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| Florida primary campaign: Romney up, Gingrich down - live | Florida primary campaign: Romney up, Gingrich down - live |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 10.51am: Now here's a bargain: a 2005 Chrysler 300C open for bidding on eBay for a mere $1m. That's one million dollars. Now, they say the US auto industry has recovered its mojo but that's ridiculous. | |
| And the $1m reason is included in the seller's comments: | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300C - leased by President Barack Obama. We have the original Illinois title showing this vehicle was actually used by Barack. 19,000 miles driven when this vehicle was Obama's - I'm sure many of them were highway miles back & forth from Chicago to Springfield since Barack was an Illinois State Senator during 2004. | |
| The eBay listing now has a photo of the car's title showing the vehicle was listed in Obama's name on 13 July, 2004 when the vehicle had just two miles on it. | |
| 10.27am: The Guardian's Janine Gibson has allocated herself the task of watching Florida TV channels on a continuous loop in order to assess the weight of the carpet-bombing unleashed by the Romney and Gingrich campaigns. | |
| She will be updating throughout the day: here is her first installment. | |
| Yesterday I drove from Orlando to Tampa to a soundtrack of local stations playing soft rock and terrifying radio ads. To the strains of scary strings, every 15 minutes a sinister-voice-over would declare Newt Gingrich to be a Washington stooge paid "over $1.6m" as "a historian. Really?" An official ad, it ends with the pay off: "I'm Mitt Romney and I approve this message". | |
| Seeking balance, I'm spending the morning in front of the TV here in Tampa, monitoring the well-known massive Florida media buy. The campaigns have, they boast, become more sophisticated in their ad buying - moving out of the obvious and pursuing the Republican voter in programs ranging from CSI to the Weather Channel and rejecting Shows Watched By Democrats, such as Two and A Half Men. Let's test this out. | |
| After two segments of the Today show on NBC, I'm fully across why your personality might give you diabetes, but haven't seen a single campaign ad. We can but conclude that Today is a SWBD. Maybe it's a Matt Lauer thing. | |
| CBS News 10, however, is pay dirt. First up, our favourite pedantic appendix reader ad: "From the debates you'd think Newt Gingrich was Ronald Reagan's vice president, but in his diaries Reagan mentioned Gingrich only ONCE". Paid for by Romney SuperPAC Restore Our Future, this ad concludes triumphantly: "Gingrich is no Ronald Reagan". | |
| But just when you might be feeling sorry for Newt, up he pops. His effort is somewhat less glossy and is a little incoherent, but in essence is this: "Mitt Romney ... Liberal Governor ... increased taxes... Can we trust him... I'm Newt Gingrich and I approve this message". (Full transcript and ad here). I've seen this ad three times now. Four. It's playing again. Make it stop! | |
| An hour in to this task and the following things are clear: | |
| • Gingrich is not being bullied out of the ad slots • It's personal and negative. No mention of any other candidate or Obama any more • I will not survive another three hours of this • hhgregg.com is offering a Samsung 43" HDTV for $397 in their sale. If you hurry | |
| 9.56am: Once again this live blog has been scooped on the big yet made-up news, such as Michelle Obama's $50,000 lingerie spending spree. Now this is what we British journalists call real news, via Politico: | 9.56am: Once again this live blog has been scooped on the big yet made-up news, such as Michelle Obama's $50,000 lingerie spending spree. Now this is what we British journalists call real news, via Politico: |
| After several British news outlets reported that Michelle Obama spent $50,000 on lingerie at a luxury boutique in New York last year, a White House official told Politico the stories are false. | After several British news outlets reported that Michelle Obama spent $50,000 on lingerie at a luxury boutique in New York last year, a White House official told Politico the stories are false. |
| The official, who declined to be identified by name, said it is not the first time British press have printed unconfirmed rumors. | The official, who declined to be identified by name, said it is not the first time British press have printed unconfirmed rumors. |
| The Daily Mail reported that Michelle Obama spent the money during one trip to Agent Provocateur on Madison Avenue while she was visiting with the Queen of Qatar. | The Daily Mail reported that Michelle Obama spent the money during one trip to Agent Provocateur on Madison Avenue while she was visiting with the Queen of Qatar. |
