FL GOP money going slow to McCain

John McCain should be sitting pretty — catching his breath, building his campaign organization and filling up his campaign account — while Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton rip each other to shreds.Except that in the must-win state of Florida, many of the top Republican money-raisers have yet to step up for their presidential nominee.

Consider that of Florida's 66 so-called Pioneers or Rangers who raised at least $100,000 for Bush-Cheney in 2000 or 2004, only nine have contributed to McCain, a St. Petersburg Times analysis finds. While losing election after election throughout February, Clinton raised more than twice as much money from Florida — $1.25-million — as McCain, who drew $489,000. So did Obama, taking in more than $1-million from Florida.

Rove snubbing Crist?

Watching Karl Rove on Fox News last night we couldn't help but recall how Charlie Crist and George LeMieux snubbed W in the Panhandle days before the '06 election. Asked about potential running mates for John McCain, Rove somehow left Crist off his list of prospects that included Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Richard Burr in North Carolina, Sonny Perdue in Georgia.

He said he hears lots of Buzz about Mitt Romney. Where, you ask? " I was in Florida, southwestern Florida on Friday night. I heard it there,'' said Rove of Romney.

Romney staffer headed to Louisiana

Mitt Romney's Florida campaign director Mandy Fletcher was spotted fueling up on coffee on route to Louisiana on Monday morning. Fletcher will be joining the campaign of John Kennedy, the Louisiana Republican state treasurer seeking to unseat Democrat U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu.

"The only two people I know in Louisiana is a guy from high school who works for the Saints and Alan Levine," said Fletcher, referring to the Florida's former AHCA Secretary who just took a similar job in Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration.

Romney ending campaign

John McCain effectively sealed the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday as chief rival Mitt Romney suspended his faltering presidential campaign. "I must now stand aside, for our party and our country," Romney prepared to tell conservatives.

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror," Romney will say at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose," Romney said.

Jumping from John Edwards to...Bloomberg

Pensacola trial lawyer Fred Levin, a bigtime John Edwards fundraiser, can't muster much enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or any Republican. "I would hope that after Super Tuesday Michael Bloomberg would see that he is probably the best answer for this country,'' said Levin "He would have no obligation to anyone and the economy is the issue."

There's a lot of outreach and courting going on across Florida to former Edwards and Rudy Giuliani fundraisers. Edwards' former Fl chairman Mitchell Berger is with Obama, while we've yet to hear of a significant former Rudy fundraiser going with Mitt. Among those jumping to McCain: Giuliani Florida finance chairman Joe Fogg, Harry and Dan Sargent, Sarasota chiropractor Gary Kompothecras. Tampa developer Al Austin said he hasn't made up his mind, but Buzz recalls how Mrs. Austin always wanted him to go with McCain. 

Was Cardenas only Cuban who voted for Mitt?

Kidding, of course, but the exit polling results are pretty stark on the Hispanic vote.  Only 9 percent of Cuban-Americans voted for Romney, while 54 percent backed McCain and 32 percent Giuliani. Given that Romney and McCain tied among non-Hispanic Republicans, 33 percent to 33 percent, it looks like the Hispanic vote sunk him.

Did Romney's sometimes harsh rhetoric cost him Florida? Maybe part of it. But clearly Mel Martinez helped him win over a lot of the south Florida Hispanic voters that Giuliani was bleeding in the final days.

Romney: You're all family, no inheritance

Best lines from former Gov. Mitt Romney's concession speech.

"Almost, but not quite," Romney said when he first took the stage.

And at the very end: "All you guys are family. Don't expect to be part of the inheritance. I'm not sure there's going to be much left after this."

Supporters pack Romney party, no redneck signs

ST. PETERSBURG -- Several hundred people have packed the Mirror Lake Lyceum to watch the poll results roll in.
After casting her ballot for Mitt Romney earlier in the day, Marie Roberts points to the television screen to show her son Michael, 8, the latest update.

Romney supporter, Mike Freese, 59, faced a major setback to enter the party: the Romney staff would not  let him bring in his "Rednecks for Romney" sign. He was told there was not enough room to bring in the sign, even though other supporters were holding signs, including non-campaign ones, like "St. Pete hearts Romney."

