Three polls out Sunday have Mitt Romney with big leads in Florida headed into Tuesday's primary.

He is up by an average 40-29 margin, with a NBC News/Marist poll giving him a 15-point lead on the top end, and Public Policy Polling giving him an 8-point lead in the closest poll.

The numbers come after two Florida debate performances that most observe say Romney won.

Below are some notes from each poll.

PPP

• 56% of likely voters said they watched Thursday night's debate, and they support Romney 41-35. This is a major departure from what we've found in past polling among debate watchers, who tended to favor Gingrich by large margins. These numbers confirm the conventional wisdom that Thursday night was a rough one for Newt.
• Newt's most publicized proposal of the week is getting panned by Florida voters- only22% support a colony on the Moon while 52% are opposed. Even among Gingrich's own supporters only 34% favor it. I doubt this issue really has much to do with Newt's collapse in Florida but I don't think it's helping him either.

NBC News/Marist

• With votes already in the bank, Romney — 49% — leads Gingrich — 27% — among early and absentee Republican primary voters in Florida. Santorum receives 17% while Paul garners 6%.
• Romney’s best groups include likely Republican primary voters who are not Tea Party supporters — 52% — those who identify themselves as liberal or moderate – 49% — those who are just conservative – 47% — and likely Republican primary voters who earn $75,000 or more — 49%. Romney also outpaces his competition among those who want a candidate who can defeat President Barack Obama in the general election — 45%.

Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald

What looked like a neck-and-neck race at the start of last week quickly
shifted in Romney’s favor as he and his allies drowned Gingrich on Florida
TV and the former House speaker tuhttp://jacksonville.com/node/add/blog-post?blog=403455rned in two listless debate performances. Romney leads in every region of the state — and by 16 percentage points in Tampa Bay. The two Republican front-runners are closest in conservative North Florida, where Romney had 36 percent support and Gingrich 31 percent. “Romney’s margin is largely driven by Republican women, and he also has a very strong base of support among the Hispanic community,’’ said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, which conducted
the poll.

LINK:  http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/matt-dixon/2012-01-29/m...