LUCIE, Florida (Reuters) – Bolstered by positive poll numbers, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Saturday sought to vanquish rival Newt Gingrich in Florida with a biting new ad about ethics charges and a mocking tone about his debate complaints.

Just days ahead of a pivotal primary race that could determine who has the momentum to win the Republican state-by-state nominating battle, Romney and Gingrich traveled around Florida in a final weekend pitch to undecided voters.

Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and off-and-on front-runner to take on Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election, needs a victory on Tuesday to regain his footing after losing badly to Gingrich in the South Carolina primary vote last weekend.

Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, needs a Florida win to solidify the frontrunner mantle he took on after his resounding victory in the third nominating contests.

“If we win Florida, I will be the nominee,” Gingrich declared at a golf facility in Port St. Lucie.

Polls show Romney with an edge, however, and the former private equity executive used his momentum and financial muscle to draw up a closing argument that Gingrich’s behavior in Congress made him unfit to be the Republican Party’s leader.

In a simple ad titled “History Lesson” — a play on Gingrich’s background as a historian — Romney’s campaign showed footage of an NBC television anchor’s news report the day Democrats and Republicans found him guilty of ethics violations in 1997.

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) – Republican Newt Gingrich has had great success recently by firing up conservative voters with attacks on debate moderators. But a flat-footed performance in Thursday’s debate suggests he might have tried the tactic once too often.

The former U.S. House speaker’s runaway win in the South Carolina primary on Saturday was attributed in large part to the way he went after the mainstream media in general and debate moderators in particular.

But Gingrich’s jab at Thursday’s moderator, Wolf Blitzer of CNN, failed to stick as he, Romney, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and Texas Representative Ron Paul took part in the final debate before Tuesday’s Republican primary.

“This is a nonsense question,” Gingrich huffed when Blitzer asked about Romney’s tax and financial disclosures. “How about if the four of us agree for the rest of the evening, we’ll actually talk about issues that relate to governing America?” Gingrich said.

The comment drew moderate applause but Blitzer did not back down.

“Mr. Speaker, you made an issue of this, this week, when you said that, ‘He lives in a world of Swiss bank and Cayman Island bank accounts.’ I didn’t say that. You did.”

Gingrich said he was “perfectly happy to say that on an interview on some TV show. But this is a national debate.”

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) – Republican presidential rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich clashed bitterly over illegal immigration on Thursday night at a contentious debate that will set the stage for Florida’s primary vote in five days.

The neck-and-neck nature of the race for Florida and its crucial implications for the Republican presidential nomination added a level of tension in the debate arena at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville as the candidates sparred.

Bickering erupted from the first question and continued throughout over illegal immigration, Romney’s wealth, Gingrich’s past work for the troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac, and even Gingrich’s stated desire to build a permanent colony on the moon.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, took umbrage at Gingrich’s description of him as “anti-immigrant,” in dismissing as a fantasy Romney’s belief that illegal immigrants could be induced to “self-deport.”

“That’s inexcusable,” Romney said, turning to Gingrich. “I’m not anti-immigrant. My father was born in Mexico … The idea that I’m anti-immigrant is repulsive. Don’t use a term like that.”

Gingrich, who has offered a softer version of immigration policy than most Republican conservatives, insisted the United States cannot rationally deport millions of people and that some who have lived here for decades should be allowed to stay.

But he added some confusion to his position by saying he would support some version of “self-deportation.”

COCOA BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich likes to be known as an ideas guy. His brainstorms can seem straight out of science fiction – establishing a colony on the moon – or the novels of Charles Dickens – putting poor children to work as janitors.

The long line of head-scratchers provides fodder for his opponents to attack Gingrich’s “electability.” The thought process that might lie behind the ideas – like suggesting mandatory drug testing for federal aid applicants – also contributes to the candidate’s reputation as a polarizing figure in the Republican race to pick a challenger to Democratic President Barack Obama in November’s election.

“It’s his greatest strength and his most significant weakness. Senator (Rick) Santorum accused him in a debate last week of having ‘grandiose ideas.’ Gingrich happily accepted the charge,” said Dan Schnur, communications director for Senator John McCain’s 2000 Republican primary campaign.

Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, is running neck and neck with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in polls ahead of Florida’s pivotal primary next Tuesday and in national Republican surveys.

Gingrich’s odd ideas can pop up at campaign events, in his writings, in appearances on Sunday talk shows – a trend that led Romney to snipe this week that Gingrich was capable of delivering “an October surprise a day,” referring to an unexpected negative development shortly before the presidential election.

Much of Gingrich’s cache of big ideas has been in the realm of outer space, in keeping with his admiration of science fiction author Isaac Asimov and others.

“By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon, and it will be American,” Gingrich said on a visit to Florida’s space coast on Wednesday. “Of course, we would have a manned colony on the moon that flew an American flag.”

MIAMI (Reuters) – He may not have much money or a ground game to speak of in Florida but Republican Rick Santorum will not pull out of the presidential race – much to the chagrin of rival Newt Gingrich and probably to the delight of a bruised Mitt Romney.

After Gingrich scored a resounding win in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, the former House speaker badly wants to unite conservative and Tea Party elements of the Republican party behind him ahead of Florida’s January 31 vote.

