Mitt Romney can argue that winning ugly is still winning, especially in a contest he could not afford to lose. But Romney’s decisive victory in Florida came at a price. He aggravated Newt Gingrich’s hostility to him, with all the trouble that could entail, and left behind a dispirited Republican electorate in a state the GOP needs to win this fall. At least until now, this primary process has weakened rather than strengthened Romney. It has sowed doubts that he has any understanding of how average people live, and opened up a slew of questions about his personal wealth and the taxes he pays.

These queries will come back again and again, and some will be hard for him to answer, notably whether he will disclose as much about his taxes to the voters in his 2012 quest for the presidency as he turned over to John McCain’s vetters in 2008, when Romney was merely pursuing the vice presidency.

None of this will diminish the short-term elation Romney’s advisers feel. Just 10 days ago, the polls suggested he could lose the Florida primary to Gingrich. Had this happened, establishment Republicans would have turned on Romney and begun a clamor for a late-entry savior candidate.

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