Taegan Goddard: That's three new polls (this one not added at RCP, yet) with Romney taking the lead in Florida, prior to these he has never led there before. Best guess, things are close but there is definitely movement in Romney's direction. There's no other explanation for his scoring three firsts after having scored none earlier in the race.
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Florida -- the first taken after Fred Thompson ended his presidential bid -- shows Mitt Romney leading among Republicans with 28%, followed by Sen. John McCain at 25%, Rudy Giuliani at 19% and Mike Huckabee at 15%.
Key finding: "The key to Romney's lead is the immigration issue. 15% of the state's GOP voters listed immigration as their biggest concern and within that group, 50% support Romney compared to just 14% for McCain. It isn't the biggest issue in the state -- the economy and the war in Iraq were listed by more respondents -- but it is the one creating the greatest separation between one candidate and the rest of the pack."
Run Mitt Run! Run Mitt Run! Gooooooooooooo Mittens For President!
Posted by: IslamoLlama | Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 05:02 PM
So tell us, IL... honestly:
As an obvious democrat, why do you think Mittens would be the ideal candidate for Hillary (or Obama) to pull off a landslide against?
Or if not Mitt, then who do you think would be the easiest GOP candidate to beat?
Posted by: seekeronos | Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 01:12 AM
Mitt is the obvious choice for Rep's. And since, I believe, only Rep's get to vote in the FL Rep primary, this movement toward Romney is no surprise. At least to me. There is no other choice at this point for anyone who cares about core issues. That's "issues", plural. Huckabee is for the single (or possibly dual) issue voter. Ditto Giuliani. And McCain? I guess he's for the no-issue voter who favors comity and MSM approval over actually moving the ball forward.
Posted by: Chris | Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 01:56 AM
The only reason people are voting for McCain is his POW status and he seems tough on terrorism. They don't see the truth... that he's a tired grumpy old "go-with-the-flow" Washington beaurocrat who will pander to any group to get votes. He is incapable of uniting the republican party. He is arrogant and sour.
Posted by: HT Springer | Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 09:00 AM
Mitt Romney is a powerhouse. I have never seen a person with such diversified ability and that includes Regan. He is completly dedicated to serve the country and is willing to put up for the opportunity.
Posted by: Willard Scott | Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 07:45 PM
Florida would be a huge win for Romney and would make his current win and number of delegates something meaningful in this race.
Posted by: Flag Case | Friday, January 25, 2008 at 08:57 PM
Romney is the man if you want to save the Republican party as you know it today.
Posted by: ted bertrand | Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 01:12 AM