Strong Apricot

This Republican race is more flipflop than a Rainbow sandal. Mitt Romney won the closed Florida primary, snagging nearly 50% of the vote and all of the Sunshine State’s fifty delegates (though half were deducted by the Republican National Committee because Florida moved its primary before March 6). Newt Gingrich placed second with 32% of the vote, followed by Rick Santorum at 13% and Ron Paul’s 7% rounding out the pack.

CNN thinks Romney took the crucial Floridian Latin vote because of some powerful Latin endorsements and the beating Gingrich took from the Floridian media. When did Newt claim that Spanish was “the language of the ghetto”? What a maroon.

Also, Santorum’s apparently “prisoner of the gays.” The vitriolic remarks he made about gay rights are now coming back to haunt him like a spicy dinner.

ANALysis after the jizzump.

Here are the exit polls.

• Gender: Romney led Gingrich in both men (41% vs. 36%) + women (52% vs. 28%).
• Age: In Florida, the 65+ category came in second at 36%, while the 45-64 demographic won (42%), then 30-44 at 15% and 18-29 at 6%. Romney won all of the categories (44% in the 45-64, 51% in the 65+, 42% in the 30-44 and 31% in the 18-29). Gingrich never topped 35% in any cateory and Paul bested Gingrich in the 18-29 category with 25%.
• Latin Vote: With a growing Latin population in the state, their votes were under scrutiny, especially given most of the candidates’ hard-line views on immigration. The more immigration-conservative Romney (54%) easily bested Gingrich (29%), with Santorum at 9% + Paul at 5%.
• Conservative Scale: “Somewhat Conserative” pulled the biggest numbers (36%), followed by “Very Conserative” (33%) + “Moderate” (31%). Romney easily won “Somewhat Conserative” (52%) + “Moderate” (59%) by more than 20 points over Gingrich (32% + 20%, respectively). Gingrich took “Very Conservative” at 31% with Romney (30%) + Santorum (22%) trailing behind.
• Independent Party Vote: Romney won at 41% followed by Gingrich (27%), Paul (16%) and Santorum (15%).
• Vote by Income: Romney won each of the three categories - $50,000-$100,000 (45%), less than $50,000 (44%) and $100,000+ (52%), beating Gingrich (33%, 31%, 30%).
• Top Candidate Quality: “Can Defeat Obama” (45%) continues to be the top candidate quality, followed by “Right Experience” (21%), “Strong Moral Character” (17%) and “True Conservative” (14%). Romney took the “Can Defeat Obama” (58% to Gingrich’s 33%) + “Strong Moral Character” (46% to Santorum’s 27%, Paul’s 18% and Gingrich’s 8%), while Gingrich took “Right Experience” (45% to Romney’s 40%) + “True Conservative” (44% to Santorum’s 30%).
• Most Important Issue: Economy also continued to be the top issue (62%), followed by budget deficit (23%) and abortion (7%). Romney won both economy (52% to Gingrich’s 30%) + budget deficit (41% to Gingrich’s 34%). Gingrich won abortion at 43% to Santorum’s 28% + Romney’s 25%.
• Unfair Campaign: The two top candidates, Romney (34%) + Gingrich (33%), ran the most unfair campaigns, while Paul + Santorum only hit 4%.
• Tea Party Movement Opinion: 65% of voters support the Tea Party and prefer Romney (41%) to Gingrich (37%). The neutral opiners (23%) again preferred Romney (57%) to Gingrich (22%). Those opposed (9%) preferred Romney (57%) to Gingrich + Paul (both at 15%).
• Voting Decision Timeframe: Voter decisions were largely made before January (41%) or earlier in January (31%), while decisions made in the last few days (18%) were still significant. Romney won all three categories - before January (55% to Gingrich’s 26%), earlier in January (46% to Gingrich’s 36%) and last few days (42% to Gingrich’s 32%).
• Vote By Education: Romney won all four categories: some college (45% to Gingrich’s 33%), college graduates (48% to Romney’s 28%), never attended college (47% to Gingrich’s 37%) and postgraduate study (46% to Gingrich’s 32%).
• Illegal Immigrants Policy: Romney won each of the three list policy options - apply for citizenship (47% to Gingrich’s 30%), deportation (49% to Gingrich’s 32%) and stay as temporary workers (51% to Gingrich’s 33%).
• Nomination Win Satisfaction: Romney won at 65%, followed by Gingrich at 54% + Santorum at 53%.