Round Up: February 2nd

• Romney polling very well in Nevada
• "I'm not concerned about the very poor", says Romney
• GOP Chairman criticised for comparing Obama to Costa Concordia Captain

Latest Nevada Polls

Mitt Romney is likely to receive a comfortable victory in the Nevada caucus on Saturday. A poll in the Las Vegas Review Journal has him leading Newt Gingrich by 20 points amongst likely caucus goers. His 45% vote share will give him a very significant share of Nevada’s delegates which are assigned proportionally.
Mr Romney has also retaken the lead in national polls after his big victory in Florida on Tuesday. He now has 31%, giving him a 5 point lead over his closest rival, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Romney "unconcerned about the very poor"

However, Mr Romney is coming under fire for a comment he made after his victory in Florida where he said that he was not “concerned about the very poor”. The multi-millionaire has a perceived weakness because of his wealth and apparent inability to engage with the problems of the poor. Last week, he released his recent tax returns, which revealed that in 2010 he paid an effective tax rate of 13.9% on income of $21.7mn.

His opponent for the Republican nomination, Newt Gingrich, has jumped on this, saying: “I am fed up with politicians in either party dividing Americans against each other. My goal is to find steps for every American to have a job, every American to work, every American to be able to buy a house.”

Senior Republican reprimanded for Obama-Schettino comparison

A senior Republican has been criticised by his predecessor for comparing President Obama to Francesco Schettino, the captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, who apparently abandoned his ship after it ran aground.

Reince Priebus, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee said: "In a few months … we're going to talk about our own little Captain Schettino, which is President Obama who's abandoning the ship here in the United States and is more interested in campaigning than doing his job as president." He was criticised by his predecessor, Michael Steele, and the White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, who said that Mr Priebus was “desperate for attention”.

Mr Priebus’ comments were part of an attempt to move away from the current in-fighting amongst Republican candidates and onto criticism of President Obama, a theme which was very much apparent in Governor Romney’s victory speech in Florida on Tuesday night.