Florida

That would be Charlie Crist:

Governor Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio are now tied in the 2010 race for the Republican Senate nomination in Florida.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely GOP Primary voters finds Crist and Rubio each with 43% of the vote. Five percent (5%) prefer another candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.

Jonathon Singer reminds us:

A month and a half ago, when the Club for Growth began setting its sights on Charlie Crist, I asked how long it would take Charlie Crist to pull a half or full Specter -- that is, pull out of the GOP primary and run either as an Independent or a Democrat. With numbers showing it decreasingly likely that the somewhat moderate Crist can make it out of a GOP primary, decision time might be nearer than we previously thought.

Singer could be onto something here. Watch as more moderate Republicans do the quick party switch and become Democrats, helping to pull the Democratic Party even further to the right. This will really leave Liberals feeling like they have no home, and that will be a very bad thing. I hate to put on my conspiracy hat, but perhaps this is a little known motive to the tea party movement.

This is utterly sick:

A bunch of Broward County, Fla. Republicans convened at a local rifle range to talk politics and squeeze off a few rounds at bullseyes.

One of them was a poster of a scary dude in a traditional Middle Eastern headdress -- another was human likeness with the initials of local Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Among the members of the Southeast Broward Republican Club shooting their handguns and AK's Robert Lowry, who is waging an uphill campaign to unseat the popular Democratic incumbent in a district where D's outnumber R's two-to-one.

Lowry's target -- a paper silhouette -- had "DWS" written on it, a stunt Lowry first called a "joke" and later a "mistake."

So he is trying to cover-up these very poor actions by calling it a “mistake”. No sir – a “mistake” would be anyone voting for you to become part of our government.

Here is the video report from the Sun-Sentinel on this disgusting incident.

He failed at running the RNC and has failed at being a senator:

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, who has struggled to boost his approval ratings because of close ties to President George W. Bush, announced Tuesday he will not seek a second term in 2010.

His seat was widely seen as vulnerable in two years, but Martinez, a Republican, rejected suggestions he faced difficult re-election prospects in a state won last month by Democrat Barack Obama.

Martinez doesn’t think he has an approval rating problem, although he is stuck at 42%. Maybe he is quitting to spend time with his failures?

A huge increase in Democratic voter registrations shows that Florida could end up swinging blue this year. Let the Republicans keep hammering away at offshore drilling, and this possibility will become a certainty.

Florida's congressional delegation released this statement:

"We are committed to working with the DNC, the Florida State Democratic party, our Democratic leaders in Florida, and our two candidates to reach an expedited solution that ensures our 210 delegates are seated.

"Our House delegation is opposed to a mail-in campaign or any redo of any kind."

The DNC has said their delegates could be seated, if only they submit a new delegate selection plan. That would be a redo, so you can forget Florida counting.

But only if they count the way she wants them to:

I would not accept a caucus. I think that would be a great disservice to the 2 million people who turned out and voted. I think that they want their votes counted. And you know a lot of people would be disenfranchised because of the timing and whatever the particular rules were. This is really going to be a serious challenge for the Democratic Party because the voters in Michigan and Florida are the ones being hurt, and certainly with respect to Florida the Democrats were dragged into doing what they did by a Republican governor and a Republican Legislature. They didn't have any choice whatsoever. And I don't think that there should be any do-over or any kind of a second run in Florida. I think Florida should be seated.

On other words, she wants the delegates based upon the vote that already happened. Thankfully Howard Dean is the chairman and not a Clinton.

I hate to say it, but, she is sounding more like Bush everyday. The rules are good and should be followed, if only they benefit you.

The leader of a Florida agency to help people "rehab" people after getting DUIs has been suspended. Why? Because she just got a DUI herself.

This is becoming more of a mess by the day:

It never did made sense to write off the Democratic primary votes in Florida and Michigan - and it makes even less sense now that Super Tuesday has brought forth a muddle in the delegate race.

Even the party official who stripped Florida and Michigan of convention delegates now seems open to revisiting their status.

When Howard Dean was asked on Tuesday in a CNN interview if he would support ultimately seating nominating delegates from the two states that he had punished for leapfrogging the primary calendar, the Democratic National Committee chairman said, "You want everybody on board." And he went on to announce that the delegate dispute "will be revisited by a credentials committee not controlled by me."

In other words, a bruising convention-eve credentials fight is brewing - which means that Florida and Michigan, the states once derided as meaningless, could actually put Hillary Rodham Clinton over the top in the final delgate count.

It never did make sense to strip the states of their delegates - a very poor decision in my opinion. The problem is that the decision was made none the less. Candidates changed their tactics regarding the party decision and that effected the outcome. For example - John Edwards and Barack Obama had their names removed from the Michigan ballot.

I said the other day that the only way they could make the delegates count was to hold a primary in those states again. Give each candidate 30 days to campaign in the two states and go from there. If the party decides to just let those delegates in, as they stand, then there is going to be tons of problems for the DNC. As much as I hate to say it, I think race will also be brought into the argument against them, and I can't really deny that argument. The DNC needs to choose very carefully in this decision.

[election 11]

9:12 -
MSNBC is reporting that Giuliani may drop out tomorrow and endorse McCain. That should be interesting.

9:20 -
MSNBC and CNN call it for McCain. Giuliani giving his "damn I lost" speech now.

9:25 -
FOX calls it for McCain

9:28 -
AP calls it for McCain

10:00 -
Now being reported that Giuliani will go to California tomorrow and drop out at the Reagan Library. This according to a senior Giuliani campaign official.

The rumor throughout the pundit world is that Rudy could be dropping out tomorrow if he doesn't do well in Florida today. It will be interesting to see what happens. I'll have the election tracker up a little later.

Also

There are reports that a large number of Democrats are even heading to the polls, despite Florida being stripped of delegates. It will be interesting to see those results also.

The shorter version. Charlie Crist was originally vowing support to Rudy in the fall and then made the surprise announcement last night that he was endorsing McCain. This news has rattled the cages in the Rudy camp.:

The news is a definitive blow to Giuliani, and a sign of his fading prospects in the Sunshine State. Giuliani has gone out of his way on numerous occasions to praise Crist, and each time suggested he would be a viable vice presidential candidate.

It would probably be an appropriate time to mention an old proverb of "putting all your eggs in one basket", but I doubt that would have any effect on Rudy. We already knew he didn't listen to sound recommendations of other.

Romney has now tied McCain for the lead in the latest Zogby poll. Meanwhile Giuliani slips to 4th place. I bet he is glad he decided to bet it all on Florida.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist is going to announce his endorsement of John McCain. Considering Crist's popularity in Florida this will be a big boost for McCain going into the primary this week.

Things aren't looking good for Huckaboner:

Battling to stay competitive after his weekend loss in South Carolina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is taking new steps to save money, including no longer scheduling planes and buses for journalists trying to cover his presidential campaign.

Huckabee said he will continue to campaign in Florida on a shoestring budget, but added that he may pull out of the state before its Jan. 29 Republican primary if his prospects look dim.

South Carolina was Huckabee's last real chance to become the front runner. Now that that's over, he doesn't have any real chance to take the lead. His only hope is to keep enough money to make it to the convention.

And things are getting worse for Rudy. Via Rasmussen

Rudy in 3rd. Wow. Remember Florida is a winner take all for Republicans. That means if Rudy comes in second he still has 0 delegates.