama in a debate: On Fox News, Sarah Palin said that “in a debate Newt Gingrich would clobber Barack Obama, and that is one step closer to the voters being able to have a tool to make up their mind whether it should be Barack Obama or the GOP nominee.” She hasn’t endorsed, but she did say he was Republican’s best chance to beat Obama. Watch here.
- Latino leaders endorse Gingrich: On Friday, former Treasurer of the United States for George W. Bush Rosario Marin endorsed Newt Gingrich. Gingrich also won the endorsement of pr-immigration reform group Cafe con Leche, which feels Romney is harsher when it comes to immigration.
- Santorum’s daughter admitted to hospital: Rick Santorum’s 3-year old daughter Isabella, who has a chromosomal condition called Trisomy 18, was admitted to a hospital in Philadelphia Saturday. Santorum canceled his campaign events Sunday morning to be with his daughter.
- Santorum opens Nevada campaign HQ: Rick Santorum opened a Nevada campaign headquarters in Las Vegas on Sunday. The Nevada caucuses are less than a week away on February 4.
- Ron Paul campaigns in Maine: Ron Paul is focusing on the caucus states, including Maine this weekend, where he thinks he can win. While there, he picked up the support of Linda Bean, heiress to clothing outfitter L.L.Bean.
- Romney camp will leave up controversial ad: The Romney campaign caused a stir on Saturday, airing an ad that plays a long clip of Tom Brokaw covering Newt Gingrich’s ethics hearing. Brokaw on Saturday said he was uncomfortable with his extended presence in the ad. NBC asked the campaign to stop airing the ad. Thus far, they are keeping it up.