Freese, a retired ATF agent and a Vietnam veteran from St. Petersburg, said he didn't mind, he was just happy to be there.  "I like Romney, he's well-rounded on all the right issues, immigration, defense and the economy," said Freese, who was wearing a camouflage baseball hat that said "Git-R-Done."

Romney crosses paths with new citizens

Just a few hours after voting booths opened in Florida, Mitt Romney spoke to a couple hundred supporters at the Tampa Convention Center. In another convention center meeting room, more than 700 people participated in a naturalization ceremony and received information on voter registration. The moment was not lost on Romney. "These are people who stood in line, most of them years and years, and worked hard to become citizens of this country," Romney said at his rally. "We say to the millions who came here illegally -- get back in line."

Romney family gets wild and crazy

The Romney family is feeling foot-loose and fancy free. When Mitt Romney got on the private jet on route to the last of some six stops the campaign made on Friday, Romney stood in the middle of the plane and called out: "Want to add a few more?"

At take off, as the plane lifted up vertically son, Josh Romney, 32, came careening down the plane aisle, surfing on a slick Mitt Romney campaign sign to the surprise and gasp of the press corp traveling with them.

As the flight descended 45 minutes later, the plane staff admonished him, "Josh, don't ever do that again."

Anti-Romney pushpolling

The Romney campaign is getting reports of anti-Romney pushpolling in Orlando, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach, the calls started this morning.

The poll calls are saying that Romney never supported Bush tax cuts, supports tax-payer funded abortions and wants relations with Fidel Castro. Some calls have targeted the Cuban community in South Florida and are in Spanish, said Al Cardenas, Romney's Florida chair.

"These are clearly negative and false attacks against Gov. Romney by a flailing campaign desperate to change the dialogue on issues that matter most to Florida voters like lower taxes, less government and stronger families," said campaign spokeswoman Kristy Campbell.

Scarborough and Mitt

Former Gov. Mitt Romney was interviewed by Joe Scarborough at a private airport in Sanford for MSNBC. Scarborough threw him a couple of softball questions.

Scarborough: "Ted Kennedy is endorsing Barack Obama today, do you wish that he' come out and endorse John McCain?"

Romney: "Yes!"

Romney: McCain wants you to pay at the pump

After John McCain spent the weekend jabbing at Mitt Romney for his position on the war in Iraq, Romney attacked back by claiming the Climate Stewardship Act co-sponsored by Joseph Lieberman and McCain amounts to a tax increase. The act is intended to reduce greenhouse gases. But the Romney camp says that if the bill becomes law, it would cost consumers $1,000 a year, in part by increasing gas taxes. In a conference call Sunday, former House Speaker Allan Bense, former Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings and former RPOF chair Al Cardenas -- all Romney supporters -- said that kind of legislation shows McCain is not a "gold standard Republican" when it comes to addressing economic issues.

Romney starts early

First thing in the morning, former Gov. Mitt Romney held a press conference, during which he remembered the head of the his church President Gordon B. Hinckley who died Sunday at 97, according to the AP. Romney said he plans to attend his funeral in Salt Lake City.

In the meantime a few hundred Romney supporters gathered at Galaxy Aviation, a private hangar in West Palm Beach, to rally Romney on before his big fly-around day. Romney arrived a bit after 7 a.m. and gave a short speech, hitting Sen. John McCain pretty hard.  While Romney said, "No, I don't think he's a Democrat," he also repeated reports that McCain had been asked by then Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry's as a running mate back in 2004.

"He gave that some thought," Romney said. "Had some one asked me that question it would not have been a nano-second of thought about it, it would have been an immediate laugh."

Behind the scenes of Crist's risky McCain move

For Rudy Giuliani, Nov. 18 was to be a pivotal day on his march to the Republican nomination. Popular Gov. Charlie Crist was to anoint him as the best choice for Florida Republicans, and the two of them, starting in St. Petersburg, would fly from city to city in Florida, revving up supporters and donors. By then, the GOP presidential candidate long assumed to be Crist's top choice, John McCain, looked finished.

