Republican candidates, campaigning full-bore in Florida before its primary next Tuesday, stuck to longer-term prescriptions of lower taxes and spending to heal the world's biggest economy.
Senator John McCain, after winning South Carolina's Republican primary last Saturday, picked up a crop of Florida endorsements and one from General Norman Schwarzkopf, who led allied forces in the 1991 Gulf War.
He also bagged a new victory in Louisiana, where initial results showed he won the state's caucuses on Tuesday.
For former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Florida is critical after he sat out the early nominating contests. He played down polls that showed him slipping behind McCain in both Florida and his home state of New York.
"I've had more experience than they [his rivals] have in running a government ... New York is the financial capital of the world," Giuliani told CNN, insisting he was still the Republican to beat.
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