| The Telegraph carried the same story, saying the British retailer reported a 12 percent jump in sales, thanks to the first lady's purchases. It was also reported by The Sun. | The Telegraph carried the same story, saying the British retailer reported a 12 percent jump in sales, thanks to the first lady's purchases. It was also reported by The Sun. |
| Technically, the Telegraph carried the story first and then the Daily Mail and Sun ripped it off, but let's not quibble about details such as whether or not it's true or just sort of not true. | Technically, the Telegraph carried the story first and then the Daily Mail and Sun ripped it off, but let's not quibble about details such as whether or not it's true or just sort of not true. |
| 9.30am: On the campaign trail today, both Mitt Romey and Newt Gingrich are all over Florida like a winter tan, while Rick Santorum's novel strategy to win in Florida includes campaigning in Minnesota and a return to town halls in Pizza Ranch restaurants. | 9.30am: On the campaign trail today, both Mitt Romey and Newt Gingrich are all over Florida like a winter tan, while Rick Santorum's novel strategy to win in Florida includes campaigning in Minnesota and a return to town halls in Pizza Ranch restaurants. |
| • Mitt Romney 8am: held a rally with supporters at Ring Power Lift Trucks in Jacksonville 2.15pm: Rally with supporters at Pioneer Park, Dunedin 6.10pm: Rally with supporters, Lake Sumter Landing, The Villages, Florida | • Mitt Romney 8am: held a rally with supporters at Ring Power Lift Trucks in Jacksonville 2.15pm: Rally with supporters at Pioneer Park, Dunedin 6.10pm: Rally with supporters, Lake Sumter Landing, The Villages, Florida |
| • Newt Gingrich 7.30am: held a rally with Michael Reagan at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront 10am: Rally with Michael Reagan, Pensacola Aviation Center 1pm: Rally with Michael Reagan. Tampa Jet Center 3pm: Rally with Michael Reagan, Page Field, Fort Meyers 6pm: "Crossing the Finish Line" rally, Renaissance Airport Hotel, Orlando | • Newt Gingrich 7.30am: held a rally with Michael Reagan at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront 10am: Rally with Michael Reagan, Pensacola Aviation Center 1pm: Rally with Michael Reagan. Tampa Jet Center 3pm: Rally with Michael Reagan, Page Field, Fort Meyers 6pm: "Crossing the Finish Line" rally, Renaissance Airport Hotel, Orlando |
| • Rick Santorum Campaigning in Missouri and Minnesota (all times are local) 2:30pm CT: St Charles Community College, Cottleville, Missouri 7.30pm CT: Town hall meeting, Pizza Ranch, Luverne, Minnesota | • Rick Santorum Campaigning in Missouri and Minnesota (all times are local) 2:30pm CT: St Charles Community College, Cottleville, Missouri 7.30pm CT: Town hall meeting, Pizza Ranch, Luverne, Minnesota |
| 9am: Here's a round-up of the latest news from the campaign trail from Ryan Devereaux: | 9am: Here's a round-up of the latest news from the campaign trail from Ryan Devereaux: |
| • With voting in Florida's primary tomorrow, new polls suggest Newt Gingrich is the underdog. Four polls released Sunday – from NBC, Mason-Dixon, American Research Group and Rasmussen Reports – all give Mitt Romney a double-digit lead over the former speaker of the house. According to Nate Silver of the New York Times, Romney has a 97% chance of winning, compared to 3% for Gingrich. Meanwhile Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, who are separated by a 3.6% point spread with Santorum in the lead, have no chance of victory. | • With voting in Florida's primary tomorrow, new polls suggest Newt Gingrich is the underdog. Four polls released Sunday – from NBC, Mason-Dixon, American Research Group and Rasmussen Reports – all give Mitt Romney a double-digit lead over the former speaker of the house. According to Nate Silver of the New York Times, Romney has a 97% chance of winning, compared to 3% for Gingrich. Meanwhile Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, who are separated by a 3.6% point spread with Santorum in the lead, have no chance of victory. |
| • Poor polling hasn't dampened Gingrich's spirit over the weekend, or at least not visibly. Speaking to reporters outside a Florida church on Saturday, Gingrich predicted Romney would fail to win the majority of Tuesday's votes and wouldn't be able to collect a majority of delegate votes by the time the Republican convention is held in August. "When you take all of the non-Romney votes, it's very likely that at the convention there will be a non-Romney majority — and maybe a very substantial one — and my job is to convert that into a pro-Gingrich majority," he said | • Poor polling hasn't dampened Gingrich's spirit over the weekend, or at least not visibly. Speaking to reporters outside a Florida church on Saturday, Gingrich predicted Romney would fail to win the majority of Tuesday's votes and wouldn't be able to collect a majority of delegate votes by the time the Republican convention is held in August. "When you take all of the non-Romney votes, it's very likely that at the convention there will be a non-Romney majority — and maybe a very substantial one — and my job is to convert that into a pro-Gingrich majority," he said |
