Speaking on CNN on Wednesday, and in a lame attempt later to spin his remarks, Mr. Romney tried to explain that he was focused on middle-income Americans because the poor — now a full 15 percent of the population — already have a government safety net. He failed to mention, of course, that his policies, and those of his fellow Republicans in Washington, would drive more people into that net — while at the same time shredding it.

The remark was in keeping with the callous tone of the campaign for the Florida primary, in which Mr. Romney handily beat Newt Gingrich. Even in his victory speech Tuesday night, Mr. Romney hinted darkly at the tone of the campaign to come. He accused President Obama of ordering “religious organizations to violate their conscience” and vowed to defend religious liberty.

It was a reference to the Obama administration’s requirement that large religious institutions, like hospitals and universities, provide insurance coverage for birth control. He was promising to defend the Roman Catholic Church’s “religious liberty” to deprive its tens of thousands of employees and university students of their own liberty.