How Florida has become the state to win for presidential candidates over the last few years can seem somewhat odd but it has become a microcosm of our present political situation in the aggregate.
It has strong conservatives and committed Christian voters in the Panhandle area, a healthy mix of general Republicans and Democrats through the center of the state, a sizable Hispanic population and a number of liberals who seemed to have trouble with their ballots in 2000 located in some of the larger cities.
This group of wealthy liberals has gotten an out sized portrayal in the mainstream media of late mainly because that's where reporters like to go to feel at home and eat sushi.
What makes this such an interesting contest is not only the Giuliani strategy and whether it will work but that this is the first major primary in which only registered Republicans may vote.
If McCain can win here, where he cannot pull in independents and crossover Democrats then he must be considered the national front runner; if not he will signal real weakness at the core of the nominating voters.
Information I have heard from those on the ground in Florida is that it appears to be shaping up to be a Giuliani/McCain race where Romney will most likely finish third or fourth. If he does not beat Huckabee, he will be in undeniably serious trouble.
Polling there is useless as we have all been able to tell but the points to watch in the next few days is how Huckabee is doing with committed Christian voters who he cannot afford to split with anyone and how beat up McCain gets over his recent immigration bill collision with the rest of the party.
