MIAMI (AFP) — Republican hopefuls spread across Florida Tuesday ahead of a high-stakes January 29 primary that may prove a make-or-break date for former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani who has staked everything on winning the southeastern state.
Their campaign schedules in the culturally diverse state includes stops at Jewish delis and landmarks of the influential Cuban-American community, as well as a televised debate on Thursday.
The Democratic candidates are staying away from Florida after the party declared the primary is non-binding because it violates party rules that only allow Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina to hold nominating contests before February 5.
But for the Republican hopefuls, Florida is the biggest prize to date. The Republican primary will pick 57 delegates to the national convention that names the presidential candidate.
The stakes are particularly high for Giuliani, who has largely ignored the smaller states in a huge gamble focusing on Florida. The January 29 primary comes just one week ahead of "Super Tuesday," when Republicans will vote in 19 states.
"The reality is we need to win in Florida," Giuliani said at a rally in Orlando.
But his once commanding opinion poll lead in Florida has eroded, and several polls give a slight edge to Senator John McCain, who won Saturday's Republican primary in South Carolina.
During a meet-and-greet event on Monday at Miami's Versailles restaurant -- the epicenter of the traditionally Republican Cuban-American community -- McCain stopped short of proclaiming himself in the lead.
"I think we're doing very well, but to say front-runner. ... I'm just a little superstitious, you know," said McCain.
Flanked by Cuban-American lawmakers who endorse his candidacy, McCain underlined his staunch opposition to the communist regime of Cuban President Fidel Castro. "I'll spend anything that is necessary for the cause of freedom," he said.
In a state where Hispanic voters are likely to play a major role in determining who will be the next US president, both Giuliani and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney aired new television ads in Spanish.
As McCain, Giuliani and Romney stomped in Florida, Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee kept a far lower profile in the southeastern state and was campaigning in neighboring Georgia Tuesday morning.
Giuliani, who has already made more than 20 campaign appearances in Florida, started the day Tuesday meeting residents of the upscale southeastern Florida city of Palm Beach Gardens at the Too Jays Original Deli.
"The most important thing a president needs to understand is how to stimulate an economy like ours," he said, adding that he had successfully turned around the economy of New York City when he was mayor.
The other candidates also made the economy a key issue at a time when world markets are in a free fall.
"I think people across the country are very concerned about our economy," Romney told the Fox News network on Monday. "They see Washington as being fundamentally broken, not being able to solve the problems of the country."
On the Democratic side, the primary could give Senator Hillary Clinton a moral victory and pivotal momentum ahead of Super Tuesday.
The former first lady leads a RealClearPolitics.com poll average by 19 percentage points in Florida, while Senator Barrack Obama is projected by polls to win Saturday's primary in South Carolina.
In the latest spat between the two campaigns, the Clinton camp Monday claimed an Obama TV ad violated a pledge among Democratic candidates not to campaign in Florida
"It is black and white, as clear as a bell, a violation of the pledge," said Clinton backer representative Debbie Wasserman Shultz in a conference call organized by the campaign.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton responded that the two national cable networks that carry the ad "told us it would be impossible to run advertising nationally that excluded only Florida."
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