Florida Results

Fox News and AP have just called the race in Florida for McCain, with McCain beating Romney by about 5 points with 62% of precincts reporting. In addition, Mark Halperin of Time Magazine is reporting that Rudy may endorse McCain as early as tomorrow.

Naturally, I'm very disappointed with the results, as anyone would be sad that their chosen candidate, who you've campaigned for, blogged for, and donated money to, didn't win. Rudy inspired me like no other candidate. I looked past his views on social issues because of his marvelous record in NYC and his leadership on 9/11. Once he promised that he would appoint conservative judges, he sealed my support. Rudy will always have my admiration and support in his future endeavours. And who knows where the road leads him. In just two short years, a fairly unpopular governor from New York will be up for reelection, so who knows...

Yet, tomorrow's another day, and there's still several Republican candidates to choose from, all with strong records and resumes. If, as reported, Rudy does drop out tomorrow, I will have to go through the process of selecting another candidate to vote for next Tuesday. Just for fun, I took one of those online presidential candidate selectors tonight, and here are my results for the top four candidates still left in the GOP field:

68% - Mike Huckabee
58% - Mitt Romney
55% - John McCain
33% - Ron Paul

Of course, other factors will also play a large role in my decision making, such as electability and endorsements. Right now, the polls show that McCain is the best candidate to beat either Hillary or Obama. Plus, if he receives Rudy's endorsement tomorrow, on top of his endorsement from Sam Brownback (who is actually the closest to me ideologically), that will increase points in McCain's column for me. However, I'm still in the process of making my decision. Ironically, for someone who has never understood the "undecided voter" (I always know who I'm voting for weeks, if not months, in advance), I'm now an undecided voter with less than one week to make up my mind. Certainly an election year like no other!

SOTU, Earmark Reform, and Florida

Last night, President Bush gave his State of the Union address, and it was nice to see a familiar face like Congressman Kuhl in the gallery. Here are Congressman Kuhl's thoughts on the SOTU and Bush's legacy.

Prior to the speech, Congressman Kuhl wrote a post on his blog about earmark reform, an issue mentioned a bit in the SOTU, asking Democrats to join Republicans in this effort.

Finally, I thought I'd give my thoughts on the Florida primary before the results come in later tonight. It goes without saying that the polls aren't looking too favorably for Rudy right now, with each day showing that either McCain or Romney has the edge for first place. The results are going to be close, so I'm prepared for a long night. A lot of early votes were cast in this race, which certainly helps Rudy, and I would love for him to pull it off tonight, though I've prepared myself for a defeat. We shall see (and keep cross our fingers)...

Conservatives Against McCain, For Rudy

As you know, many prominent conservatives, including Rush Limbaugh and George Will, have been making the case over and over again against John McCain as the Republican nominee, with Rush going as far as saying that Rudy, Romney, and Thompson are the only candidates in this race who are trying to continue "the conservative tradition."

So it should come as no surprise to see a conservative columnist like Dennis Prager or an objectivist like Robert Tracinski coming out for Rudy one week before the Florida primary.

Rudy's New Ad in Florida

Another Rudy Ad, On Taxes

Rudy's New Ad in Florida

Rudy Retains Lead in Florida

Given the results of the Hawkeye Cauci, I was anxious to see what the polls looked like in Florida. And a new poll has Rudy still up by 5 points in the Sunshine State, and the RCP polling average has him up by 5.2 points there. And while McCain, Romney, and Huckabee move onto Michigan, Nevada, and South Carolina (joining Thompson in the latter state), Rudy can keep pounding the pavement and airing his ads in Florida with virtually no competition for weeks. I had projected that if Romney didn't win New Hampshire, he was done. But McCain beat Romney by only five points in NH, and has spent most of his resources there, while Romney still has the money to pose a serious challenge in MI, where he grew up and where his family had significant political power, and NV, which has a significant Mormon population. While I don't think Romney has a shot at winning the nomination at this point, he can act as a spoiler for McCain and Huckabee in the mid-January races, drying up their money and resources before Florida and Super Tuesday, which ultimately plays into Rudy's strategy.

Also, if this election has proven anything, it's that you can't trust the MSM punditry when they tell you that a candidate is dead. Hell, just yesterday, they were speculating big time about Hillary exiting the race and her staffers running away in droves to Obama's campaign, something I never believed (she would fight to the death before ever conceding). So nobody should think Rudy's out simply because the MSM "speculates" so.

New Rudy Ad and FL Poll Numbers

First, a new Mason-Dixon poll in Florida shows Rudy expanding his lead there against his primary rivals to 21 points, bringing his Real Clear Politics polling average in Florida to plus 18.5%. In addition, the poll found that Rudy beats Hillary in Florida by 7 points.

Second, here is Rudy's new ad, entitled "Leadership":