Richard Whalen

In the Florida primary, the first contest only open to Republicans, John McCain beat Mitt Romney in Florida 36 percent to 31 percent. He won among moderates, seniors and Hispanics and dispelled the argument that he needed Independents and Democrats to become the frontrunner.

According to exit polls, McCain beat Romney among the 50 percent of voters who said the economy was their most important issue by 38 percent to 35 percent, reports John Dickerson in Slate.com. “Another explanation may be that McCain’s relentless attacks on pork barrel spending may have worked for him, validating his long-held theory that spending restraint has always been the key economic issue among most GOP voters.”

Veteran political consultant Dick Morris suggests that the McCain’s people may “examine Romney’s record in the companies he has ‘turned around’ for how many layoffs resulted. If his efforts seemed to cost people their jobs, the economy issue could backfire” on Romney.

And Mike Huckabee’s decision to stay in the race is not good news for Romney because his presence will split the conservative Christian vote.

Rudy Giuliani, who made an unprecedented decision to focus all of his time and money in one state, suffered a humiliating defeat in Florida.. Some pundits offer the lame excuse that Giuliani did not expect McCain’s resurrection and the very heavy Florida turnout. Perceived as arrogant, he just didn’t wear well. And, like it or not, the more Floridians saw of Giuliani, the less they liked him.

An advocate of hard measures to deal with terrorism, Giuliani did not realize that voters wanted to hear his vision for the country’s other problems. Learning that he trailed McCain even in his home city of New York, he knew it was over.

In his concession speech, he said: “I’m proud that we chose to stay positive and to run a campaign of ideas in an era of personal attacks, negative ads and cynical spin.” Endorsing McCain Wednesday, speculation at once started: Will there be McCain/Giuliani bumper stickers?

Others now wonder if right-wing opponents such as anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist or talk show host Rush Limbaugh or other Republican Party regulars will try to stop McCain.

What is obvious is that the economy is the most important issue in the 2008 campaign. Faced with growing signs of recession, the Federal Reserve made its second deep interest-rate cut in a week and slashed the key short-term rate by a half-percentage point Wednesday.

The divided Democrats don’t automatically benefit. “The widespread notion that a downturn or a recession gives a clear advantage to the Democratic presidential challenger is not always supported by the facts,” says historian Michael Lind at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C. “The past offers just as much evidence that we could get a Republican president with a Democratic Congress in November as Democratic control of both,” wrote Lind, as reported in the Financial Times.

Going into the February 5th, Super Tuesday primaries, I am willing to bet that McCain is now unstoppable – provided he tightens up his crucial, neglected fundraising operation.