Campaign '08

TAMPA, Fla. (CBS) ― John McCain and Mitt Romney hammered each other on the economy and national security as voting began Tuesday in a pivotal Florida primary that could anoint a Republican presidential front-runner and end Rudy Giuliani's bid for the White House.

The contest offers the winner the state's 57 delegates to this summer's Republican national convention and a big burst of energy in the weeklong sprint to Super Tuesday on Feb. 5 when 22 states hold nominating contests with more than 1,000 delegates at stake. A total of 1,191 delegates are needed to secure the Republican nomination.

According to early CBS News exit polls, the economy was the issue on the minds of Florida Republicans - nearly half said it was most important. Almost two-thirds of Republicans thought the economy was in bad shape.

Sharing values was the candidate quality that mattered most to voters, according to the exit poll, closely followed by the right experience. Voters also said issues were more important than personal qualities in their vote.

Also according to early exit polls, 28 percent of voters in the primary were veterans and 13 percent were Hispanic. About three in ten Republican voters today were white evangelicals.

CBSNews.com political reporter Brian Montopoli reports the Republican contenders, particularly Romney and McCain, have gone on the attack in the days leading up to voting here, trading accusations of flip-flopping, liberalism and lack of leadership.

McCain has said Romney has "consistently flip-flopped on every issue" and referred to his rival as "the liberal governor of Massachusetts." Romney has suggested McCain has set the country on "a liberal Democrat course" and called McCain's statements on Romney's Iraq war position "simply wrong" and "dishonest."

Polls in Florida opened at 7 a.m. EST, but more than a million ballots had already been cast, either through the early voting that began Jan. 14 or in absentee ballots returned by mail.

As voting began, McCain argued anew that Romney's economic record as a one-term Massachusetts governor wasn't as strong as his rival was making it seem. And, he said: "The real key, I think, here in Florida is who can keep America safe. Who is it that has got the experience and background and knowledge to take on the challenge of radical Islamic extremism? Governor Romney has no experience there."

Romney countered with an unnamed, though obvious, slap at McCain. "One of the candidates out there running for president said that the economy is not his strong suit; well, it's my strong suit," Romney said. McCain has acknowledged being better versed in national security issues than economics.

The state's contest is less important for the Democrats because the party's candidates all agreed to a pledge imposed by national party leaders not to publicly campaign there over a dispute with state party officials.

Barack Obama, however, looked to close the gap with Hillary Rodham Clinton heading into next week's virtual national primary after securing the coveted endorsement of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on Monday. He also received an endorsement from Democratic Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius at a rally Tuesday, a potential boost in a state that swings overwhelmingly Republican.

Acrimony has replaced the recent civility of the Republican race as the candidates pin their hopes on Florida's primary. Recent polls show McCain, the Arizona senator, and Romney, the millionaire businessman, in a dead heat.

Giuliani, the former New York mayor who has trailed far behind in six straight contests after betting almost his entire campaign on Florida, is far behind. He hinted for the first time that he may drop out if he does not take the state but insisted anew as the polls opened Tuesday that he intends to win.

"You don't contemplate losing it," he said. "That isn't something you do on the day of a primary."

But, if he loses, it could be the end of his campaign.

"Wednesday morning, we'll make a decision," he told reporters between campaign appearances Monday.

Also lagging is Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist minister, who has not won since the Iowa caucuses nearly a month ago.

Several factors are certain to affect the outcome. The Florida Republican primary is open only to Republican voters, and McCain's views are sometimes out of step with conservative Republicans.

He has backed a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and co-sponsored a bill to reduce pollution by power plants and oil refineries that critics said would increase energy costs for families. His other wins, in New Hampshire and South Carolina, were fueled in part by independents able to cast ballots in the Republican contest.

More so than his rival, Romney has a get-out-the-vote effort as well as early and absentee voting programs. The recent focus on the economy works in his favor; he has been pushing his private-sector experience as a venture capitalist as proof he can turn the country away from the brink of recession.

McCain is backed by Florida's top two Republican elected officials, Sen. Mel Martinez and Gov. Charlie Crist, and has endorsements from a slew of Florida newspapers. The former Vietnam prisoner of war also has strong name recognition, and ownership of national security, an issue important to the large number of veterans and active military in the state.

Florida's contest is could provide momentum for Democrats, despite its lack of delegates. The Democratic National Committee stripped the state of all its convention delegates for violating party rules by holding its primary earlier than Feb. 5.

With split decisions in the Democratic contests so far - Obama won Iowa and South Carolina, Clinton, the New York senator, won New Hampshire and Nevada - there is increased speculation that the nominating race will extend beyond Feb. 5 when more than 1,600 delegates are at stake. A total of 2,025 delegates are needed to secure the Democratic nomination.

Obama needs to steadily build on his newfound momentum if he is to upstage Clinton and become the first black U.S. president. Kennedy's endorsement increases the pressure on Clinton, who hopes to be the first woman to occupy the Oval Office.

Summoning memories of his slain brother, former President John F. Kennedy, who is still revered among Democrats four decades after his 1963 assassination, the veteran senator from Massachusetts led two generations of Kennedys on Monday in endorsing Obama.
Obama beamed as the senator's son, Rhode Island Representative Patrick Kennedy, then Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F. Kennedy, and finally the senator himself took turns bestowing their praise.

"Today isn't just about politics for me. It's personal," Obama, 46, told a boisterous crowd packed into the American University basketball arena a few miles (kilometers) across town from the White House.

Kennedy's endorsement was sought by all the Democratic candidates. Besides his status as a liberal icon and member of the Kennedy dynasty, Kennedy boasts a broad national fundraising and political network.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)