Smears Could Cost McCain Fla.

The Sunshine State is looking cloudy for John McCain, whose risky moves could cost him Florida, just as Rudy Giuliani's posturing sank him in the primary, novelist Carl Hiaasen writes for the Miami Herald. Polls show McCain forfeiting his lead, and his running mate isn't helping. Sarah Palin, Hiaasen snipes, "calls herself a pit bull but she's really just a pit poodle."

“More a yapper than a biter,” Palin “can't rescue Florida for McCain. Only McCain can do that.” But angry supporters are drowning out his message. “McCain says he abhors bigots, but in a close contest, he couldn't win the state without them,” observes Hiaasen, advising McCain to stay on message if he wants to avoid the Rudy route.
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