Newt Gingrich leads the competition for comebacks with two in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. He'll need one more, and soon, if he's going to make good on his vow to remain a credible contender until the party convention this summer.
With a lopsided loss to Mitt Romney in the Florida primary Tuesday night, the former House speaker is looking at a potentially bleak and even winless February as the prelude to Super Tuesday on March 6. He confronts a significant disadvantage in campaign funding and the appearance of a gender gap in the polls in Florida, where he trailed the winner by nearly 20 points among women.
As Romney has grown more polished and confident in debates, Gingrich faces a struggle to regain the discipline that helped carry him to an upset victory in the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21.
But Gingrich acknowledged little or none of this in a speech to a smallish crowd in Orlando, Fla., following his drubbing.
"I think Florida did something very important, coming on top of South Carolina. It is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader, Newt Gingrich, and the Massachusetts moderate," he said.
Actually, Florida Republicans gave Romney about 46 percent of the vote. It was the largest percentage captured by any contender so far in the four states that have voted in the GOP race. Ominously for Gingrich, it was also close to a majority, a threshold that would debunk his oft-repeated observation that the former Massachusetts governor loses more votes than he wins.
Gingrich, who was written off as a potential nominee last summer, fashioned his comeback over months as others rose in the polls to challenge Romney, then fell back. He shone in debates, scolding his squabbling rivals and reminding them that the objective was to defeat Barack Obama.
Then the attack ads began, financed by Restore Our Future, an outside organization set up to aid the former Massachusetts governor. Gingrich responded by saying he would run a "relentlessly positive" campaign. It was an impossible pledge from a man whose political style has been defined by combativeness. And within days, he proved it.
"I don't object to being outspent. I object to lies. I object to negative smear campaigns," he told reporters.
Relentless, yes. But positive?
To the dismay of aides, he lashed out at Romney rather than focusing on Obama. Leading in Iowa polls in mid-December, he faded to a distant fourth behind Rick Santorum, Romney and Ron Paul.
He attacked Romney even more harshly in the days leading to the New Hampshire primary, where he finished far back.
Improbably, he bounced back in South Carolina, benefiting from what looked like a brilliantly scripted debate-night burst of outrage over an interview that ABC had conducted with an ex-wife.
Meanwhile, Romney stumbled through the week and paid a heavy price.
But in Florida, Romney and Restore Our Future hammered Gingrich once more, outspending him and his super PAC by a margin of roughly 5-1 on TV ads. Romney also improved his debate performance, and dispatched campaign surrogates to trail his foe.
By late last week, Gingrich was visibly struggling to avoid taking the bait once more. At a news conference, he turned aside a chance to criticize Romney, saying, "I want to talk about defeating Obama."
But it seemed Gingrich couldn't help himself when asked to explain his less-than-stellar performance in the Florida debates: "You cannot debate somebody who is dishonest. You just can't."
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David Espo covers presidential politics for The Associated Press.
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