USA Today: Fla. win cements McCain's front-runner status Republican John McCain completed an improbable journey from written off to front-runner Tuesday by winning Florida's presidential primary.Sure, he did. Sure, he did. Town hall meetings it is, then.
The Arizona senator's third win in the four primaries so far, political analysts say, makes him the favorite for the nomination as the candidates head into a 22-state national primary on Feb. 5.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney had the most at stake in Florida from a momentum standpoint. He has delegates from wins in the Michigan primary and the Wyoming and Nevada caucuses, and his deep pockets — a legacy of his years as a venture capitalist — will allow him to keep fighting.
"It's not completely over, so long as Romney has a big bank account," said former House GOP aide John Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College. But he said McCain will be difficult to stop.
Though McCain's campaign was broke and in disarray last year, he returned to the underdog approach he used in 2000 and, town meeting by town meeting, scrapped his way back into contention.
All you have to do in this country is start talking about staying in Iraq for a hundred years and you can miraculously start winning elections!
Of course it doesn't hurt if you're a former torture victim who supports torture.