* Romney has big lead in Nevada polls
* Nevada victory would be his second in a row
* Romney hopes it will launch strong February showing
LAS VEGAS, Feb 4 (Reuters) – With a huge lead in the
polls, U.S. Republican front-runner Mitt Romney appeared poised
for an easy win in Nevada on Saturday that would put him in firm
command of the party’s see-sawing presidential nominating
race.
A Nevada victory would be Romney’s second win in a row and
his third in the first five contests in the state-by-state
battle to find a Republican challenger to President Barack Obama
in November’s general election.
Two polls taken this week in Nevada showed the former
Massachusetts governor with a lead of 20 points or more over top
rival Newt Gingrich after recapturing his front-runner status
with a convincing win in Florida on Tuesday.
The caucus sessions began at many of the 125 sites around
Nevada on Saturday morning, although final results were not
expected until after 7 p.m. PST (0300 Sunday GMT). A final
caucus gathering to accommodate Jews observing the Sabbath on
Saturday will begin in Las Vegas at that time.
Nevada, which has a faltering economy and a big Mormon
population, is friendly territory for Romney, a Mormon and
former head of a private equity firm. He captured 51 percent of
the vote in 2008 to win the state during his failed 2008
presidential bid.
He has stressed his business background as a cure for the
ailing economy in Nevada, which has the country’s highest state
unemployment rate, 12.6 percent in December, and the highest
home foreclosure rate.
“This has been a tough three years,” Romney told supporters
in Henderson, Nevada, outside Las Vegas, on Friday night at his
last campaign stop before the vote. “It’s time now for Barack
Obama to get out of the way.”
Romney hopes Nevada’s caucuses will launch a February
winning streak that could position him for a knockout blow to
Gingrich during the 10 “Super Tuesday” contests on March 6 – or
sooner.
Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri will have nominating
contests on Tuesday. Maine will wrap up its weeklong caucuses
next Saturday, and Arizona and Michigan hold Feb. 28 contests.
Romney won Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Maine and Michigan
in 2008. He came in second in Arizona to native son and eventual
nominee John McCain, an Arizona senator, and he finished third
in Missouri.
‘PEOPLE POWER’
Gingrich is hoping to hang in the race until March, when
there will be contests in several southern states where the
former Georgia congressman and U.S. House of Representatives
speaker believes he can do well.
At a campaign stop in Las Vegas on Friday, Gingrich called
himself “the candidate of people power versus money power,”
returning to his theme that Romney is a flawed product of the
elite and a Wall Street favorite.
But some Romney supporters say they are not turned off by
his vast wealth even though Gingrich has made it a campaign
issue. They say they’re backing Romney because he has the best
chance to beat Obama.
“I think he’s the only one who can beat Obama,” said George
Peterson, a retired Air Force veteran who attended a caucus at
Chaparral High School in Las Vegas.
Gayle Darin, an executive assistant at the Bellagio hotel,
said she thought it was time for Republicans to pick a candidate
and begin to focus on Obama.
“A lot of people have rallied behind Romney now,” she said.
“We’ve got to step up and get Obama out of office.”
Ernie Prosch, a retired airline pilot, backed Gingrich
because he liked his ideas for turning around the economy.
“What the country needs is somebody to come up with ideas on
how to get jobs,” he said. “I don’t think you need to be a
businessman to do that, and I don’t think you need millions.”
At the caucus, voters broke into small groups by precinct to
elect delegates to the county convention in March and cast
ballots in the presidential race.
At the precinct attended by Darin, Prosch and Peterson, the
final tally was 12 for Romney, seven for U.S. Representative Ron
Paul, three for Gingrich and none for former U.S. Senator Rick
Santorum. At a caucus at a middle school in Henderson, Romney
won 51 votes to nine for Paul, five for Santorum and two for
Gingrich.
Paul and Santorum have also pledged to keep fighting beyond
Nevada. Santorum will campaign in Colorado on Saturday, and Paul
will visit Minnesota.
Romney will turn his attention to the next round with a
visit to Colorado before returning to Las Vegas for a victory
party on Saturday night.
At least 1,114 delegates are needed to secure the nomination
in August. Nevada will award 28 delegates and split them
proportionally based on the vote total.