The courtship began early last summer, when Crist and his top political adviser, George LeMieux, and Giuliani and his top adviser, Tony Carbonetti, met in the Hamptons. Over the ensuing weeks, the can-do governor and can-do former mayor of New York kept in touch and by early fall, according to Giuliani advisers, Crist had agreed to jump aboard Team Rudy on Nov. 18.

But not if McCain could help it. "I'm telling you I'm going to win this," the Arizona senator reportedly declared in an Oct. 2 meeting with the governor in Tallahassee. Forcefully and full of confidence, McCain urged Crist to wait until after the New Hampshire primary to make an endorsement.

More here.

Honey, Mitt's dropping by

LAND O'LAKES - The phone call that turned the Guenette family's weekend inside out for 23 hours came at 2 p.m. Friday: the Mitt Romney campaign was looking for a "normal, average" family.

Marcy Guenette paused. She liked Romney. Planned to vote for him. But she didn't know what to say.

Read more here.

Crist's cancelled date with Rudy

Suffice it to say the that Rudy Giuliani folks are fuming over the surprise Crist endorsement tonight. After all, they remember when the deal had been set for Crist to jump aboard team Rudy. Nov. 18, to be precise, was set for a Charlie-Rudy fly-around. The Buzz is that Crist had even extracted a promise that he would be on Giuliani's short list for running mates.

But imagine the pressure Crist felt from McCain, who surely reminded him that while Rudy and Mitt awaited the results of Gallagher vs. Crist, McCain jumped in and backed Crist. Crist sure kept this decision quiet, and by all account it really was a last minute one (though close Buzz readers caught the Giuliani/McCain shift).

But let's face it, Crist and McCain are a natural fit and if McCain had not melted down last year this would have happened long ago. Romney, viewed by Crist allies as Tom Gallagher reincarnated, never had a shot at the governor's nod.

What decided this for Crist? How about the 19th century poet William Ernest Henley and the 21st century columnist Bill Kristol. The Buzz is that this kind of blew Crist away

McCain takes heat for immigration stance

John McCain spoke to more than 800 people at Sun City Center on Saturday, where he took some heat for his stance on illegal immigration from an audience member who described his Wimauma neighborhood as a suburb of Mexico where no one speaks English and "illegal aliens" have driven up the crime rate.

"You and Ted Kennedy have the worst record on amnesty," said Buddy Gibbs, a retired cattle farmer.

McCain answered that he's committed to securing America's borders first, and then putting a temporary worker program in place. Anyone who violates the terms of the program would be prosecuted, he said. McCain also said he would immediately deport the estimated 2-million illegal immigrants who have committed crimes. "I have never supported amnesty," McCain said. "I never will and never have." 

Gibbs said he planned to vote for Mitt Romney, "the only real conservative running," and came to the McCain event specifically to confront him on immigration.

Romney hits Land O' Lakes & McCain

Former Gov. Mitt Romney visited with the Lenny and Marcy Guenette and three of their four children, all of whom were a little starstruck to have a presidential contender on their couch for 20 minutes. They talked about the economy, the housing market and the rising costs of health care.

Romney was asked about a comment McCain had made earlier today suggesting that Romney had wanted to withdraw troops. "I don't know why he's being dishonest. But that's dishonest, to say that I have a specific date that's simply wrong, and it's dishonest, and he should apologize," Romney said in a press conference in a Land O' Lakes subdivision. "It's fine for him to express his views on different topics, and I know he's trying desperately to change the topic from the economy, trying to get back to Iraq. But to say something that's not accurate is simply wrong. And he knows better."

Romney chows KFC in Pasco

Former Gov. Mitt Romney made an impromptu stop for lunch with Florida advisor Al Cardenas at a KFC on State Road 54.

Few Pasco County residents even noticed the presidential contender, except for two college students who shouted a few questions  behind the entourage of traveling media surrounding Romney's table.

"I really go there for the biscuit," he said after eating. He pulled the skin off his fried chicken and ate mashed potatoes, baked beans and a side of coleslaw.

Romney expects a win, but 2nd place OK

Former Gov. Mitt Romney said he thinks the top two candidates in Florida will advance strongly going into the following Feb. 5th primary day, in an interview with Political Connections and Times Political Editor Adam Smith (in connection with Bay News 9), which will air on Sunday.

