McCain wins Florida
Article added on January 30, 2008 at 05:10 Berlin time
  
With 90% of Florida's precincts reporting, it is safe to write that John McCain wins the Florida primaries of January 29, the first closed Republican primary where only Republicans have the right to vote for the Republican presidential nominee.

Florida was punished for moving up its election calendar to January by losing half of its delegates. The winner of the Florida Republican primary takes it all, wins all the state's 57 delegates to the Republican National Convention, where 1,191 delegates will chose the Republican presidential candidate. Florida is the largest state so far to hold primaries or caucuses. It is a vital step running up to Super Tuesday, February 5, when over 20 states will hold primaries or caucuses.

As of 05:00 Berlin time, according to exit polls, John McCain leads with 36% of the vote in front of Mitt Romney with 31%. Rudy Giuliani finished a distanced third with only 15%. His gamble to begin his campaign only in Florida has not paid off. His presidential bid may already be over.



Rudy Giuliani looked like a serious candidate to consider as the next president. However, unlike John McCain, he did not stand up against torture. Giuliani pretty shamelessly tried to cash in on his status as New York City's 9/11 mayor. According to media reports, Giuliani Partners were too eager to make money and, therefore, worked together with some questionable firms.

As of 05:00 Berlin time, John Huckabee only got 13% of the vote in Florida, showing his limited appeal to Republican voters beyond evangelicals. His appeal to independents and Democrats is close to zero. Ron Paul ended as a distanced fifth and last, but he has plenty of campaign money left. This will allow him to continue his maverick ride, which will lead nowhere, but he could still harm another candidate.

In short, heading towards Super Tuesday, the Republican's seem to have to chose between John McCain, the candidate who stood up against torture and Guantanamo, and Mitt Romney, the one who wanted to double Guantanamo. Anybody concerned with the future of civilization, with the moral integrity of the United States and, therefore, its soft power, can only vote for John McCain. On the economic side, John McCain is a free traders and therefore the better choice as all the Democrats, who are ambiguous on free trade or outright protectionist. Therefore, John McCain is preferable to all Democratic candidates.



Mitt Romney has spent some $30 million on TV and radio ads in Florida, spending five times as much as John McCain. Money could not buy the Florida election. On the negative side for John McCain is that he engaged in dirty negative campaigning against Mitt Romney, something unworthy of the otherwise most trustful and sincere of all candidates.

After the Florida primaries, John McCain is the Republican frontrunner and seizing valuable momentum running towards Super Tuesday. However, the race against Mitt Romney is not won yet.

The Democratic primary in Florida is of no importance since the state lost all its delegates to the Democratic presidential convention as a punishment for moving up its primary to January. Hillary Clinton claims a shallow victory in front of Obama.

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