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McCain, Romney in Close Race in Florida

Posted on: Wednesday, 23 January 2008, 21:00 CST

TAMPA, Fla. - Less than a week before Tuesday's Florida Republican presidential primary, a new poll shows Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mitt Romney in a statistical tie, with Rudy Giuliani a distant third in the state.

The poll of 800 likely voters conducted for the St. Petersburg Times, the Miami Herald and Bay News 9 showed McCain at 25 percent and Romney at 23 percent, with Giuliani, the former New York mayor, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 15 percent each.

Showing just how much the political landscape has changed in Florida, the same poll in November had Giuliani winning by 17 points. The Republican poll numbers confirm the tight nature of the race depicted by earlier polls, but this is the first measurement that shows Giuliani losing support.

Actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson, who dropped out of the race Tuesday, was at 4 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul was at 3 percent, the poll showed.

In the Democratic race, Sen. Hillary Clinton held a wide lead over Sen. Barack Obama, 42 percent to 23 percent. Former Sen. John Edwards was third with 12 percent, the poll said. Democrats are not campaigning in Florida, due to the national party's decision to penalize Florida Democrats for moving up the date of the primary.

With a key Democratic primary Saturday in South Carolina, the Clinton campaign launched a radio ad seeking to capitalize on a comment Obama made last week that Republicans were the "party of ideas" for much of the 1990s.

The New York senator and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have spent much of the past week focusing on Obama's statement and suggesting the remark indicates Obama may admire GOP policies.

Obama has charged that the Clintons have mischaracterized his comments to a Reno newspaper, in which he said that the Republicans succeeded in reshaping the political climate during the 1980s and again during the `90s. Obama's protests over the Clintons' portrayal of the remark were the opening shot in the bitter, fiercely personal debate between the Democratic front-runners on Monday.

The new ad stirred a furious response from the Obama campaign. By day's end, Obama's campaign had released its own radio ad disputing Clinton's spot and charging she is "making false attacks."

Meanwhile in Florida, McCain and Romney sparred over tax cuts, as both candidates argued they are better able to manage the nation through economic trouble.

As McCain told an economic forum in Orlando that he is "convinced that we can make a comeback" by making President Bush's tax cuts permanent, Romney pointed out that McCain in 2004 opposed making the cuts permanent. "These are troubling statements and positions," the Romney campaign said in a statement.

Romney campaigned along the Gulf Coast, telling supporters in Sarasota and Tampa that the nation needs someone with private sector experience to lead the nation, not another "Washington insider," as Romney said.

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers offered a glass houses defense, saying Romney has earned the Olympic gold medal for flip-flopping in this race, citing changed positions on abortion, gun control and other issues.

On the endorsement front, McCain picked up the backing of retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf while Romney won the backing of Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.

Source: Chicago Tribune

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