McCain wins Florida primary, Giuliani third

Wednesday 30 January 2008

John McCain is the projected winner of the Florida primary for the Republicans, narrowly beating Mitt Romney. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has taken more than 50% of the vote though no delegates are in play.(Report: C. Moore)

Republican hopeful John McCain won a narrow victory over rival Mitt Romney in Florida's primaries Tuesday, delivering a body blow to the White House hopes of ex-New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
  
With 62 percent of precincts reporting, US media networks called the Florida race for McCain, giving the respected Arizona senator some 36 percent of the vote over former Massachusetts governor Romney on 32 percent.
  
Giuliani, who has staked his whole campaign on a high-risk strategy of winning in Florida, was on 15 percent in third place, just ahead of ordained Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee on 13 percent.
  
McCain, a Vietnam war veteran, stomped to victory in the crucial state, pushing to the front of the pack in the race for the Republican party's nomination for the November presidential elections.
  
It was a tight race, which saw the two men trade daily attacks. McCain highlighted his military credentials in this state which is a demographic microcosm of the United States, with a high population of veterans.
  
"I am the best equipped with the knowledge, experience, background and judgment to lead this nation against radical Islamic extremism," he told the Fox News network.
  
Just a few months ago McCain had been all but written off, after a lack of funds forced him to strip down his campaign and shed staff.
  
Now he has now notched up three major wins after taking New Hampshire and South Carolina with Romney having romped home in Michigan and Nevada.
  
On the Democratic side, New York senator and former first lady Hillary Clinton cruised to victory in the state over her bitter rival, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who already has South Carolina and Iowa to his credit.
  
But the victory was merely symbolic as Florida has been penalized for bringing forward its primaries, and stripped of all its delegates to the Democratic national convention which will choose the party's candidate.
  
Turnout was higher than expected though, with more than a million people believed to have voted on the Democratic side.
  
The Clinton campaign is now pushing for the August convention to restore the delegates from both Florida and Michigan, also won by the former first lady alongside her earlier victories in New Hampshire and Nevada.
  
McCain's win in Florida gives him a high-energy boost as the 2008 White House race sweeps forward to next week and Super Tuesday when some 22 states will vote for their candidates.
  
The 71-year-old senator, who saw his presidential hopes crushed by George W. Bush in 2000, has been touted as the Republican's come-back candidate after lack of money forced him to scale back his campaign last summer.
  
But the big question now remains, the fate of Giuliani.
  
The former mayor who steered New York through the trauma of the September 11, 2001 attacks staked his whole campaign on winning in Florida, after largely ignoring the earlier primaries.
  
He has steadfastly refused to say what he would do if he lost badly here, but his poor performance on Tuesday raises speculation about his viability in ths tight race.
  
Obama's campaign meanwhile were playing down Clinton's win here, after the young Illinois senator routed the former first lady in Saturday's South Carolina vote beating her by 55 percent to 27 percent of the vote.
  
"Our focus is on February 5. Honestly if she's spending a night in Florida instead of a February 5 state, that's just fine with us," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe earlier.
  
Both Clinton and McCain were Tuesday leading opinion poll in delegate-rich California, one of the Super Tuesday states.
  
The former first lady held a 49 percent to 32 percent lead over Obama in a Los Angeles Times/CNN/Politico poll.
  
McCain surged to a double-digit lead, with 39 percent of likely Republican primary participants expressing support for the Arizona senator compared to 26 percent for Romney.