STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
DAVID GREENE, HOST:
And I'm David Greene.
Each of the first states to vote in the presidential race raises the stakes.
INSKEEP: Iowa holds the first caucus, New Hampshire, the first primary. South Carolina is the first Southern state to vote.
GREENE: And now Florida is the first really big state to choose. It will test the very different ways the leading contenders have campaigned.
INSKEEP: Rick Santorum has relied on personal appearances, Newt Gingrich on strong debate performances. Only Mitt Romney arrives in Florida with lots of money and organization.
GREENE: But Romney also faces a lot of questions after a crushing defeat in South Carolina.
NPR's Greg Allen reports from the next battleground.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: For the three Republican candidates actively competing here - Gingrich, Romney and Santorum - the stakes have been raised. Florida's primary, eight days from now, is winner-take-all. The top finisher gets 50 delegates, more than Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina combined.
Florida Republican Chairman Lenny Curry notes Florida is not just larger, it's also more diverse ethnically and politically.
LENNY CURRY: Because we are that diverse, winning a primary in Florida, you've basically won in a state that represents what America represents, which I think speaks to the electability and competitiveness in a general election.
ALLEN: For Mitt Romney, Florida represents a chance to hit the reset button on his campaign. A day after his drubbing in South Carolina, he held a campaign rally in Ormond Beach.
(SOUNDBITE OF CAMPAIGN RALLY)
MITT ROMNEY: Are you ready to send Barack Obama home to Chicago?
(CHEERING)
You know, last time, some people in Florida gave him a pass to the White House. We're taking it back, right?
(CHEERING)
ALLEN: In Florida, Romney has a lot going for him. Polls taken here - before the South Carolina primary - show him with a strong lead. He has a well-funded statewide organization that's been working for months. And he's already spent millions on campaign ads, far outdistancing any other candidate.
One thing his campaign has done is organize absentee voters. More than a week before the primary, about 200,000 Floridians have already cast ballots, either through the mail or at early-voting locations.
Yesterday, in a South Florida suburb, Coral Springs, I caught up with voter Jack Frost, who'd just cast his early ballot for Romney. I asked him whether he thought Floridians would be influenced by the South Carolina results.
JACK FROST: No, because I don't view the demographics of South Carolina to be similar to the demographics in Florida. I don't think that the values that they embrace up there are embraced by a majority of the people who live in Florida.
ALLEN: Among Florida Republicans, polls show the number one issue is jobs and the economy. Social issues are less important here.
Romney has signaled that he is taking the gloves off, attacking Gingrich for his work as a lobbyist. His campaign has also called for Gingrich to release records of the congressional ethics investigation conducted while he was House speaker.
Yesterday, at a campaign rally in Coral Springs, Rick Santorum also directed some of his fire at Gingrich.
(SOUNDBITE OF CAMPAIGN RALLY)
RICK SANTORUM: When Newt was speaker of the House, well, within three years, the conservatives in the House of Representatives tried to throw him out. And in the fourth year, they did. Why? Because he wasn't governing as a conservative.
ALLEN: While two of his rivals were taking potshots, Gingrich wasn't in Florida yesterday. He took his campaign to the Sunday talk shows. On CNN, he outlined his pitch to Florida Republicans.
(SOUNDBITE OF CNN BROADCAST)
NEWT GINGRICH: I think my job in Florida is to convince people that I am the one candidate who can clearly defeat Obama in a series of debates, and the one candidate who has big enough solutions that they would really get America back on track.
ALLEN: With less money and organization, Gingrich begins the battle for Florida less well-armed than Romney. But coming off his victory in South Carolina, he has something that might be even better: momentum.
Yesterday, voter Jean Hicks cast her early ballot for Gingrich. She liked him before the South Carolina debates, she said. But his performance - especially his sharp rejoinders with members of the media asking the questions - showed her he's just what the country needs.
JEAN HICKS: We need somebody that can truly be bold and say it as it is, without any fear and without any precaution, just say it. Just say what the people are feeling. We are hurting out here.
ALLEN: Unlike Iowa, New Hampshire and even South Carolina, Florida is too big to win through grassroots campaigning alone. The only way to effectively reach the state's four million registered Republicans is through TV. But in a state with 10 major media markets, that's costly. A statewide TV ad campaign costs more than a million dollars a week.
Romney's ads have been up for weeks, and more are coming. Gingrich and Santorum will get what may be their best chance to talk to voters statewide when the candidates meet in two televised debates. The first one is tonight in Tampa.
Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.