Mitt Romney (Creative Commons)

Mitt Romney wins the 2012 Florida GOP Primary making him the clear frontrunner moving forward. Mr. Gingrich we hardly knew ye'.

When voters were asked at exit polls what the most important factor was in deciding their vote, Floridians overwhelmingly said "beating Barack Obama" was the most important thing in a candidate. Clearly, the Republican voters of Florida feel like Mitt Romney has the best chance at defeating Barack Obama in the general election, and I agree with them (although I don't think any Republican has much of a chance at defeating Barack Obama).  

Money and Moderates.  As I have been saying for the past few weeks, Newt Gingrich has no chance at winning in a general election. The Florida primary highlighted his weaknesses. His first is that he did poorly among moderate voters and women in particular, as most of them voted for Romney. His appeal to southern conservatives is alienating him from the rest of the GOP electorate. His second is his inability in keeping up with Mitt Romney's campaign spending. In Florida, Mitt Romney outspent Newt Gingrich 5 to 1 on TV advertising. It is difficult to win a race where your opponent is beating the hell out of you on TV, and you can't afford to respond to the attacks.

Food for Thought.  So Romney is the favorite to win the Republican nomination, and he likely will. There is one question that remains: Can the GOP come together and rally around Romney after all the mudslinging that has taken place and will continue to take place up until the convention? How will the southern conservatives react? Will they warm up to Romney? Will the GOP be unified? If it's not, there isn't a chance in hell they can beat Obama. All hands will need to be on deck if they want to win.  

What Keeps Mitt Up At Night.  There is one segment of the GOP electorate that has eluded Mitt Romney. They vote on principle, not on electability. They tend to not follow the national trends or public opinion. They are southern conservative voters. They don't like Mitt Romney and I doubt they ever will. Even if Romney is the nominee, I doubt southern conservatives will be very enthusiastic. I doubt they will volunteer for him. I doubt they will make campaign phone calls for him. I doubt they will go door to door for him in their communities. I doubt they will donate money to his campaign (not that Mitt is hurting for money or anything). I doubt they will do much of anything for Mitt Romney's cause. Some of them may not even bother to vote. This scares Mitt Romney. It keeps him up at night. He knows when the time comes, he will need them to beat Obama. 

Follow Ryan on Twitter here