That would be easier to do if the socially conservative Santorum slipped away, especially in the face of a fulsome Florida campaign by Romney. But Santorum vowed to keep his shoestring campaign alive as it heads to the Sunshine State after finishing third on Saturday.

“This is a long haul,” Santorum said early Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

To his credit, the former Pennsylvania senator with a penchant for sweater vests has battled from the back of the pack to a surprise win in Iowa’s caucuses and a respectable 17 percent of the vote in South Carolina.

“A few weeks ago, this may have seemed implausible,” said Jack Glaser, a professor at University of California, Berkeley. “But with his showing in Iowa and Romney’s slide in South Carolina and with the very deep flaws and vulnerabilities in both Romney and Gingrich as candidates, it is not laughable.”

Moving on to Florida, Santorum picked up on attack lines he employed against his former congressional colleague last week. He called Gingrich “erratic” and “a very high-risk candidate” who is out of step with the many Republicans on Wall Street bailouts, health policy, immigration and global warming.

FOXBORO, MA (Reuters) – New England quarterback Tom Brady notched a playoff win for the first time in four seasons and said victories, not records, are his number one priority.

The three-times Super Bowl winner schooled his highly-touted young opponent Tim Tebow in leading the Patriots to a 45-10 thrashing of the Denver Broncos on Saturday in the AFC divisional playoff game.

“The team revolves around him,” Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez said of Brady. “When he’s ready, we’re all ready.”

Brady threw six touchdown passes, matching a playoff single-game record and moving into third place all-time among NFL quarterbacks in the postseason.

He threw for 363 total yards, a franchise playoff record.

Brady, 34, now owns the second highest number of playoff wins for an NFL quarterback (15) and can tie Joe Montana for the record next week in the AFC Championship game.

The quarterback said setting records came a distant second to notching wins, especially after the embarrassment of back-to-back playoff losses on home turf.

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman put a brave face on a third-place finish in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday that kept him in the White House race but raised questions about how much longer he can hold on.

After campaigning almost exclusively in New Hampshire in recent months, Huntsman pulled in 17 percent, with votes counted from two-thirds of the state’s precincts.

That was better than his showing in many opinion polls but still short of the kind of strong surge he needed to present a big threat to front-runner Mitt Romney.

Huntsman is likely to struggle at the next primary on January 21 in South Carolina, where traditionally conservative voters are unlikely to embrace his positions like support for gay civil unions and pulling out of Afghanistan as soon as possible.

“I’d say third place is a ticket to ride, ladies and gentleman,” Huntsman told supporters after results came in on Tuesday, promising to head to South Carolina.

Huntsman traveled thousands of miles criss-crossing New Hampshire since May in a black SUV, attending almost 170 events in his strategy to concentrate on retail politics in a state where Republican voters are moderate and independent thinkers.

LATE POLLS BOOST

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Mitt Romney took a crucial step toward the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday as he scored a solid victory in New Hampshire despite blistering attacks on his record as a businessman.

With 25 percent of precincts reporting, the former Massachusetts governor and private equity executive had won 37 percent of the vote. He outpaced rivals Ron Paul, a U.S. congressman known for libertarian views, and Jon Huntsman, a moderate former U.S. ambassador to China. Paul was drawing about 24 percent and Huntsman 17 percent.

U.S. television networks declared Romney the victor as soon as polls closed.

Following on his January 3 victory in Iowa – the first Republican nominating contest – Romney could now find it easier to convince skeptics that he is the party’s best choice to take on Democratic President Barack Obama on November 6.

Romney has struggled to win over conservatives who are unnerved by his shifting stances on hot-button social issues like abortion and his stint as a centrist governor of neighboring Massachusetts. Some conservative Christian voters are wary of his Mormon faith.

With economic concerns topping the agenda, Romney has argued that his experience as head of investment firm Bain Capital would make him the best candidate to put the shaky U.S. economy on a stronger footing.

In recent days, rivals like former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich have painted him as a heartless corporate raider who enjoys cutting jobs – an unusual debate in the business-friendly Republican Party.

WOLFEBORO, New Hampshire (Reuters) – If Mitt Romney gets his wish, the ranks of presidential retreats that include Crawford, Texas, and Rancho del Cielo near Santa Barbara, California, could soon be joined by Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Big change could be coming to the rustic but affluent lakeside resort town on Lake Winnipesaukee if front-runner Romney becomes Republican nominee Romney, and ultimately President Romney after the November 2012 election.

Residents are already bracing for the good, the bad and the ugly that could accompany a “Northern White House.”

The Romney’s summer house on New Hampshire’s largest lake is a three-story, six-bedroom, 5,400-square-foot contemporary home set on an 11-acre lot with a wide water frontage and estimated value of about $10 million.

The spread includes a large boathouse and a former stable that has been converted into a guest house. It sits well back from the road up a long driveway, invisible to passers-by.

The Romney clan, which includes five grown children and 16 grandchildren, often congregate in Wolfeboro in the summer. Empty-nesters Mitt and Ann Romney also own a townhouse in Belmont, Massachusetts, and an oceanfront house in La Jolla, California, which is undergoing a fourfold expansion.

Locals describe the Wolfeboro house, within walking distance of town, as tasteful and classy, which is also pretty much how they describe the owners.