Republicans Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney kept hammering each other on the economy and national security heading into the pivotal Florida primary yesterday that could solidify one man as the front-runner for the party's presidential nomination.
Critical phone calls, negative radio ads, and bitter personal exchanges marked the final hours before the primary. The contest offers the winner the state's 57 delegates to this summer's Republican national convention and a big burst of energy in the weeklong sprint to Super Tuesday on Feb. 5 when 20-plus states hold nominating contests with more than 1,000 delegates at stake.
Democrat Senator Barack Obama looked to close the gap with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton heading into next week's virtual national primary after securing the coveted endorsement of Senator Edward Kennedy.
"I feel change is in the air," Kennedy said in announcing his choice on Monday.
The Massachusetts senator is expected to campaign for Obama later this week, beginning in Arizona, New Mexico and California, which all vote on Feb. 5.
Acrimony has replaced the recent civility of the Republican race as the candidates pin their hopes on Florida's primary. Recent polls show McCain, an Arizona senator, and Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, in a dead heat.
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who has trailed far behind in six straight contests, is seeking a win to remain a viable candidate. But he is far behind in the polls, and a poor showing could force him to abandon his bid. Also lagging is Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and ordained Baptist minister, who has not won since the Iowa caucuses nearly a month ago.
On Monday, Romney and McCain accused each other of being liberals, a charge tantamount to blasphemy among Republicans.
Romney lambasted the Arizona senator for a host of "liberal answers" to the country's problems. Among them: McCain's legislation curbing money in politics, his more forgiving view of illegal immigrants and his backing of an energy bill that Romney said would raise consumer costs.
"And I just don't think those liberal answers are what America is looking for, not for the Republican Party or for any party, for that matter," Romney said in Fort Myers, Florida.
McCain accused Romney of "wholesale deception of voters" and of flip-flopping on the issues.
"On every one of the issues he has attacked us on, Mitt Romney was for it before he was against it," McCain said.
Several factors are certain to affect the outcome. The Florida primary is open only to Republican voters; McCain's other wins, in New Hampshire and South Carolina, were fueled in part by independents able to cast ballots in the Republican contest.
McCain is backed by Florida's top two Republican officials, Senator Mel Martinez and Governor Charlie Crist, and has endorsements from a slew of Florida newspapers. The former Vietnam prisoner of war also has broad name recognition, as well as ownership of an issue important to the large number of veterans and active military in the state, national security.
Florida was also to hold a Democratic contest yesterday, but the party's candidates all agreed to a pledge imposed by national party leaders not to publicly campaign there because of a dispute with state party officials. The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida of all its convention delegates for violating party rules by holding its primary earlier than Feb. 5.
With split decisions in the Democratic contests so far -- Obama won Iowa and South Carolina, Clinton won New Hampshire and Nevada -- there is increased speculation that the nominating race will extend beyond Feb. 5 when more than 1,600 delegates are at stake.
Obama needs to steadily build on his newfound momentum if he is to upstage Clinton and become the first black US president. Kennedy's endorsement increases the pressure on Clinton, the former first lady who hopes to be the first woman to occupy the Oval Office.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not