"I think the first two spots coming out of Florida will have a good shot at becoming the nominee, I think it would be hard if I came in third, fourth or fifth to consider it a successful campaign beyond that," Romney said. "But I'm expecting to come in no. 1. If I don't get no. 1, I expect no. 2, and therefore I'll continue."

Romney on Martinez: you can't get 'em all

Former Gov. Mitt Romney was asked late Friday afternoon at a St. Petersburg private airport to respond to the news that Sen. John McCain had won the endorsement of Sen. Mel Martinez.

"I think endorsements by and large are nice things to get but don't do a lot for you in terms of actually getting votes," Romney said. "I always try to seek good endorsements....but if other guys get them, well, that's fine, you can't get 'em all."

Later, Romney Florida campaign chair Al Cardenas acknowledged he has spoken with Martinez often in recent weeks also courting his endorsement.

"If he was not going to support us, I'm glad he supported somebody at the end of the process, when a lot of people have already made up their minds as they intend to vote," Cardenas said.

Today, the Romney campaign released a new web ad that spoofs a real McCain ad, saying that McCain is the "favorite Republican among Democrats."

Romney: Laying people off is is hard to do

During a speech in Miami to the Latin Builders Association, Former Gov. Mitt Romney talked about his role in laying off employees, while he worked in the private sector. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee has lately hit Romney hard on this issue, attacking Romney's business credentials.

“Do you understand how businesses work? They don’t all work; that’s the nature of the risk of return," Romney said. "Nobody likes laying someone off. It’s awful. No one likes laying someone off. Someone who thinks you’re bad person, because you’re laying somebody off doesn’t understand. You feel that. It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve done in business, was asking someone to be let go. Letting somebody go, it’s awful. Feels terrible. It’s an indication that business isn’t doing well. You don’t lay people off when you’re growing, you lay people off when you’re not growing...But you recognize it’s the only way you can go forward and hopefully turn it around."

Baxley dialing for Mitt

The Buzz is that former state Rep. Dennis Baxley, the incoming Christian Coalition chair, is urging social conservatives to vote for Romney in recorded calls. Some Huckabee folks are fuming  that Baxley is improperly invoking the Christian Coalition, even though he's speaking for himself.

Other robo calls we're aware of: Bay Buchanan for Romney, Jack Kemp for McCain and John McCain for McCain.

Who else have you heard from?

Romney's FL TV advantage

With Mitt Romney launching a new ad touting his competent, free market conservatism today and polls popping up left and right don't forget the Romney's key advantage noted here: "Romney stands to have the advantage in a McCain-Romney Florida contest, because the multimillionaire former venture capitalist is the only candidate with the money to buy loads of TV ads. He already is significantly outspending his rivals on TV everywhere but in the Tampa Bay area, and in a sign of confidence today will begin airing ads in Miami-Dade, the most expensive media market.

"Unlike Romney and Giuliani, McCain has little campaign organization in Florida to mobilize support. About 270,000 Republicans and 250,000 Democrats already have voted, either through absentee ballots or early voting, and Giuliani has been especially aggressive trying to bank those early votes. " Giuliani is using direct mail and phone calls to help bank early votes, while Romney has been relying only on phone calls.

Huckabee's mysterious Tally stop

Gov. Mike Huckabee said in a speech on Wednesday that he had just gotten in from Tallahassee. Huckabee touted later that he met with lawmakers.

UPDATE: A meeting with lawmakers was supposed to be organized by House Speaker Marco Rubio, but Rubio said through his spokeswoman that "the timing was such that they were unable to set up a meeting on such short notice," according to the Speaker's press spokeswoman Jill Chamberlin.

Yet, when asked for clarification of the Tallahassee meeting on Wednesday night, Huckabee said that he met with lawmakers and made phone calls.

When asked if he had met with Gov. Charlie Crist, Huckabee answered, "I wish I did, but I didn't."

Mitt in Tampa: It's the economy ...

Mitt Romney spoke at the H. Lee Moffitt cancer center at USF, then hit a rally nearby, in Tampa this afternoon. Not surprisingly, he tied his campaign to improving the economy. Immigration, defense, education -- it's all linked to "economic security," said Massachusetts former governor.

