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Romney favored to win big in Nevada
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney looks set to romp to victory in the Nevada caucus on Saturday, cementing his position as frontrunner four days after his crushing Florida win.
Voting began in the Silver State at 9:00 am (1700 GMT), with Romney holding a big lead in polls as he and rival candidates prepared to head to the next nominating contest in Colorado, another Western state.
"I was always leaning towards Newt Gingrich, but I think I'll vote for Romney today. He's more stable, he had some very good answers last night on the television," said retiree Catherine Scherer as she arrived as a caucus in suburban Las Vegas. "I think he would make a good man in there."
Carl Lindstrom, 73, said the former Massachusetts governor would also get his vote.
"I think he has the presence, the prestige, the knowledge," he said, adding that the economy and illegal immigration were his main concerns.
Despite a wobble this week with a gaffe about America's poor, the former Massachusetts governor has a huge 20-25 point lead over his rivals in Nevada.
But there is no sign that any of his three opponents, led by former House speaker Gingrich, plan to throw in the towel.
Romney is expected to repeat his triumph here of four years ago, helped by strong backing from fellow Mormons which could see him consign nearest rival Gingrich to a distant second place. Voting will close at 2300 GMT.
The frontrunner seems to finally be gaining support from Republicans who describe themselves as "very conservative," a key group "he's had a huge amount of trouble with in other states," Public Policy Polling said on Friday.
"This will be a pretty thorough victory for him," PPP said, citing dominance among all demographic groups and predicting the former Massachusetts governor could win 50 percent of the vote, trouncing Gingrich's 25 percent.
Gingrich, who turned the Republican race for the White House on its head with a big win in the South Carolina primary last month, is struggling to regain any momentum after a heavy loss to Romney in Florida on Tuesday.
"Nevada Republicans actually dislike him, with only 41 percent holding a favorable opinion of him to 49 percent with a negative one," PPP said.
"That's an indication that (Republican) voters might be starting to sour on him again, sending his numbers back to pre-South Carolina levels."
Nevada is the first western US state to take part in the nominating contest which will eventually select the Republican Party's challenger for the November elections against Democratic President Barack Obama.
Romney is aiming for a third victory over Gingrich, after New Hampshire and Florida, and he seems to have dampened down a row that broke out after he made a gaffe in which he said he was "not concerned" about "very poor" Americans.
"I misspoke, plain and simple," Romney told CNN on Friday, referring to his remarks two days earlier in which the multimillionaire said the country's worst off had a safety net.
Romney insisted the context of his comments showed he was concerned about all Americans, but his focus is on middle class voters who have been worst hit by a recession and sluggish US recovery after the 2008 global downturn.
The remarks about the poor sparked new accusations that the wealthy former venture capitalist, who lives off the returns made on his investments, is out of touch with ordinary voters.
Gingrich in an eve-of-caucus rally in Las Vegas renewed his attacks on the frontrunner for the slip.
"Governor Romney is trying to recover from his boo boo," he said to laughter and whoops from supporters at a music bar in the desert gambling city.
Romney also raised eyebrows after he released tax filings showing he earned $20 million from his investments in 2010 and paid just 13.9 percent in taxes -- a lower rate than many struggling Americans.
In his last pre-caucus rally Friday night in Henderson, south of Las Vegas, Romney sought to buoy supporters gathered in a pizza restaurant parking lot.
"Vote tomorrow, get out there, thanks you guys!" he said at the end of a 10-minute version of his stump speech, before they dispersed into the chilly desert night air.
Romney, 64, came second in the first Republican contest in Iowa, then swept the second contest in New Hampshire before Gingrich, 68, thumped him in the South Carolina primary in mid-January.
