Here is the latest, and boy is this gonna be tight.   The Tampa Tribune is endorsing Newt Gingrich.   Florida Republican Primary polls are all over the place with consensus selling from the media about Romney possessing the commanding lead.   But tune out the media and what you actually see is Gingrich surging.  Pollsters be damned, the only pattern seen over the last two weeks has  been a pendulum swinging back and forth.  Depending on which candidate’s side that pendulum is favoring on the day of the primaries, that will be the candidate that takes Florida.

The endorsement from Herman Cain, and the messages of support from Sarah Palin have helped Newt to re-establish solid footing.   The TEA Party of Florida, the only political tea party registered with the state Division of Elections, has endorsed Newt Gingrich, as has The Florida Tea Party Coalition With Newt, just days after an ABC News report showed that Florida Tea Party supporters find Gingrich’s “beating the pavement” more appealing than Romney’s paid ads, most of which are attack ads.

Then the Chair National Republican Hispanic Alliance Florida, Nancy C. Acevedo joined in with other Hispanic leaders across the country to send an open letter to Mitt Romney on why they cannot support him but are supporting Newt (shared below).  In more hispanic optimistic support for Newt, Rosario Marin and a group of other Latino leaders endorsed the former House Speaker’s bid for the GOP nomination.

Dear Governor Romney:

We are a group of Latino Republicans invested in the growth of the economy and the support of Hispanic communities. Some of us have supported Newt Gingrich from the beginning of his campaign, and others of us have supported you. Our purpose here is to advise you that those of us who have stood by you are now withdrawing our backing in favor of Newt Gingrich. We’ve come to our decision based on our belief that your support of the Hispanic community is not a clear representation of what we need.

For example, in Iowa you stated that you would immediately veto the Dream Act. Mr. Gingrich proposes to push an essential part of the Dream Act which offers citizenship to those young men and women who serve in military. Last Tuesday in Florida, you openly agreed with Newt on a partial acceptance of the Dream Act, reversing your original stance on the matter.

It appears you find it “dishonest” to consider yourself Mexican-American, even though your father was born in Mexico. Under that same pretense, would those of us born in the United States, but have parental ancestry from Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia, Cuba, and other Latin American countries, be dishonest in claiming ourselves as Americans

It is clear to us that you have not provided a real solution on behalf of the 12+ million immigrants who live in the shadows of the American communities. You fail to dignify the economic refugees who reside, work, pay taxes, and are otherwise productive citizens in this country. In stark contrast, Mr. Gingrich has a true history of supporting our community. He says we he means, and means what he says.

As examples:

• As Speaker, he pushed through the Cuban LIBERTAD Act, which codified the embargo on Cuba, authorized aid to dissidents, and set the framework for principled engagement to support a genuine transition to democracy
• Newt Gingrich pushed humane immigration laws, including the NACARA act (authored by former Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart) to ensure that we kept our pledge to those who fled the Sandinistas in the 1970’s.
• Newt Gingrich is the only candidate that has offered a humane approach to our immigration problem. He understands how inhumane and unrealistic it is to deport 12 million undocumented immigrants. He proposes to secure the border, deport criminals, and recognize the remainder through temporary work permits, and through establishing legal status for those with American sponsorship and deep ties to their communities.
• Newt Gingrich proposes to push an essential part of the Dream Act which offers citizenship to those young men and women who serve in the military.
• Newt Gingrich supports a referendum for the people of Puerto Rico to decide between independence, statehood and continued commonwealth status. Newt Gingrich has for years shown active support by reaching out to us, our organizations and our community to better understand the real concerns of American Hispanics. His interest in us did not begin last Tuesday in a Florida debate.

Mr. Gingrich has showed active support for the Hispanic community by reaching out to us, our organizations, and our communities to better understand the real concerns of American Hispanics. This is a quality that we respect, value, and appreciate.

Mr. Romney, without an open dialogue with us you are unable to understand issues important to the Latino community. Due to this absence, we are unable to support you.

Sincerely,

Rosario Marin – Former US Treasurer, California

Mario Rodriguez – Hispanic 100 Chair, California

Massey Villarreal – Former National Chair of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, Texas

Vinicio Madrigal, MD – Former Chair Louisiana Republican Hispanic Assembly, Louisiana

Theresa Speake – Former National Secretary of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, Virginia

Al Zapanta – President & CEO. U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, Texas

Lionel Sosa – President of Bromley Communications, Texas

Miguel Orozco – Immigration lawyer, California; Outstanding Americans by Choice Recipient; Actor & Producer

Elizabeth Orozco – Business Executive

Eduardo Verástegui – Pro-life activist, actor, singer. California

Joe Galvan – Former regional director HUD, Former chair RNHA. Illinois

Teresa Hernandez – Restaurateur

Saul Delgado – President of Caboraca

Fortino Rivera – CEO

Bertha Rivera – Business Executive

Nancy C. Acevedo – Chair National Republican Hispanic Alliance Florida

Robbie G. Munoz – Hispanic 100 Youth Chair, California

Julio Gudino – President, Gudino Financial & Insurance Services, Inc.

KV Kumar – Nat’l Vice Chairman, Asian American & Pacific Islanders Nat’l Republican Assembly

The TV stations are filled with Romney attack ads against Gingrich, but they might be so over the top by now that a backlash is being encountered.   Almost everyone I have spoken with is complaining about Romney at this point regardless of how strong the polling is being reported.    Ron Paul has support also, and to a lesser extent the “above the fray” crews appear to be in Santorum’s favor.  

Four or Five days ago while the media was reporting Romney pulling away, the opposite tide was more evident around my area.   “ABR” (Anyone But Romney) is almost as commonly used, and known, as LOL 😀   That’s a really good clue.   Many people have wondered why team Gingrich never ran an ad with the Mitt Romney soundbite about letting people lose their homes.?   I looked it up and indeed there is a video about this very thing.   He talks about it like homes are an investment or financial opportunity for big money interests without attaching any consideration to the pain that people are in. 

Essentially, here like everywhere else, it is breaking down to Establishment VS. Grassroots 2.0   It is turmoil time all over again just like 2009.   People are either going with “old school” Republican thought, or they are saying “heck no”, and pushing back with support for Gingrich/Paul/Santorum.   But the momentum is not building for Romney regardless of what the media is selling.

The strategy to send Bay Buchannan and Jason Chaffetz into Newt rallies to attack Newt’s talking points is backfiring.  It just seems too sleazy even for moderates, and it darn sure ain’t helping Romney.

According to the media Mittens is up in double digits in the last few polls including Rasmussen.  He’s up eight in the left-wing PPP poll.  But tonight a brand new poll from Insider Advantage came out showing Gingrich only trialing by five points, we’ll have to wait and see if the media reports on it.   Tuesday is going to be wild and a lot of it comes down to energy and motivation.  I would have to give that edge to Team Gingrich supporters.  However,  Team Romney is prepared to drag people kicking and screaming to the polls if they have to.   Here is the Tampa Tribune endorsement announcement:

There are reports on Twitter tonight that an Insider Advantage poll will come out soon showing Gingrich only trailing Mittens by five points.  The Tampa Tribune is the city’s second largest paper according to CNN (and leans conservative), and it may have an impact on the race if the Insider Advantage poll is correct.

The Tampa Tribune endorsed Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who the newspaper said is an “innovative problem-solver with rock-hard conservative credentials,” over Mitt Romney, whom it called the “safer choice.”

Sunday’s endorsement from the city’s second-largest newspaper that leans conservative comes two days before Florida’s primary election in which Romney is favored to win.