By Catalina Camia, USA TODAY
Updated 8:48 a.m. ET
Fresh from his decisive
Florida primary victory, Mitt Romney said this morning the combative
attacks he traded with rival Newt Gingrich were "helpful" and will make
him tougher.
STORY: Romney the comeback kid
Romney
acknowledged the sharp tenor of the GOP presidential race in round of
morning talk-show interviews. He said the bitter charges he and Gingrich
exchanged in Florida will help him in the fall if he wins the
Republican nomination.
The former Massachusetts governor, who has
won two of the first four primaries or caucuses, said he's prepared to
take the GOP race all the way to the national convention in Tampa this
August.
"I recognize this is going to be a long road. But I recognize that this is going to be a long road," he said on CNN's Starting Point. "I certainly want to go a long way, go to the convention as a winner."
On NBC's Today
show, Romney said "the path ahead is looking very good." He added that
he tried to give the "truth" to Florida voters about Gingrich. The
former House speaker charged several times in the last 10 days that
Romney was distorting his record.
"What's going to come from Barack Obama will be the same, just a heck of a lot more it," Romney said.
Romney
also noted that Gingrich did not call him last night to congratulate
him on his 14-point Florida victory or when he won the New Hampshire
primary, even though Romney called Gingrich when he won the South
Carolina primary.
"I guess Speaker Gingrich doesn't have our phone number," he said on NBC.
Asked about a Boston Globe
report that he is seeking former rival Michele Bachmann's endorsement,
Romney did not answer specifically about courting the Minnesota
congresswoman. But he told NBC that he would like "all endorsements I
can possibly get."