McCain Wins Florida Primary

Following a general surge in his rankings lately, Senator McCain emerged victorious in the Florida primary held on Tuesday, January 29. With this win, McCain may have secured his position for the crucial race that will involve 21 states. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared ready to quit the race.

McCain won 57 national delegates, in the process beating Mitt Romney, who was his closest contender. Giuliani secured a third position, from a state boasting a good population of New Yorkers. Mike Huckabee came fourth, and Ron Paul trailed in last.

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.
With the victory, McCain, who had slipped down the ranks last summer, is enjoying a remarkable comeback.

With Florida, the first part of the presidential campaign consisting of single-state contests is now over. Twenty-one states are expected to have their primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008.









Availing of the opportunity to get back at those who questioned his conservative credentials, the senior Arizona senator told the Associated Press, "It shows one thing. I'm the conservative leader who can unite the party." He however acknowledged that it might be too early to predict anything yet. "It's a very significant boost, but I think we've got a tough week ahead and a lot of states to come," he said.

Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani seemed to be on the verge of quitting. Speaking in Orlando, he seemed to be dropping a hint that his presidential bid was already over. "We'll stay involved," he said, "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." However, Romney who has invested his personal fortune into his campaign, and Huckabee said they were determined to fight to the finish.

Romney, a former businessman referred to the economic crisis facing America to power his campaign. "At a time like this, America needs a president in the White House who has actually had a job in the real economy," he said at a meeting in St. Petersburg.

According to a survey of the voters conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and the television networks, only about 25 percent of voters who considered themselves conservatives voted for McCain as opposed to about 40 percent who voted for Romney. The economy was seen to be on the top of the lists of many as the crucial issue facing America. That McCain won from amongst these voters, seriously undermines the usefulness of Romney's projection of himself as the only man to stop the economy from sliding into a recession. Besides, certain moderates, as well as senior citizens and Hispanics also voted for McCain. On the other hand, voters with anti-abortion sentiments, as well as those opposed to citizenship for aliens, supported Romney.

From amongst the Democrats, Hillary Clinton won and later held a rally; no other candidates campaigned and nor were any delegates selected. Clinton defied her rival Barack Obama to agree upon seating delegates according to the votes they had received, Obama declined.