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http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/mccain_romney_florida/2008/01/29/68463.html
McCain Beats Romney to Win Florida Primary
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
MIAMI -- Sen. John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary
Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in the battle for the Republican
presidential nomination ahead of next week's contests across 21 states.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared ready to quit the race.
"It shows one thing. I'm the conservative leader who can unite the party,"
McCain said in a brief interview with The Associated Press.
"It's a very significant boost, but I think we've got a tough week ahead and
a lot of states to come."
The victory was worth 57 national convention delegates for McCain, a
winner-take-all haul that catapulted him ahead of Romney for the overall
delegate lead.
Giuliani ran third, his best showing of the campaign but not nearly good
enough for the one-time front-runner who decided to make his last stand in a
state that is home to tens of thousands of transplanted New Yorkers.
In remarks to supporters in Orlando, he referred to his candidacy repeatedly
in the past tense - as though it was over. "We'll stay involved and together
we'll make sure that we'll do everything we can to hand our nation off to
the next generation better than it was before," he said.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee trailed, but told supporters he would
campaign on. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was fifth, and last.
Romney, who has spent millions of dollars of his personal fortune to run for
the White House, also vowed to stay in the race.
"At a time like this, America needs a president in the White House who has
actually had a job in the real economy," he told supporters in St.
Petersburg.
Florida marked the end of one phase of the campaign, the last in a series of
single-state contests.
The campaign goes national next week, with 21 states holding primaries and
caucuses on Tuesday and 1,023 party convention delegates at stake.
Returns from most of the state's precincts showed McCain, the Arizona
senator, with 36 percent of the vote and Romney, the former governor of
Massachusetts, with 31 percent.
The victory was another step in one of the most remarkable political
comebacks of recent times. McCain entered the race the front-runner, then
found his campaign unraveling last summer as his stands in favor of the Iraq
War and a controversial immigration bill proved unpopular.
The war gradually became less of a concern after President Bush's decision
to increase troop deployments began to produce results. McCain also sought
to readjust his position on immigration.
By the time of the New Hampshire primary, he was primed for victory, and got
it. He won the South Carolina primary last week, taking first place in the
state that had snuffed out his presidential hopes in 2000.
A survey of Florida voters as they left their polling places showed the
economy was the top issue for nearly half the Republican electorate. McCain
led his rival among those voters, blunting Romney's weeklong effort to
persuade Floridians that his background as a businessman made him
best-suited for heading off a recession.
McCain also was benefiting from the support of self-described moderates, as
well as older voters and Hispanics. Giuliani ran second among Latino voters,
according to preliminary exit poll data.
Romney was favored by voters opposed to abortion and to easing the path to
citizenship for illegal immigrants.
About 40 percent of self-described conservatives supported him, as well,
compared to about 25 percent for McCain.
The poll was conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International
for The Associated Press and the television networks.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Democratic race, an event that drew no
campaigning by any of the contenders - and awarded no delegates to the
winner.
The Democratic primary was controversial by its very existence, an act of
defiance against national party officials who wanted it held later in the
year.
Even so, Clinton sought to emphasize her performance in the state, holding a
rally as the polls were closing.
She challenged Barack Obama to agree to seat the delegates on the basis of
the night's vote, but he demurred, saying he would abide by an agreement all
Democratic candidates had made months ago.
"Those decisions will be made after the nomination, not before," Obama told
reporters Tuesday on a plane from Washington to Kansas. "Obviously, I care a
lot about the people in Michigan and a lot about the people in Florida. And
I want their votes in the general election. We'll be actively campaigning
for them."
Romney began the evening with 59 Republican delegates, to 36 for McCain and
40 for Huckabee. Giuliani had one.
No matter the winner, there is no time to rest. There are 21 GOP contests on
the ballot on Feb. 5, with 1,023 delegates at stake.
McCain and Romney clashed early and often, in personal appearances and paid
television advertising, in a bruising week of campaigning in Florida.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, said his career as a private
businessman made him perfectly suited to sit in the Oval Office with a
recession looming. Sen. McCain argued he knew his economics well enough, and
that his career in the military and in Congress made him the man to steer
the country in an age of terrorism.
By the campaign's final hours, the two men hurled insults at one another,
each saying the other hoped to travel a liberal road to the presidential
nomination in a party of conservatives.
Romney attacked McCain for his signature legislation to reduce the role of
money in politics, for his position on immigration and for his support of an
energy bill that he said would have driven up consumer costs.
"If you ask people, 'look at the three things Senator McCain has done as a
senator,' if you want that kind of a liberal Democrat course as president,
then you can vote for him," Romney told campaign workers. "But those three
pieces of legislation, those aren't conservative, those aren't Republican,
those are not the kind of leadership that we need as we go forward."
McCain had a ready reply. "On every one of the issues he has attacked us on,
Mitt Romney was for it before he was against it," he said. "The truth is,
Mitt Romney was a liberal governor of Massachusetts who raised taxes,
imposed with Ted Kennedy a big government mandate health care plan that is
now a quarter of a billion dollars in the red, and managed his state's
economy incompetently, leaving Massachusetts with less job growth than 46
other states."
That wasn't all, either.
McCain aired radio commercials criticizing Romney, and his campaign Web site
has an ad superimposing Romney's face on the image of a windsurfing Sen.
John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee.
The Romney campaign also reported numerous negative phone calls, accusing
him incorrectly of supporting taxpayer-funded abortions, opposing President
Bush's tax cuts and favoring direct talks with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
The McCain campaign said it was not responsible for the calls.