| • With the support of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and an endorsement from pizza mogul Herman Cain, Gingrich has attempted to pitch himself as a populist conservative champion. He has described himself as "the legitimate heir to the Reagan movement," unlike Romey, who he has derided as "some liberal from Massachusetts" | • With the support of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and an endorsement from pizza mogul Herman Cain, Gingrich has attempted to pitch himself as a populist conservative champion. He has described himself as "the legitimate heir to the Reagan movement," unlike Romey, who he has derided as "some liberal from Massachusetts" |
| • Florida's airwaves are thick with attack ads, mostly from the Romney campaign, whose tactic is to remind voters of Gingrich's history in Washington. Speaking at a rally this weekend, the former Massachusetts governor reminded the crowd of Ginigrich's work with the financial mortgage giant Freddie Mac | • Florida's airwaves are thick with attack ads, mostly from the Romney campaign, whose tactic is to remind voters of Gingrich's history in Washington. Speaking at a rally this weekend, the former Massachusetts governor reminded the crowd of Ginigrich's work with the financial mortgage giant Freddie Mac |
| • Texas congressman Ron Paul is facing increasing criticism following a Washington Post article published last week claiming that he was well-aware of the controversial newsletters that have dogged his campaign. According to sources quoted by the Post, he discussed inserting more extreme views into the newsletters to increase revenue. Paul has denied the claim | • Texas congressman Ron Paul is facing increasing criticism following a Washington Post article published last week claiming that he was well-aware of the controversial newsletters that have dogged his campaign. According to sources quoted by the Post, he discussed inserting more extreme views into the newsletters to increase revenue. Paul has denied the claim |
| • Rick Santorum took time off from the campaign trail this weekend after his three-year-old daughter Bella suffered a medical emergency. Santorum is expected to return to campaigning today. He won't be taking his social conservative message to Florida, however. On Sunday the former Pennsylvania senator told reporters he was "heading out to the midwest," to focus on upcoming contests, and will hold his Florida election night party in Nevada | • Rick Santorum took time off from the campaign trail this weekend after his three-year-old daughter Bella suffered a medical emergency. Santorum is expected to return to campaigning today. He won't be taking his social conservative message to Florida, however. On Sunday the former Pennsylvania senator told reporters he was "heading out to the midwest," to focus on upcoming contests, and will hold his Florida election night party in Nevada |
| 8.30am: Mitt Romney appears to be in complete control of tomorrow's Republican primary, with the latest polls unanimous in declaring him the likely winner, some by a considerable margin over Newt Gingrich. | 8.30am: Mitt Romney appears to be in complete control of tomorrow's Republican primary, with the latest polls unanimous in declaring him the likely winner, some by a considerable margin over Newt Gingrich. |
| Riding a tide of money funding a media wave of attack advertising, Romney's campaign now wants a resounding victory to effectively end Gingrich's bid for the Republican nomination. But the scale of Romney's victory appears to also be setting off another swing in the GOP presidential see-saw in Gingrich's favour. | Riding a tide of money funding a media wave of attack advertising, Romney's campaign now wants a resounding victory to effectively end Gingrich's bid for the Republican nomination. But the scale of Romney's victory appears to also be setting off another swing in the GOP presidential see-saw in Gingrich's favour. |
| The Guardian's team of reporters, on the ground and in cyberspace, will be covering the major events on the campaign trail in Florida, and we'll be carrying all the news right here. | The Guardian's team of reporters, on the ground and in cyberspace, will be covering the major events on the campaign trail in Florida, and we'll be carrying all the news right here. |