"You can't have a strong military without a strong economy," Romney said.

And he noted -- again -- that John McCain voted against the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, although he acknowledged to reporters he didn't publicly laud them at the time but his first comment later was supportive.

"When they first came out out, I didn't make any comment on them," he said. "I said the economy needed a stimulus, and hoped they would be a stimulus. But I didn't make it a practice as governor to talk about federal legislation."

Romney picks up some Thompson high rollers

Buzz hears a number of former Fred Thompson supporters -- including some top fund-raisers -- are joining Mitt Romney's campaign.

A formal announcement is expected to follow in the next day but the Romney campaign confirmed the addition of these folks: Former State Rep. Sandy Safley, Robin Safley, Brewser Brown, Foyt Ralston, Pete Dunbar, Clark Smith, Anita Mitchell. State Rep. Garrett Richter also was spotted at a Romney event in Naples yesterday.

Thompson's supporters split among rivals

Top Fred Thompson supporters have been inundated with phone calls from rival campaigns since the news he'll withdrawal from the race. But so far, few have decided on their next horse.

Read below to see some early converts and others who are on the fence.

Mitt Romney on economy in new ad

On a day when the stock markets are expected to plunge, Mitt Romney is starting to air a new TV ad in Florida about his credentials to fix a dour economy. Check it out here.

Push pollsters for Huckabee

We heard of one to a St Petersburg household asking favorable questions about Huckabee, and negative ones about Giuliani (abortion rights) and Romney (taxes). We heard of another in Jacksonville---robo calls from Herndon, Virginia trashing Romney's record. Sounds like ccAdvertising, which was busy in SC and other early states too.

Poll: Romney leading FL

Rasmussen: Romney 25%; McCain 20%; Giuliani 19%; Huckabee 13%; Thompson 12%; Ron Paul 5%

MLK Day with Mitt Romney

JACKSONVILLE --Former Gov. Mitt Romney started this Martin Luther King Jr. Day giving a speech at Gate Petroleum, whose executive Herb Peyton, is a big Romney supporter. Romney's speech emphasized the military and he told a story about going to the Boston airport to see a soldier's casket come home.

"It's obvious that Mitt Romney is our kind of folks," Peyton told a roomful of about 50 employees, none of whom had the day off.

Florida Congressman Ander Crenshaw endorsed Romney at the event.

Romney in Jax: It's the economy, stupid

Mitt Romney, victorious in Nevada but running a distant fourth in South Carolina, looked ahead to Florida. After a speech in Jacksonville, he went on CNN and took questions from Wolf Blitzer. At each turn, Romney saw opportunity to tout his business experience.

Q: Tell us why voters in Florida should support you instead of Rudy Giuliani, "who has invested so much of his political prospects in that state right now?" A: "Well, Mayor Giuliani is a wonderful fellow. ... The difference with me, of course, is he has spent his life working in the public sector, in the governmental sector. I spent my life, 25 years, working in the private sector. When it comes to try to help Florida see jobs come back, see the housing market come back, see our economy stronger, they are going to want someone who really understands how the economy works and someone who, like Rudy Giuliani, has run something. And someone from the outside (who) can finally get inside Washington and turn the place inside out."

Q: What's the biggest difference for Florida voters between you and John McCain?

On to Florida for Mitt

Mitt Romney will be in Jacksonville shortly touting his win in Nevada. Here are Kevin Madden's FL talking points: "Floridawill be very competitive. With recent polls showing the race in Floridain a dead heat and with all of the candidates having strong organizations state, we expect the race in Floridato be very competitive.

"It’s the economy. As Governor Romney campaigns in Floridain advance of the primary, he will continue to address the issues most important to Floridians, including the economy, illegal immigration and health care. Governor Romney is concerned about the challenges facing Floridafamilies today, such as soaring property taxes, sky-high insurance rates and a stalled housing market.

"Governor Romney's message of bringing conservative change to Washingtonand strengthening our economy is resonating with Floridians. "

New Romney TV ad

Fresh from a Michigan win, Mitt Romney and his campaign announced that they're not just back on the air in Florida, they've got a new commercial. Check it out here.

