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Posted on 01.30.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 2:09 am
Rudy Giuliani’s dismal third place finish in Florida appears to have ended the former NYC Mayor’s campaign tonight. Time Magazine is reporting that McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis has essentially struck a deal with people in the Giuliani camp to secure an endorsement in the next couple of days. Giuliani has long stated that he would be voting for McCain if he hadn’t been running himself. It’s also thought that Giuliani doesn’t want to roll the dice and continue on to Super Tuesday as it would likely mean an ego-crushing defeat in his home state of New York. By defeating Mitt Romney and eliminating Rudy Giuliani, John McCain has all but captured the Republican Presidential nomination here tonight. Also, look for an endorsement from Fred Thompson in the next week or so as McCain consolidates his support among conservatives. Filed under: Breaking News and Campaign 2008 and Endorsements and Florida Primary and John McCain and Rudy Giuliani Comments: 2 Comments |
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Posted on 01.30.08 by Stephen Covington @ 2:00 am
Based on the votes that have been counted so far and the exit polling numbers from CNN, it appears clear that Senator John McCain will win the Florida primary over Mitt Romney. Giuliani and Huckabee are nearly tied for third place, a disaster and fatal blow for Rudy’s campaign. Having been outspent by a margin of 9-1 by Romney, and in a closed primary state where only Republicans can vote, it seems like John McCain has effectively clinched the Republican nomination tonight with his tremendous victory. McCain is the new delegate leader, adding 57 to his total. The race now moves on to Super Tuesday on February 5, which will see about 25 states hold primaries and caucuses, helping to allocate about 4o% of Republican delegates. Filed under: Breaking News and Campaign 2008 and Florida Primary and John McCain and Mitt Romney Comments: 3 Comments |
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Posted on 01.30.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 1:10 am
CNN’s exit polling suggests that this might be a very good night for Senator John McCain. Among male voters, McCain has a 3% lead among men and a 2% lead among women. If these numbers hold, McCain will be awarded the state’s 57 convention delegates. He will also have completed a three state winning streak — South Carolina, Louisiana, and now (maybe) Florida. He will be the delegate leader and the undisputed national front-runner heading into Super Tuesday on February 5th. But first we have to count the actual votes, because exit polling can and sometimes is quite wrong. The current popular vote returns show a razor thin margin between Romney and McCain, with McCain leading by only 0.2% right now. Over 12% of the votes have been counted. This is going to be an exciting and decisive night! Filed under: Breaking News and Campaign 2008 and Election Results and Florida Primary and John McCain Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 01.30.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 12:41 am
A bit of a surprise according to numbers from Fox News, but it appears that John McCain has a slight lead among voters who cite the economy as their main concern. The media has constantly harped on Romney’s supposed economic credentials, but voters may not have bought in. The Fox News numbers show that McCain wins economic voters, but he falls way behind among illegal immigration voters…
Filed under: Breaking News and Campaign 2008 and Florida Primary and John McCain Comments: None |
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Posted on 01.29.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 11:25 pm
Early exit poll results from Florida show that the economy is the dominant issue for Republican voters. About half of Republicans cited it as their top issue, while terrorism, Iraq, and illegal immigration split the other half of the pie. Romney has hammered economic issues hard and conventional wisdom suggests that the mindset of voters is favorable for a Romney win. A local Pensacola NBC affiliate is reporting a strong Romney showing at some local voting locations. The Panhandle was long thought to be a source of some McCain strength and recent polls showed McCain with a slight lead in that part of the state.
