US election 2012: Newt Gingrich turns to Ronald Reagan's son to burnish conservative credentials While the Reagan years conjured nostalgia among his audience of mostly older voters, Mr Gingrich's pitch of presenting himself as the candidate capable of drawing a sharp, Conservative contrast with Mr Obama in the November election does not appear to have resonated with more moderate Florida republicans. A poll by Quinnipiac University Polling Institute released on Monday showed Mr Romney with 43 per cent support, compared to 29 percent for Mr Gingrich, with even Conservative voters preferring the former management consultant over the Washington careerist. Two other polls showed Mr Gingrich trailing by between seven and five points in Florida while, in a boost for Mitt Romney, a USA Today/Gallup poll placed him neck-and-neck in a general election contest with Mr Obama, but placed Mr Gingrich a distant 14 points adrift. As the numbers turn against him, Mr Gingrich has promised to wage a war of attrition against the party establishment right up to the Party Convention in August. Struggling to be heard over the barrage of advertising from his much better-funded opponent, Mr Gingrich has begun making increasingly outlandish pledges, urging his supporters to use Facebook and Twitter to spread the campaign message. On his very first day in office, Mr Gingrich said, he would repeal "Obamacare" healthcare legislation as well as two financial regulations acts which Republicans blame for stifling the economy. Envisaging the day of his Inauguration as President, Mr Gingrich said, "By the time Obama lands [back home] in Chicago, we want to have replaced about 40 per cent of his government." Mr Romney used the last day of campaigning to hammer home his claim that while he is a successful businessman who can revive America's economy, Mr Gingrich is a discredited Washington insider who was paid by lobbyists to help destroy Florida's housing market. "If people want to see change in Washington, you can't just let the same people take different chairs," he told a rally in a Jacksonville truck garage. He also came under pressure to explain how he could now condemn Mr Gingrich for waging a negative campaign against his character, while simultaneously doing the same to the former Speaker. He told an interview that Mr Gingrich had "painfully revealed himself" through his approach to the campaign. "It is sad to watch," he told ABC News. I hope he'll return to the issues that people face. Yet Mr Romney's campaign spent last week distributing emails, leaflets and advertisements painting Mr Gingrich as an "erratic" and "unhinged" leader who was found to be corrupt in the 1990s. Pressed to explain the contradiction, he told NBC News: "There's no question that politics ain't beanbags. We have made sure that our message is out there loud and clear. The former Massachusetts governor and the main 'super PAC' backing him are estimated to have spent more than $15.3 million (£9.7 million) in Florida, most on negative attack advertising. Mr Gingrich and the super PAC supporting him have spent about $3.4 million (£2.2 million).