Following a mostly cordial debate Thursday night in Boca Raton, McCain called a press conference Friday morning to slap down Romney’s argument that his time in the private sector makes him equipped to handle the economic problems that have Washington scrambling to head off a potential recession.
“I think everybody knows the difference between leadership and management,” McCain said. “You can hire managers all the time … leadership is people who inspire.”
Asked what he was specifically suggesting about Romney in 08 election rhetoric, McCain answered, “I’m suggesting Gov. Romney is touting his qualities and his experience and resume as a manager. I am telling the American people, and they know it, that I am a leader.”
Just as the GOP candidates were starting to go easy on each other, John McCain cranked up the volume against his top Florida competitor, Mitt Romney in 08 Florida Primaries, on Friday, suggesting the former venture capitalist is more of a desk jockey than a president.
His new rhetorical tack comes as Romney swiftly catches up to him in Florida polls following McCain’s momentum building victories in South Carolina and New Hampshire. The GOP race has sharply turned from focusing on national security and illegal immigration toward the economy, a twist Romney has used to his advantage.
Even though McCain has tried to look past the primaries and cast himself as the most formidable challenger in the general election, the Tuesday vote is the last major contest before Super Tuesday Feb. 5, making it a critical opportunity to pick up steam on the road to the nomination.
Rudy Giuliani, who’s staked his campaign on Florida, has recently been idling in third in state polls. But poll averages show McCain and Romney in 08 elections just fractions of a point apart.
Romney is sticking to the economic argument, asserting Friday in Miami that “the only way to get America on track economically is to have a president who actually understands how the economy works.”
Promises to turn around the economy and fix a broken Washington have driven his campaign of late and were major themes before he won Michigan and Nevada.
He responded to McCain’s attacks at a rally in Pensacola, Fla., saying, “I guess Senator McCain didn’t think as positively about last night’s debate as I did.”
He ridiculed his competitor as a Washington insider who’s admitted he’s not an expert on the economy.
“That’s straight talk,” Romney said. “Now he’s engaging in Washington talk … And I’ll tell you this — somebody who’s been in the real economy, who’s created real jobs, someone who’s been on Main Street knows a lot more about the jobs and the economy of this nation than someone who’s spent his time in K Street and in Washington, DC.”
Romney headed the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and was Massachusetts governor from 2003 to 2007, but spent most of his career as a business consultant and later founded Bain Capital.
The two Florida frontrunners have started going at it in advertisements, too. The campaigns launched dueling Web ads Thursday night that mocked each other to the backdrop of the waltz “The Blue Danube,” a popular tune among political ad-makers.
“Mitt Romney says he’s a leader, but how do we know which direction he wants to lead? Mitt Romney seems to change positions like the wind,” a McCain ad says.
McCain also picked up the endorsement of Florida Sen. Mel Martinez Friday. Martinez was born in Cuba and his endorsement could give the Arizona senator a boost with the state’s Cuban Americans, a cross-section Giuliani was trying to court.
Giuliani still says he’s going to win Tuesday, and on Friday joined the chorus of criticism. He struck at both McCain and Romney for not supporting tax cuts consistently, and for not fully embracing a disaster relief fund that he’s been promoting.
Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses, is polling behind Giuliani in Florida, but says he hasn’t given up on the state.
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