Romney renews Florida focus

Revived by his must-win victory in Michigan, Republican Mitt Romney took his campaign to South Carolina but launched a significant new effort in Florida. "Florida looks wide open," Romney told reporters Wednesday at an event in Bluffton, S.C. "Instead of being the fire wall for the (Rudy) Giuliani campaign, it's going to be a real contest."

With that in mind, the Romney campaign announced that it is resuming television advertising across much of the state today after a week of being off the air. The number of paid staffers working on grass roots efforts has more than doubled. More here.

Romney returning to FL airwaves?

The Buzz is that the Mitt Romney campaign, having gone dark on FL TV is making inquiries with TV stations about going back on the air in Florida (or at least Tampa Bay) by this weekend.

The renewed optimism, we assume, comes from the GIANT win in Hernando County on Jan. 10: a straw poll at the Timber Pines Republican Club found Romney with 34% support, John McCain with 31%; Rudy Giuliani with 19% (ouch-this is Bill McCollum's native county!);  Mike Huckabee at 12% and Fred Thompson at 3%.

Democrats for Romney

Voters in Michigan on Tuesday will be key to deciding whether Mitt Romney will be campaigning aggressively in Florida before Jan. 29. Some creative Democrats are doing their part to keep Romney in the race:

McCain lures a Thompson supporter

Update: The Tampa Tribune has endorsed McCain.

Former Florida legislator Sandy Murman is bolting from Fred Thompson's camp and joining up with Sen. John McCain, according to Mark Sharpe, who co-chairs McCain's Hillsborough effort. Just last month, Thompson announced Murman would help lead Thompson's Hillsborough push. McCain will criss-cross Florida with his Straight Talk bus tour beginning Jan. 20, the day after the South Carolina primaries. Sharpe said the itinerary will include a swing through Tampa.

Exact dates haven't been set, but McCain plans to be in the Sunshine State through the Jan. 29 primary. Polls show McCain neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney for first place in Michigan, second to Mike Huckabee in South Carolina and his numbers are on the rise in Florida. "He's doing beautifully," Sharpe said. "It's right where he wants to be."

Janet Zink, Times staff writer

Romney goes dark

The Mitt Romney campaign may be sounding upbeat, but a rival campaign notes that as of today he has halted all TV in Florida and South Carolina and has not extended any buy into next week. Hmmmm. Saving resources to see what happens Jan. 15 in Michigan? What happens in that state, probably Romney's Waterloo, should tell us whether he'll still be around Florida Jan. 19.

UPDATE!! Romney supporter Al Cardenas told reporters just now that Romney has not made the decision to go dark in Florida. "We fully expect to be on the air in Florida. . . We haven’t finalized our plans but our intentions are to stay on the air," Cardenas said.

UPDATE 2!! Romney campaign spokeswoman Kristy Campbell called up to clarify that Cardenas intended to get this message across: "We're currently on the air in Florida and the resources to provide for ads will be there when that decision is made."

Romney picks up Florida endorsement

Domino's Pizza and Ave Maria College founder Tom Monaghan endorsed Mitt Romney today.

Monaghan, who also once owned the Detroit Tigers, left the pizza business in 1998 and devoted himself to funding Catholic causes. More than a decade earlier, he founded the Ann Arbor Ave Maria Foundation to focus on Catholic education projects. He established Ave Maria College in 1998 in Michigan and opened the Ave Maria School of Law in 2000.

FL poll: Rudy Leads; Clinton's lead shrinks

InsiderAdvantage 1/7 poll for Southern Political Report: Giuliani 24%; Huckabee 19% McCain 19%; Romney 13%; Thompson 8%; Paul 5%; Hunter 1%; No Opinion: 11%.

Clinton 40%; Obama: 32%; Edwards 9%; Richardson 6%; Kucinich 2%; No Opinion: 10%

FL Poll: Huck Leads, Rudy in 4th place

Jan. 5-7 Datamar robo poll: Mike Huckabee 24%; Mitt Romney 20%; John McCain 18%; Rudy Giuliani 16%.

Hillary Clinton 40%; Barack Obama 28%; John Edwards 19%.

