Here is a new Mitt Romney ad in their “Obama Isn’t Working” (OIW) series. This one specifically targets Obama’s failures in Florida.

Here is video of a clearly positive and energized Mitt Romney today in Florida urging supporters to attend the CNN Debate tonight and cheer him along. When told there were no tickets available, Romney advised, “Just storm in!”

Via Politico

It seems Mitt Romney is not sure he will take part in the two debates next week leading up to the Florida GOP Primary. He’s committed to this Thursday’s CNN Debate in South Carolina, but his campaign is making no commitments to him being a part of the Florida debates:

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: After a debate in which Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney faced attacks from all sides, the Romney campaign says it has not yet accepted invitations to participate in two high-profile debates leading up to the January 31 Florida primary, and a key Romney adviser is expressing fatigue and frustration over what he sees as a never-ending series of GOP debates.

“There are too many of these,” Romney strategist Stuart Stevens said after Monday night’s Fox News debate at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. “We have to bring some order to it. We haven’t accepted Florida…It’s kind of like a cruise that’s gone on too long.”

Romney will participate in the next South Carolina debate, Thursday night in Charleston. Asked by email about the candidate’s debate schedule after that, Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said, “I have no announcements to make on debates at this time.”

As part of his complaint against the current debate schedule, Stevens expressed lingering irritation at the January 7 ABC News debate in New Hampshire, in which Romney faced a long a tendentious series of questions about contraception. (“It was such a lousy debate,” Stevens said.) More generally, Stevens suggested that in the long course of the campaign, this year’s key issues have been exhausted. “We’re down to the most obscure questions,” he said. “When more than ten debates mention Chilean models, and it’s not a fashion show, then something’s wrong.”

There’s no doubt the debate schedule has been intense. Seventy hours after the end of Monday night’s session, the second South Carolina debate will begin down the coast in Charleston. Then, 48 hours after the polls close late Saturday in South Carolina, there will be another debate, this one in Tampa. Seventy-two hours after that, there will be yet another debate, this one in Jacksonville. The Charleston, Tampa, and Jacksonville debates will be the 17th, 18th, and 19th of the Republican primary season. Add that to the schedule of actual campaigning, and it’s a routine that is wearing down all the campaigns. . . . Read More

That would be a disaster for Mitt Romney. He is kidding himself if he thinks he can just not show up for the two Florida debates leading up to the primary and it not hurt him big time. These debates are far more important that the debates from long ago, because they will be fresh in the minds of voters. Romney will come off looking like a coward if he just refuses to show up. He may be tired of the debates, but he had better rethink this strategy.

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The GOP Presidential Nomination race now moves on to Florida (January 31) following Newt Gingrich’s shocking victory in South Carolina. Here is the polling average for Florida, which shapes up to be a pivotal contest in the GOP Presidential race. We’ll keep it updated as new polls come out.

New Polls in both South Carolina and Florida show the Newt Gingrich surge has impacted those states as well as Iowa and New Hampshire.

In South Carolina, an American Research Group poll gives Gingrich an 11-point lead over Mitt Romney. In Florida, an Insider Advantage poll puts Gingrich way out in front, with a 41%-17% lead over Romney.

Newt Gingrich now leads in the Polling Average for three of the first five voting states: Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida. Mitt Romney continues to lead in New Hampshire and Nevada.

Here is a video report from Florida on Newt Gingrich making a campaign stop in Naples, where he spoke to an overflow crowd tonight that turned out to hear and see him. The reporter says Gingrich told the crowd he does “not favor a path to citizenship” for illegal aliens in the U.S. Gingrich had said in the most recent GOP Debate he would favor some way to give “legal status” – but not citizenship – to a portion of the illegal immigrant community – people who have been here for “25 years” and that have “paid taxes” and become a part of the community.

Via WZVN News

A new American Research Group poll out of Florida shows Herman Cain surging there, now leading by six-points, 34%-28% over Mitt Romney. The rest of the GOP Field has fallen way back. Newt Gingrich is now in third at 11%, with Rick Perry falling all the way down to just 5%. Perry led the last ARG poll in Florida with 16%.

Check all the early-voting state averages.