Below The Beltway

As I noted late last week, the woman who was believed to be the frontrunner in the race for the GOP nomination for New Jersey’s Senate seat currently held by the aging Frank Lautenberg withdrew from the race due to health issues.
Now, at least one county chairman is proposing that the Republican Party bring in […]

For spending the most money in history to win a single convention delegate:
Rudy Giuliani spent $5.5 million on TV ads and a total of $49 million overall — and what did he get for that investment? Just one delegate.
That’s a new record for futility — topping the late John Connally — who spent $11 million […]

Apparently, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani will be on The Tonight Show tonight:
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — John McCain and Rudy Giuliani will appear together Thursday night on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, a source close to the McCain campaign tells CNN.
Giuliani dropped his own White House bid Wednesday and endorsed McCain, calling the […]

As expected, Rudy Giuliani has dropped out of the race for President and thrown his support to John McCain:
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. - Rudy Giuliani dropped out of the Republican presidential campaign on Wednesday and endorsed Sen. John McCain for the nomination.
Giuliani made the announcement at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library a day after suffering a […]

Apparently, it will be made official sometime later today:
ORLANDO, Fla. - Rudy Giuliani told supporters Wednesday he’s abandoning his bid for president and backing Republican rival and longtime friend John McCain.
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican and adviser to Giuliani, said the former mayor called him this morning to tell him of his plan.
Giuliani […]

Given the news that’s breaking this morning, about which there is more below, it’s fairly clear that the race for the Republican and Democratic nomination have both entered their final phase, and things are turning out far differently than we thought they would one month, or even two weeks, ago.
Republicans
John McCain is now the frontrunner […]

The Politco notes that the end of Rudy Giuliani’s Presidential campaign also may mark the end of the use of September 11th as a political issue:
Rudy Giuliani’s distant third-place finish in Florida may put an end to his bid for president, and it seems also to mark the beginning of the end of a period […]

In the aftermath of the Florida Primary, several news organizations are reporting that Rudy Giuliani will drop out of the Republican race tomorrow and endorse John McCain:
(CNN) — Rudy Giuliani will endorse John McCain Wednesday in California, two GOP sources familiar with the discussions told CNN Tuesday.
McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, had been in “ongoing […]

The L.A. Times’ Andrew Malcom reports this interesting exchange on the Giuliani campaign plane:
Rudy Giuliani appears to be pondering an end to his long pursuit of the Republican presidential nomination.
In a meeting in the back of his chartered plane en route to St. Petersburg, Fla., a short while ago, the onetime, longtime GOP front-runner told […]

One of these days, I’m gonna get this right, and I think hope today may be the day.
Here’s how I think things will pan out in Florida tomorrow.
Republicans

John McCain
Mitt Romney
Rudy Giuliani
Mike Huckabee
Ron Paul

Over the weekend, John McCain received endorsements from Senator Mel Martinez and Governor Charlie Crist, both of which are likely to be just […]