Looking for a Silver Lining

Mitt Romney bet a lot on Florida. He knew it was a key proving ground, after his victory as something of a favorite son in Michigan (where his father had been a popular governor) and his win in Nevada—a state where none of his major rivals really bothered to compete. He also knew that his chief competitor, Arizona Sen. John McCain, had built his successes to date on independents and crossover voters—an advantage he would not have in Florida, which only allows registered Republicans to vote in the primary. So Romney worked the angles in the Sunshine State, hiring several aides to former Gov. Jeb Bush (who remained neutral), stumping hard in-state, and dramatically outspending his competition in the pricey ad market.

 The gamble did not pay off, and the frustration showed. In an emotional speech Tuesday evening after McCain had been declared the victor, Romney's robotic facade cracked, and real feelings leaked out. "Almost, but not quite," he told the crowd as he opened his speech, before launching down memory lane. "I remember when I was growing up I always knew that America was the greatest nation on Earth," he said. "First nation to the moon, our cars and movies and technology were the envy of the entire world and freedom and opportunity was just like the air. It was everywhere I went. I believed there was nothing I couldn't do and I knew there was nothing that America couldn't do because we led the world…" But Romney recovered, remembering to get back to the talking points he uses to try to undermine McCain. He cited a litany of present-day problems, then blamed the permanent political establishment for allowing the country to drift so far from those wondrous days. "We look to Washington for leadership, but Washington has failed us."

 The campaign did not linger long on the defeat. Senior adviser Ron Kaufman told Newsweek Romney has "a good strategy going forward"—even though he trails McCain badly in California, the crown jewel of the Super Tuesday primaries. When asked if he is disappointed by what appears to be a surprisingly large five-point margin for McCain in Florida, Kaufman said, "I never like to lose….[but] the field is down to two. These are very different men. The party will look at them and say which is the heart and soul of the Republican party…The smaller the stage, the bigger Mitt Romney is….Now we're down to two and I'll take my guy against Senator McCain any day."

 And what about Rudy Giuliani's reported plans to exit the race and endorse McCain? "There are those with Giuliani because he's a social liberal. They'll go to McCain," Kaufman said. "There are those with Giuliani because he's a manager and they'll go to us."

         Another Romney ally, Bay Buchanan, found a silver lining in the former Massachusetts governor's support from evangelicals in Florida. "A lot of people thought Mitt Romney couldn't win that constituency," she said. "[Mike] Huckabee is showing he's not a strong candidate anymore. Social conservatives will realize it's time to move and that's a very important constituency" [going forward to Super Tuesday].

Al Cardenas, a former Republican state chair here who is also a chair of Romney's Florida steering committee, says conservatives are going to recoil at the thought of McCain as the GOP nominee. "We think the conservative movement activists are now beginning to panic about losing a grip on what they believe is the Reagan Republican party and you're going to see them become much more involved in this presidential election," Cardenas said. Cardenas also suggested that McCain's campaign used questionable tactics down the stretch—including negative robocalls he believes will come back to haunt the frontrunner. "They clearly went over the top in the discourse," he said. "Frankly, your colleagues in the press are looking at the Straight Talk Express in a different vein."

 It was an impressive bid to find solace in the ashes of defeat. But some in the crowd couldn't hide their disappointment. Debbie Cox Roush, a 54-year-old Tampa resident who owns a catering business, stood in the center of the half-empty ballroom in St. Petersburg's Mirror Lake Lyceum Grand Hall, and wept as Romney finished his speech. "I think Florida made a big mistake tonight," she said, tears streaming down her face. "The man has great values."