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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The upcoming Republican caucuses in Florida are turning into a two-man race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, according to the latest polls.

At the same time, Florida’s former governor warned that the campaign rhetoric is becoming so mean that it overlooks the concerns of voters.

A Time Magazine/CNN poll released this week showed Romney with only a slight lead as the preferred candidate of 36 percent of Florida Republicans. Gingrich is favored by 34 percent of Republicans.

Other candidates, such as Rich Santorum and Ron Paul, fall further down in the rankings with 11 percent support for Santorum and 9 percent for Paul.

Both candidates have been concentrating their efforts in other states, where they believe they have stronger chances of winning.

The primary election is scheduled for next Tuesday.

An American Research Group poll of Florida Republicans showed Romney leading with 41 percent of the vote compared with 34 percent for Gingrich. Once again, Santorum and Paul could claim only small portions of the support.

Romney also appears to be the best candidate to challenge President Barack Obama, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday.

Florida voters split evenly, with 45 percent favoring Romney and 45 percent Obama if the election were held now. In a race between Gingrich and Obama, Gingrich trailed by 11 points with 50 percent for Obama and 39 percent for Gingrich.

The tight race between Romney and Gingrich has made the two candidates launch tough allegations and insults against each other.

Romney has started running television ads that imply Gingrich contributed to the Great Recession that began in September 2008 through his links to federal mortgage agency Freddie Mac.

Economists blame the recession largely on loose credit terms granted by mortgage lenders to home buyers, who later were unable to repay the loans.

The ads are running in Florida and Nevada, where another presidential caucus is scheduled for Feb. 4.

A narrator for the Nevada ads says, “While Nevada families lost everything in the housing crisis, Newt Gingrich cashed in.”

The ad continues by saying, “Gingrich was paid over $1.6 million by the scandal-ridden agency that helped create the crisis.”

The ad also mentions that Gingrich was cited for ethics violations while he was in Congress and “resigned in disgrace.”

Gingrich hammered back during speeches he gave while touring Florida this week. He accused the former Massachusetts governor of lying and hypocrisy.

Gingrich has been saying that Romney is out of touch with most voters, as shown by the tax returns he recently released from last year showing that he earned more than $24 million but paid slightly more than 14 percent of it in taxes. Most Americans pay around 25 percent of their annual earnings in income tax.

The returns also showed Romney held investment accounts in the Cayman Islands and in Switzerland.

Romney’s hypocrisy about representing the interests of most Americans should make “every American angry,” Gingrich said.

He criticized Romney’s attack ads by saying, “This is the desperate last stand of the old order. This is the kind of gall they have to think we’re so stupid and we’re so timid.”

“Here’s a guy who owns Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae stock,” Gingrich told a crowd of about 1,000 supporters in Mount Dora, Fla. “He owns a Goldman Sachs subsidiary, which is foreclosing on Floridians. And on that front he decides to lie about my career? There’s something about the hypocrisy that should make every American angry.”

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said the candidates should leave the heated rhetoric they direct against each other behind and begin appealing to a broader audience of voters.

Bush said he would remain neutral in the Republican primary race.

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