Politics

Open Thread about the Florida Primaries…

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News from Florida is gonna be trickling out soon enough.

Here's some pre-primary polls to consider as the results become known.

First, courtesy of Real Clear Politics, the GOP side of the ledger:

And now the Dems (whose contest doesn't matter, except symbolically):

Have fun with it all. Check back here for periodic updates.

Update (circa 7.50pm): From Fox News, the headline "Early Exit Polls: Seniors and Hispanics Strong For McCain."

Update (circa 8.50pm): From Bloomberg, the headline "McCain, Romney Race in Florida Too Close to Call." The short version is McCain 34 percent, Romney 33 percent, Rudy G. at 15 percent, with one-third of precincts reporting. Early projections are that Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama in the Dem contest, which doesn't count for anything other than symbolism because no delegates are at stake.

Update (circa 9.25pm): Fox News is calling it for McCain over Romney, 35 percent to 31 percent. Time.com's Mark Helperin is reporting that Rudy Giuliani, a distant third with 15 percent, will be endorsing McCain as soon as tomorrow.

Final Update (circa 9.35pm): What Matt Welch and Brian Doherty say above. The important thing to remember is a message that we put on a cover in November 2004. The faces may change, but the song–a sad one, though not without humor–remains the same: