GOP Candidates Make Final Appeals to Florida Voters

ROTHENBERG: It's almost approached the nastiness of the Democratic race, which is saying something.

Yes, I think what we are seeing, Judy, is as the stakes grow, the rhetoric heats up.

This is a very important contest. You know, one thing that's really important to note, I think, is that this contest is so different than the others, because this is a closed contest. This is only Republicans can participate, very different from the previous contests, where, in some, independents could vote. Some, you could change party.

So, this is a test really of the Republican base. And that adds, I think, to the pressure on both McCain and Romney.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And we -- we'll see who is advantaged or not by that.

ROTHENBERG: That's right.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Chris, do we have a sense of what is driving the voters? Of course, after tonight, when we look at the results, when we look at the exit polls, we'll know more.

But do we have a sense from watching this of what issues and what other factors are driving the voters?

CILLIZZA: Well, Judy, I think we saw in the early going in places like Iowa, New Hampshire, war, illegal immigration, those things were big issues. The economy was a somewhat secondary issue.

I think, in Michigan on the Republican side, in Nevada on the Republican side, in South Carolina, and now very likely in Florida, the economy has risen and passed all of those other issues. I think a lot of that has to do with the yo-yoing of the stock market, the uncertainty of foreign markets. I think all of that plays into it.

If you want to put it in political terms, I think that Mitt Romney probably feels pretty good about a debate over the economy. He is someone who has emphasized his experience in both the public and the private sector, as someone, in his words, "I know how jobs come and I know why they go."

John McCain is clearly more comfortable talking about national security matters, Iraq, the war on terror. He himself has said he is not as well versed on the economy, a point Mitt Romney has made a focal point in his campaign.

So, the economy, I think, is going to be another major focus. I think that's probably good news for Mitt Romney. But, again, you know, in a contest this close, it's hard to say that any one thing is going to put one or the other of them over the finish line.

ROTHENBERG: Well, Giuliani's message has all along been about leadership. And Huckabee has talked about change and conservative values. And some -- certainly, some economic populism continues to be part of the message.

As to who is listening, that is a very interesting question. There is -- the big controversy with Giuliani is why his poll numbers have been sinking. Is it that Republicans have been focusing on what he has been saying and have been turned off? Or, conversely, is it that Giuliani hasn't been playing in the game, so he's been ignored; Republicans have been focusing on the other candidates; he seemed irrelevant, so, therefore they've started to defect from him?

That's unclear.

As far as Huckabee, so far, he's only shown great traction with social conservatives. And he's got to figure out a way to broaden that message. We all thought -- we all wondered at one point, remember, a few weeks ago, whether his economic populism message would sell in Michigan. That's still an issue as the economy becomes more important to Republican voters, I think.

CILLIZZA: Well, Judy, you know, this -- the nominating calendar has been a bit of a mystery in terms of how they set it up and what states go where, I think, to average voters in this country for a long time.

And this election cycle, I think it has gotten even worse. What happened is, the Democratic National Committee essentially said, we want four states to vote early, those being the traditional two of Iowa, New Hampshire, as well as a caucus in Nevada and a primary in South Carolina. All of that was aimed at trying to add both geographic and ethnic diversity to those people picking the early nominees.

Michigan and then Florida as well essentially said, we don't want to play by those rules. We're going to move our primaries up into January. And, you know, we dare you to sanction us.

Well, the Democratic National Committee was true to their word. They took away the delegates, basically said, we will not seat these delegates at the convention, which has created a very tough situation on the Democratic side. All the candidates are on the ballot tonight, but none of them have actively campaigned in the state. Hillary Clinton will stop in the state later tonight to thank supporters.

Her campaign is doing everything it can do to try and make Florida relevant. And, on the other hand, Barack Obama's campaign is doing everything it can to make Florida irrelevant, basically saying, this isn't a real contest. This should not be taken as a win for Clinton. Basically, what we're looking at is posturing as we get to February 5. Both of Clinton and Obama, and especially Clinton, are looking for that little bit of needed momentum to just get them in the right place as we go to these 20-plus states voting on February 5.

You know, it's a real sort of media battle as to whether it will mean anything or not.

ROTHENBERG: This is really an interesting and amazing development, whereby the candidates, the Democrats, had agreed not to compete. And now we seem to have a competition by at least one of the candidates. I think many people are going to see the Clintons -- I shouldn't say the Clintons -- Senator Clinton's effort in Florida to be somewhere between unseemly and unfair.

And this is not something that I think Senator Clinton should be happy about, because it adds to the perception that Senator Clinton, the Clintons, will do whatever it takes. Here, they accepted the DNC's rule that this is -- these delegates don't count, but now somebody is competing for them. It is not a good situation.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What is it about Florida? I mean, there was 2000, and now there's this. I mean, it's -- it's...

ROTHENBERG: And you're absolutely right. This is baggage that the whole state carries.

That's why some people are telling me that maybe the reports -- the results will be slow to be reported in, because local election officials will not want to make a mistake.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Don't want to take any changes.

So, Chris, we're going to be watching.

CILLIZZA: Absolutely, watching and waiting, hopefully not too late for this non-night owl.

JUDY WOODRUFF: OK. All right.

Chris Cillizza, washingtonpost.com, Stu Rothenberg, Rothenberg Political Report, thank you both.

CILLIZZA: Thanks, Judy.