ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
And now to Florida, where the Republican presidential campaign is moving at jet speed. Candidates are flying up and down the state today in a last-minute appeal for support before Florida voters go to the polls tomorrow. Florida is the biggest prize so far in the GOP presidential contest, and polls suggest a tight race. We'll get reports on three of the leading candidates this hour.
And we begin with NPR's Scott Horsley, who was with Mitt Romney in central Florida.
SCOTT HORSLEY: Mitt Romney donned a guayabera shirt over the weekend while campaigning with the Cuban community in south Florida. But this Monday, it was back to the button down. And Romney's message was all business as he addressed an airport rally near Orlando.
(Soundbite of political speech)
Mr. MITT ROMNEY (Republican, Former Massachusetts Governor; Presidential Candidate): When I came to Florida, people began asking a lot about the economy. And that's something that's in my wheel house. You see, I think it's helpful, if you want to run the economy, to have actually had a job in the private sector, which I've had.
HORSLEY: Earlier today, Romney visited a gas station in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he criticized his Republican rival John McCain's proposal to combat global warming. Romney says it would raise gasoline prices by 50 cents a gallon without making a dent in greenhouse gas emissions from other countries. He'd repeat that message throughout the day.
Mr. ROMNEY: They don't call it America warming, they call it global warming. And we don't need a president who thinks that you can charge $1,000 to a family in Florida, and think you're solving problems. I'd never do that.
HORSLEY: This is one of five Florida rallies Romney is holding today from Panama City to West Palm Beach. But he'll still meet only a tiny fraction of voters in person, so Romney is also taping television interviews. And volunteers were busy in a corner of the hangar, making phone calls to get out the vote.
JASON(ph) (Volunteer for Mitt Romney): Hi, my name is Jason, and I'm a volunteer calling on behalf of Governor Mitt Romney.
HORSLEY: For some voters, all this last-minute campaigning comes too late. Some 600,000 Floridians have already voted.
Scott Horsley, NPR News, Sanford, Florida.
GREG ALLEN: I'm Greg Allen, covering the McCain campaign in Jacksonville.
This is a town John McCain knows well. It's where he landed after returning from Vietnam, and where he was stationed in the mid-1970s when he commanded a Navy attack squadron. McCain held a roundtable event at a facility where pontoon bridges and Marine landing craft are readied for service. It was designed to play to his strength - his experience in dealing with national security. Joining him were high-level supporters such as former CIA head James Woolsey and former Navy Secretary John Lehman. As the economic news has turned from bad to worse in recent weeks, McCain has been on the defensive. Leading opponent Mitt Romney has challenged McCain's economic credentials. McCain said today, yes, the economy is important. And as a member of Congress, he said, he's been a leader in dealing with the nation's economic issues.
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Senator JOHN MCCAIN (Republican, Arizona): And I led, and I didn't manage. But the point is that our nation's security is our foremost obligation to our people. We all know that.
ALLEN: And that was just the beginning. McCain lost no time in returning Romney's attacks, taking umbrage especially at Romney's characterization of his policies as liberal. McCain returned the compliment.
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Sen. MCCAIN: As the liberal governor of the state of Massachusetts, he raised taxes by $730 million. We now have - the state of Massachusetts is now saddled with a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar debt over his government-mandated health care system.
ALLEN: As the race here in Florida goes down to the wire, McCain is hoping last-minute endorsements from Florida's Republican senator, Mel Martinez, and Governor Charlie Crist may help put him over the top.
Greg Allen, NPR News, Jacksonville.
ROBERT SMITH: I'm Robert Smith, following Rudy Giuliani in central Florida.
The good thing about campaigning in only one state is you can pretty much tell the audience exactly what they want to hear.
(Soundbite of political speech)
Mr. RUDY GIULIANI (Republican, Former Mayor of New York City; Presidential Candidate): I've learned a lot being in Florida for the last - month? Something like that.
SMITH: Giuliani still hasn't ditched the dark suit, but he now knows how to talk like a native about hurricanes and the space program.
Mr. GIULIANI: We've got to make sure we put a person on Mars, and I am committed to getting that done as well.
SMITH: But the biggest applause comes when he mentions his time as mayor. It's an easy sell. The audience is usually filled with former New Yorkers, now sporting tans and reminiscing.
Mr. GIULIANI: Where from New York are you from?
Unidentified Woman: The Bronx.
Mr. GIULIANI: What road?
Unidentified Woman: Dyre Avenue, do you know that?
Mr. GIULIANI: Oh, yes, I do.
Unidentified Woman: Good, good.
Mr. GIULIANI: I have (unintelligible) in the number-five train.
Unidentified Man: There you go.
Unidentified Woman: Yay.
SMITH: Over the last few days, Giuliani might as well have been traveling on the number-five train. He stopped at a synagogue in Boca, a pizza joint in Port Saint Lucie. He was surrounded by guys in Mets and Yankees caps in a phalanx of guardian angels. It was like a reunion.
Mr. JEFFREY SILKEN(ph) (Boca Raton Resident): South Florida is the sixth borough, so…
SMITH: Jeffrey Silken lives in Boca Raton by way of Brooklyn. He loves Giuliani, but he's not totally sure he's going to vote for him.
Mr. SILKEN: You know, the one thing that I don't understand is why Rudy didn't campaign in Michigan, New Hampshire, Iowa unless he's going to be a spoiler just by trying to take Florida here.
SMITH: You can understand how a New Yorker might be skeptical of the mayor's motives. Giuliani used to be known as this pit bull campaigner. But at a surf shop in Cocoa Beach, he seemed almost mellow.
Mr. GIULIANI: Senator McCain and Governor Romney are doing such a good job of attacking each other. How about voting for somebody who's not attacking? Vote for Rudy Giuliani.
(Soundbite of cheering)
SMITH: Giuliani as Mr. Nice Guy - must be that month he spent in the Florida sun.
Robert Smith, NPR News, Orlando.