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Arizona senator John McCain edged out former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the Republican Florida Primary on Tuesday, January 29, by nearly 100,000 votes, 36% to 31%. The Republican Florida Primary was a winner-take-all affair, giving McCain 57 delegates, the lead in total delegates, and a tremendous momentum boost going into Super Tuesday next week, when nearly two dozen primaries will be held. McCain's victory is a testament to hard work and perseverance, because back in mid-December, according to a Rasmussen poll of Florida voters, McCain rested at a dismal 6% and was 17% behind Mitt Romney.

Ex-New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani finished a disappointing third, far behind the frontrunners, pulling in only 15% of the vote. Consider this as opposed to August of last year, when Giuliani (again according to a Rasmussen poll) was enjoying a 15 percent lead over Mitt Romney and a 23 point lead over a lagging McCain.

Giuliani had made no attempt to hide the fact that he was placing heavy emphasis on the Florida Primary, wanting to use Florida as a jumping off platform for a run at the presidential nomination. But his narrow focus on Florida (and a few other states with large delegate counts) seemed to dismiss the smaller states' primaries and caucuses that led up to it.

Many political analysts and experts are expecting Rudy Giuliani to announce his withdrawal from the Republican race shortly, if not within the next few days. John King, political reporter for CNN, announced late Tuesday night that sources in the Giuliani camp have informed news organizations that Mayor Giuliani would announce his withdrawal from the Republican race and would endorse Senator John McCain's candidacy for president on Wednesday, January 30.

So what does this mean going forward for McCain, Romney, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and Texas representative Ron Paul? It probably means that McCain and Romney will starts attacking each other again, something that the two have become accustomed to of late. Huckabee, who won the Iowa Caucus, pulled down 14% of the vote in Florida and will remain to be a thorn in Romney's side, draining away Christian voters from Romney. As glowing as McCain's remarks about Huckabee and Giuliani have been, it would not be a great leap to think that one of the two might become McCain's running mate if he gets the official nod. And Ron Paul? Ron Paul simply keeps his candidacy alive.

The Democrats also held their Florida primary on Tuesday, but there were no delegates involved since the Democratic National Committee had stripped the state of its delegates for allocating delegates outside the DNC approved timeframe. Senator Hillary Clinton won the purely symbolic race, 50% to 33% over Barack Obama. Former senator John Edwards came in third with 14% of the vote.

And they are all - Republicans and Democrats - headed to California and Super Tuesday.

Sources:

"Florida Republican Primary," RealClearPolitics.com

"Election Center 2008: Primaries and Caucuses," CNNPolitics.com

"Sources: Giuliani Will Endorse McCain," CNN.com

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