McCain Beats Romney to Win Florida Primary
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
MIAMI -- Sen. John McCain won a breakthrough triumph in the Florida primary
Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in the battle for the Republican
presidential nomination ahead of next week's contests across 21 states.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared ready to quit the race.
"It shows one thing. I'm the conservative leader who can unite the party,"
McCain said in a brief interview with The Associated Press.
"It's a very significant boost, but I think we've got a tough week ahead and
a lot of states to come."
The victory was worth 57 national convention delegates for McCain, a
winner-take-all haul that catapulted him ahead of Romney for the overall
delegate lead.
Giuliani ran third, his best showing of the campaign but not nearly good
enough for the one-time front-runner who decided to make his last stand in a
state that is home to tens of thousands of transplanted New Yorkers.
In remarks to supporters in Orlando, he referred to his candidacy repeatedly
in the past tense - as though it was over. "We'll stay involved and together
we'll make sure that we'll do everything we can to hand our nation off to
the next generation better than it was before," he said.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee trailed, but told supporters he would
campaign on. Texas Rep. Ron Paul was fifth, and last.
Romney, who has spent millions of dollars of his personal fortune to run for
the White House, also vowed to stay in the race.
"At a time like this, America needs a president in the White House who has
actually had a job in the real economy," he told supporters in St.
Petersburg.
Florida marked the end of one phase of the campaign, the last in a series of
single-state contests.
The campaign goes national next week, with 21 states holding primaries and
caucuses on Tuesday and 1,023 party convention delegates at stake.
Returns from most of the state's precincts showed McCain, the Arizona
senator, with 36 percent of the vote and Romney, the former governor of
Massachusetts, with 31 percent.
The victory was another step in one of the most remarkable political
comebacks of recent times. McCain entered the race the front-runner, then
found his campaign unraveling last summer as his stands in favor of the Iraq
War and a controversial immigration bill proved unpopular.
The war gradually became less of a concern after President Bush's decision
to increase troop deployments began to produce results. McCain also sought
to readjust his position on immigration.
By the time of the New Hampshire primary, he was primed for victory, and got
it. He won the South Carolina primary last week, taking first place in the
state that had snuffed out his presidential hopes in 2000.
A survey of Florida voters as they left their polling places showed the
economy was the top issue for nearly half the Republican electorate. McCain
led his rival among those voters, blunting Romney's weeklong effort to
persuade Floridians that his background as a businessman made him
best-suited for heading off a recession.
McCain also was benefiting from the support of self-described moderates, as
well as older voters and Hispanics. Giuliani ran second among Latino voters,
according to preliminary exit poll data.
Romney was favored by voters opposed to abortion and to easing the path to
citizenship for illegal immigrants.
About 40 percent of self-described conservatives supported him, as well,
compared to about 25 percent for McCain.
The poll was conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International
for The Associated Press and the television networks.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Democratic race, an event that drew no
campaigning by any of the contenders - and awarded no delegates to the
winner.
The Democratic primary was controversial by its very existence, an act of
defiance against national party officials who wanted it held later in the
year.
Even so, Clinton sought to emphasize her performance in the state, holding a
rally as the polls were closing.
She challenged Barack Obama to agree to seat the delegates on the basis of
the night's vote, but he demurred, saying he would abide by an agreement all
Democratic candidates had made months ago.
"Those decisions will be made after the nomination, not before," Obama told
reporters Tuesday on a plane from Washington to Kansas. "Obviously, I care a
lot about the people in Michigan and a lot about the people in Florida. And
I want their votes in the general election. We'll be actively campaigning
for them."
Romney began the evening with 59 Republican delegates, to 36 for McCain and
40 for Huckabee. Giuliani had one.
No matter the winner, there is no time to rest. There are 21 GOP contests on
the ballot on Feb. 5, with 1,023 delegates at stake.
McCain and Romney clashed early and often, in personal appearances and paid
television advertising, in a bruising week of campaigning in Florida.
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, said his career as a private
businessman made him perfectly suited to sit in the Oval Office with a
recession looming. Sen. McCain argued he knew his economics well enough, and
that his career in the military and in Congress made him the man to steer
the country in an age of terrorism.
By the campaign's final hours, the two men hurled insults at one another,
each saying the other hoped to travel a liberal road to the presidential
nomination in a party of conservatives.
Romney attacked McCain for his signature legislation to reduce the role of
money in politics, for his position on immigration and for his support of an
energy bill that he said would have driven up consumer costs.
"If you ask people, 'look at the three things Senator McCain has done as a
senator,' if you want that kind of a liberal Democrat course as president,
then you can vote for him," Romney told campaign workers. "But those three
pieces of legislation, those aren't conservative, those aren't Republican,
those are not the kind of leadership that we need as we go forward."
McCain had a ready reply. "On every one of the issues he has attacked us on,
Mitt Romney was for it before he was against it," he said. "The truth is,
Mitt Romney was a liberal governor of Massachusetts who raised taxes,
imposed with Ted Kennedy a big government mandate health care plan that is
now a quarter of a billion dollars in the red, and managed his state's
economy incompetently, leaving Massachusetts with less job growth than 46
other states."
That wasn't all, either.
McCain aired radio commercials criticizing Romney, and his campaign Web site
has an ad superimposing Romney's face on the image of a windsurfing Sen.
John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee.
The Romney campaign also reported numerous negative phone calls, accusing
him incorrectly of supporting taxpayer-funded abortions, opposing President
Bush's tax cuts and favoring direct talks with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
The McCain campaign said it was not responsible for the calls.