It’s important to remember though that random sampling of exit polls from one or two precincts isn’t an effective way to judge larger trends. But the focus on economic concerns suggests a slight advantage for Romney. Another bad sign for McCain is that only 5-7% of voters appear to be Cuban, a community that’s expected to be strong for him following the endorsement of Mel Martinez. Exit polling has been way off in the past, just consider the 2004 elections. And early exit numbers that are leaked on blogs and local TV stations tend to be even less accurate. We’ll just have to wait another couple of hours to see how all of this shakes out. Polls begin closing at 7pm Eastern and the final polls will close at 8pm. Filed under: Campaign 2008 and Florida Primary and Poll Results Comments: 34 Comments |
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Posted on 01.29.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 7:12 pm
Today in Coral Springs, Florida, David Nirenberg arrived to vote as an independent. Nevertheless, he said that poll workers demanded he choose a party. Independents cannot vote in the Presidential primary but are able to weigh in on a controversial property tax amendment that shares the ballot. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Nirenberg was incorrectly forced to pick a party by the poll works. And so at the last minute he wound up deciding to vote for John McCain…
Filed under: Campaign 2008 and Florida Primary and John McCain Comments: None |
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Posted on 01.29.08 by Stephen Covington @ 3:47 pm
An election day poll taken by InsiderAdvantage shows a 1% lead for Arizona senator John McCain, over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the decisive, winner-take-all state of Florida. The state, which may decide who takes the Republican nomination for President, has been considered a lynchpin in the race, and both candidates have furiously scoured the area for every possible vote. Romney has widely touted his business credentials as providing important insight to the state’s economic issues, and McCain has visited military bases. Yesterday saw McCain visiting Atlantic Marine, a shipyard that manufactures military craft near Mayport, Jacksonville’s large naval base. The facility is owned by former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, who is also a McCain supporter and helped to organize the event. Romney hosted a large rally at the SheltAir terminal at Jacksonville International Airport, speaking to a crowd of supporters. The results of the ever-shifting lead will be apparent when the polls close today, and possibly decide the Republican party’s nominee. Filed under: Campaign 2008 and Florida Primary and John McCain and Mitt Romney Comments: None |
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Posted on 01.29.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 4:53 am
As the Florida primary campaign drew to a close, Senator John McCain began his final day of campaigning in Jacksonville. First, McCain toured toured the grounds of Atlantic Marine, which builds Navy ships and commercial vessels. Then he held a forum with national security experts including former CIA director Jim Woolsey, former Veterans Affairs secretary Tony Principi, Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Richard Burr, Governor Keating of Oklahoma, and John Lehman, the former secretary of the Navy. State Representative and McCain supporter Stan Jordan was also present at the event. The assembled panel…
The national press corps, as well as local reporters, were out in force to cover the event at Atlantic Marine…
McCain, when asked to respond to reports that Mitt Romney had called him a liberal, answered: “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.” Following that event, McCain and staff traveled to Jacksonville International Airport for a quick rally where he met with, and receieved the endorsement of, former Jacksonville Mayor Hans Tanzler. Then, he boarded his plane to hit several other major cities in a whirlwind tour of the state. Cindy McCain arrives at the airport…
Senator McCain greets the media and former mayor Hans Tanzler before speaking to supporters at the airport…
Filed under: Campaign 2008 and Florida Primary and John McCain Comments: 3 Comments |
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Posted on 01.29.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 3:55 am
On the eve of a likely third place finish in Florida that will finish his Presidential campaign, Rudy Giuliani is acting like a candidate who knows his days are numbered. NBC’s Matthew Berger has reported that Giuliani gave each member of the press following his campaign a baseball with his signature scribbled between the stitching. Berger writes that…
Earlier, Giuliani made a statement that suggested he would drop out of the race if he failed to win Florida: “The winner of Florida will win the nomination; we’re going to win Florida.” Asked directly if a loss would end his campaign, Giuliani said: “Wednesday morning, we’ll make a decision.” Filed under: Campaign 2008 and Florida Primary and Rudy Giuliani Comments: 1 Comment |
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Posted on 01.28.08 by Austin Cassidy @ 10:11 pm
Senator John McCain has experienced a bump in the last round of Florida polling, giving him a slight lead over Mitt Romney going into tomorrow’s primary. A Rasmussen survey shows both candidates tied at 31% each, this follows a Saturday poll that showed Romney with a 6-point lead over McCain. While the economy is still considered the top issue for Florida voters, and Romney is favored slightly on economic issues, there is good news for McCain there as well. According to Rasmussen, fifty-two percent (52%) of Florida’s Republican Primary Voters say that it’s more important to select a President who can handle national security issues than one who can handle economic issues. Thirty-five percent (35%) take the opposite view. Voters have this preference for national security credentials despite the fact that 43% name the economy as the top voting issue. Just 28% name either the War in Iraq or national security as the top issue. One reason may be that Republican voters in Florida generally believe that the best thing the government can do to help the economy is to get out of the way. In terms of stimulating the economy, 47% say cutting government spending is the best policy. Thirty-nine percent (39%) say cutting taxes is most important. Other new polls out today show a slight, but significant, bump for McCain following his endorsment by Governor Crist and Senator Martinez over the weekend… Zogby - McCain 33%, Romney 30% Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee have fallen far back into third and fourth place, respectively. Filed under: Breaking News and Campaign 2008 and Florida Primary and John McCain Comments: 4 Comments |
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