HOT STREAK: Mitt Romney leads President Obama in Florida, which has 29 electoral votes. (
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WASHINGTON — The presidential campaigns yesterday turned up the heat in Florida, as a new poll showed Mitt Romney increasing his lead in that crucial battleground.
The Romney campaign crisscrossed the state, with running mate Paul Ryan stumping in Tampa before joining Romney for a nighttime rally in Daytona Beach with country music star John Rich.
Romney’s wife, Ann, was making campaign stops in Jacksonville.
They were working hard to keep building momentum for Romney in Florida, which has a prized 29 electoral votes toward the 270 needed to capture the White House.
His advantage over President Obama ticked up a point to 51-46 percent in a Rasmussen Reports survey that was released yesterday.
A new CNN poll found Romney leading, 49-48. It was the first time that poll showed Romney ahead in Florida.
The surveys provided fresh evidence that Romney is winning in Florida, site of Monday’s third and final presidential debate.
Obama, who early in the race held a wide lead in the Sunshine State, had considered it a firewall. But now he is increasingly looking to Ohio, Iowa and Colorado to stop Romney’s momentum nationwide. For the first time yesterday, the Republican led on the Real Clear Politics electoral map, with 206 Electoral College votes to Obama’s 201.
At the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Ryan hammered home the message that Romney will champion small business and fix the economy.
“This is the engine of economic opportunity,” Ryan said of the center. “But we’re having some issues right now. The economy isn’t growing anywhere near what it should be. We’re very worried that more and more people are slipping further behind.”
Ryan slammed Obama for presiding over a paltry 1.3 percent annual growth in the US economy. He promised Romney could boost the growth rate to 4 percent and create 12 million jobs.
But the Romney camp wasn’t alone in Florida.
Vice President Joe Biden courted seniors at the retirement community of Sun City, accusing the Romney-Ryan budget plan of gutting Medicaid and “vital programs.”
He said Romney and Ryan were trying to rewrite their budget plan like an “Etch A Sketch.”
“You know those Etch A Sketch tablets that your granddaughters and grandsons have? Man, I tell you they’re shakin’ that sucker . . . and they’re dialing in a new sketch,” Biden said.
He insisted Obama can still win Florida and urged the crowd to take advantage of early voting.
“We need you. We need your help to win the state of Florida, and if we win the state of Florida, this election is over,” Biden said. “This election is done, so go out there now and vote.”