Romney winning in delegates

With an assist from Kirsty Campbell handling press in Wyoming, Mitt Romney today won the little-noticed Wyoming caucuses, taking eight delegates. Fred Thompson won three and Duncan Huntan Hunter one.

Florida reacts to Huckabee's Iowa victory

Huckabee backer Rep. David Rivera tells the Buzz: "This victory anoints Gov. Huckabee as the undisputed favorite among conservative Republicans. ... (It) will help lead him to even greater heights in Florida, where Republican voters have already propelled him to the top of the GOP field."

Sen. Daniel Webster: "Somebody's going to have to rewrite the 'how to win a presidential campaign manual.' Here's a guy who went against all the odds, didn't have the financial backing and was blistered by millions of dollars in negative ads. He built the campaign from the bottom up. That strategy has paid off and he has that same network in other areas coming up, including Florida."

Mitt Romney backer Al Cardenas: "Iowa was the perfect market for a candidate like Mike Huckabee and the evangelical community did a great job of turning out for him. Mitt is still very much strong in terms of resources and momentum," he said, citing national polls. "It's a two person fight now and we're in the finals."

The Randy Enwright legend

Helping Fred Thompson revive his campaign in Iowa is his national political director, veteran Florida strategist Randy Enwright, who also used to be executive director of the Iowa GOP. The Buzz in Florida is that Enwright hasn't had as much latitude calling the shots as he hoped, but Thompson has long sung his praises.

"Randy's kind of a legend. I've heard about him from Iowa and Florida. He was just somebody everybody respected. So we called him up, talked to him two or three times and talked him into joining us,''  Thompson told us awhile back.

Other Thompsonites with Florida ties in Iowa are former Jeb Bush spokesman Todd Harris, former RPOFer Jeff Sadosky, and until a couple days ago, Brandi Brown. We promised not to reveal which Fred Thompson staffer was on purse-carrying duty for Jerri Thompson last night, but let's just say his name rhymes with Shmeff Shmadosky.

On ground in Iowa for Mitt Romney are Kristy Campbell and Al Cardenas.

Romney campaign decries attack on faith

The Mitt Romney presidential campaign is decrying an anti-Mormon mailer that has popped up in Hillsborough County.

"Help me sound the alarm that one day the Mormon Church plans to replace the Constitution with a Mormon theocracy. Mitt Romney's political success indicates this may be sooner than most have thought," reads part of the 11-page letter that reached a Plant City Romney supporter Saturday.

"Do you really want a president who believes he will someday become a god? Is that who you want occupying the most powerful position in the world . . . the United States presidency?"

Story here.

Who will still be standing by Jan. 29?

"Those first couple races are going to dictate what happens next," said Democratic pollster Dave Beattie. "If Hillary wins Iowa it's much more difficult for Obama or Edwards to close the gap."  But the Republican race is so full of viable candidates that even talk of the primary stretching into a brokered convention no longer seems entirely far-fetched.

"Everybody's goal, on both sides, is to be one of the two or three people still viable on Feb. 5," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "If there are three viable Republicans still standing on the morning of Feb. 5, you have the possibility this could go on a long, long time, possibly to the convention."

The scenarios are countless, but we've narrowed it to seven. See here.

Jumping ship from Mitt

From the PB Post today: "...Former state senator Dick Langley, who had been a co-chair of Mitt Romney's Florida campaign, ripped a Romney sticker off his lapel and replaced it with one of Huckabee's..

"I just couldn't figure out where Mitt stood," Langley said to applause from the crowd. "I had to have somebody that I could know where he stood, with the right values for this country and for a future for this country." "

Langley was a co-chair for Lake County.

Poll: Sorry Rudy, FL's wide open

From Quinnipiac today: Rudy Giuliani 28 percent; Mike Huckabee with 21 percent; Mitt Romney with 20 percent; Sen. John McCain with 13 percent; Fred Thompson 8 percent and 6 percent undecided.  “Most Republican voters have not completely locked onto a candidate, so Giuliani, Huckabee and Romney all remain in play in Florida, and McCain could stage a comeback,” Peter Brown said.

On Democratic side, Hillary Clinton still looks safe in FL, with 43 percent support among Democrats, 21 percent for Barack Obama and 19 percent for John Edwards.

