Republican candidates have much at stake in Florida

Republican Mitt Romney sought to lock up the Florida primary by refusing to talk Sunday about little else but the economic jitters confronting the nation. His rivals took different tacks toward the same goal as they fanned out across the Sunshine State.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, lashed top rival John McCain for admitting less familiarity with the economy than foreign affairs, telling an earsplitting rally outside Miami: “No one needs to give me a briefing on the economy. I won’t need to choose a vice president that understands the economy – because I know the economy.”

A day after McCain accused him of supporting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Romney also told a reporter McCain was “lying” before catching himself and saying, “I’m saying he made a dishonest comment. I misspoke.”

McCain defended himself at a town hall meeting in Polk City when a questioner challenged the Arizona senator’s votes in 2001 and 2003 against Bush administration tax cuts. McCain now says those tax cuts should be made permanent.

“I opposed the tax cuts because I saw no restraint in the growth of spending. We let spending get out of control,” said the self-styled maverick.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani contrasted himself with the two in both style and substance.

“Senator McCain and Governor Romney are doing such a good job of attacking each other, how about voting for somebody who’s not attacking? Vote for me, Rudy Giuliani,” he said while visiting the Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach. “Presidential election is not about name-calling. Presidential election is not about gotcha and almost, like, high school politics.”

In Vero Beach, he said: “I’ve traveled up and down the state of Florida, talked to a lot of people and listened to you. That’s why I support a national catastrophe fund. I’m the only Republican candidate in this race supporting it – and I need your vote in order to accomplish it.”

Polls show McCain and Romney atop the field, with Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee lagging. At stake Tuesday are 57 delegates to the national convention, and momentum heading into the Super Tuesday contests, when more than 20 states hold nominating events on Feb. 5.

Tuesday’s election could well be the most important Republican primary of the year, and not only because it may remove from contention the former New York mayor, who led in the national polls for most of last year.

If McCain wins here, he’d gain a clear advantage as the front-runner for the Republican nomination. A Romney victory would block that and make the former Massachusetts governor a much more serious contender, perhaps positioning him to go all the way.