Romney Firmly In Lead Ahead Of Primary Lull

(Wall Street Journal) - Mitt Romney, buoyed by a fresh victory in Nevada, on Sunday entered a low-key stretch of the presidential primary race in the strongest position he has held since Republicans began voting in Iowa.

A decisive win in Saturday's Nevada caucuses helped the former Massachusetts governor strengthen his frontrunner status, coming on the heels of a hard-fought win in Florida.

Newt Gingrich, undaunted by his distant second-place finishes in the last two contests, pledged Sunday to take his campaign to the Republican convention this summer and to sharpen the contrast between himself and Romney.

"The difference between timidly trying to manage at the margins a system that has to be profoundly changed and boldly taking it on is a very, very big difference," Gingrich said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I don't think a timid approach is going to beat Obama."

Romney's resounding Nevada win was not a surprise -- he had won the state in 2008 -- but it did cement his status as the candidate to beat. "This is not the first time you have given me your vote of confidence, and this time, I'm going to take it to the White House," a buoyant Romney told supporters in Las Vegas.

Following a series of contests Tuesday -- in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri -- the GOP race will enter a three-week lull that marks the first pause in the breakneck pace of Republican contests that began in early January.

February could prove a perilous stretch for Romney's rivals as they try to raise money and convince Republican voters they have a real shot at the nomination. Gingrich and other rivals may face growing pressure to end their campaigns to allow the party to coalesce behind Romney.

Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, in a CNN interview Sunday, said Gingrich's campaign was fading in the wake of his victory in South Carolina. "I don't think Newt will be able to replicate that magic moment he had in South Carolina," said Armey, who showed only tepid support for Romney. But he said Gingrich was "taking a second-rate campaign and turning it into a first-rate vendetta."

In Nevada, with 71 percent of the precincts counted, Romney was the top pick of 47.6 percent of Republican caucus-goers, with Gingrich a distant second with 22.7 percent of the vote and Texas Rep. Ron Paul in third at 18.6 percent. Rick Santorum finished last with 11.1 percent.

Gingrich spent much of Saturday at a hotel in Las Vegas plotting the path forward to Super Tuesday on March 6, when additional Southern states will have their say. Gingrich and his aides discussed whether he should return to a positive campaign based on the kind of big ideas that had been his hallmark before a dogfight broke out in Iowa. The Gingrich campaign also met with donors to reassure his financial backers that a path still exists to the nomination.

In the wake of his Nevada defeat, Gingrich offered no congratulations to Romney and assured his listeners that he has no plans to exit the race. "I am a candidate for President of the United States, I will be a candidate for president of the United States, we will go to Tampa," Gingrich said referring to the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Read more: Wall Street Journal