The 12/12-18 poll of is the first Q poll where the pollsters have shifted from registered voters to likely voters --397 Dems and 397 Reps (4.9% moe)

Banking those absentee FL votes

As the political world consumes itself with how Iowans might winnow the presidential field on Jan. 3, many Floridians aren't waiting to see what happens in church basement caucuses 1,300 miles away. It's a little-noticed wrinkle in this topsy-turvey election: Floridians already are voting, earlier than anyone else in America, which creates a complication, and opportunity, for the presidential contenders.

By some estimates more Florida Republicans could vote by year's end than the roughly 85,000 Republicans who show up for Iowa's all-important caucuses in 2 1/2 weeks. Not only can presidential candidates bank votes, but so can supporters and foes of the tax-cutting initiative on the ballot.

"Absentee voting and early voting is something we care about very much, it's something we get, and it's something we will invest significant resources in," said Mike DuHaime, Rudy Giuliani's national campaign manager. "In states like Florida and California, early voting and absentee voting is so important you almost need a separate operation to focus on it."  Story here.

Polls: Huckabee surging in FL

Two more polls show Mike Huckabee giving Rudy Giuliani a run for his money in Florida. Maybe that explains why Rudy's campaign has cut back his TV expenses in New Hampshire, to give it more flexibility and resources for must-win Florida.

Strategic Vision's 12/14-16 poll : Rudy Giuliani 25%;  Mike Huckabee 21%; John McCain 15%; Mitt Romney 13%; Fred Thompson 10% Ron Paul 4%; Tom Tancredo 2%; Duncan Hunter 1%; and 9% undecided. “Republicans could potentially have four to five viable candidates when the race comes to Florida.  Such a scenario would benefit Guilaini as it would divide the conservative vote.  Most interesting is the McCain revival particularly in the I-4 corridor,” said  a statement from Strategic Vision CEO David "Not DJ, the former RPOF executive director" Johnson.

Then there's the new SurveyUSA automated poll: Giuliani 29%; Huckabee 24%; Romney 20%; McCain 10%; Thompson 8%; other 6%, undecided 3%.

Huckabee helping Giuliani

Giuliani's standing in national polls has slipped in recent weeks, but he has at least two bright spots going for him. One is Florida, a Giuliani stronghold and the first big state to vote in the GOP primary, on Jan. 29. The other is Mike Huckabee, the amiable former Arkansas governor whose surging campaign could help Giuliani withstand potential losses in the elections leading up to Florida.

"I like Mike a lot," Giuliani told the St. Petersburg Times on Saturday. "He's a really good man. It's not a question of whether he's qualified; it's a question of whether you think you're better qualified." Anything that knocks the wind out of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney early helps Giuliani, whose late-state primary strategy no longer looks as risky as many observers thought.

Story here.

Another poll with Huck leading FL

From Datamar, 12/9-13 (656 Rs): Huckabee 25%, Giuliani 21%, Romney 19%; McCain 10%; Thompson 9%; Paul 5%. Among 600 Ds: Clinton 44%; Obama 20%; Edwards 14% Richardson 4%.

We don't vouch for all these polls, we just blog em

Poll: Huckabee leading in FL?!

Take it with as many grains of salt as you want, but here's what Rasmussen's latest survey of 685 likely Florida GOP primary voters shows: Huckabee 27 percent, Romney 23%, Giuliani 19%, Thompson 9%; McCain 6%, Paul 4%.

"Just 49% of voters are “certain” they will vote for their current favorite when the election actually rolls around. If voters do change their mind, Giuliani narrowly tops the list as a second choice. Eighteen percent (18%) say the New Yorker is their second choice followed by McCain at 16%, Romney at 15%, Huckabee at 13%, and Thompson at 12%. Among those who say there is a good chance they could change their mind, Giuliani is an even stronger second choice preference."

Romney's FL TV

The Nielsen Company tells us that Mitt Romney has aired 2,053 local TV spots in Florida, through Nov. 18, the only presidential showing some love to Florida's TV stations so far. By comparison, Romney ran 7,469 ads in Iowa, 2,697 in South Carolina, 2,237 in New Hampshire, 1,495 in Vermont, 61 in Michigan, 96 in Georgia.