Net Results

Although Rudy Giuliani opened his Florida primary night speech quoting the "great philosopher" Yogi Berra in saying it's not over until it's over, there are now reports from multiple news outlets that the former New York City mayor will end his floundering bid for the Republican presidential nomination tomorrow and endorse Florida winner John McCain.

The reported decision comes in the wake of Giuliani's failure in a Florida contest that became do-or-die for him, largely a result of his own risky strategy. Though he had led in national Republican preference polls through most of 2007, it soon became evident that the "retail campaigning" of the early-voting states such as Iowa and New Hampshire was not his forte. As he nosedived in polls in those states, Giuliani turned to Florida in hopes of establishing a "big state" strategy, with the name ID he had built with his image of stalwart leadership in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on his home city carrying him back in contention.

But his absence from competition for the key early weeks of the campaign, combined with the greater attention paid by the largely conservative Republican primary electorate to Giuliani's relatively liberal views on key social issues and his stormy personal life, irreparably deflated his campaign. Giuliani, in incomplete returns, has 15 percent of the Florida primary vote, way behind McCain at 37 percent and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 32 percent, and just 1 point ahead of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and his underfunded campaign. Had Giuliani not run second behind McCain in populous Miami-Dade County -- home to numerous transplanted New Yorkers -- he would have dropped behind Huckabee.

If Giuliani drops out, he will become the second Republican to leave the race after showing that their presidential prospects were much more attractive in theory than in reality. Giuliani and Fred Thompson, the actor and former Tennessee senator, both had strong showings in polls during the preliminaries to the campaign, but proved to have limited appeal among Republican primary participants when the actual voting began.