Florida

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) endorsed John McCain on Friday, a move likely to give the Republican presidential candidate a boost with the state's Cuban Americans days before the Tuesday primary. "I understand that he is ready on Day One to lead this nation, and I would trust the future and the security of this nation to this man," Martinez said in introducing the Arizona senator to the Latin Builders Assn.

Linda Ivell is an ardent supporter of President Bush, leads the state Republican women's club and has met all of the major GOP presidential candidates. Yet the effervescent 53-year-old real estate agent, who lives in this former citrus and phosphate mining hub in central Florida, simply can't make up her mind about whom to vote for Tuesday in Florida's crucial presidential primary.

The quarreling between Mitt Romney and John McCain in the closing days of the Florida primary highlights their clash over whether Republicans should make the economy or national security their top priority in choosing a presidential nominee. The two are battling for the lead in Tuesday's pivotal contest in Florida, the most populous state yet to cast ballots in the Republican race.

At Adams Pawn, a middle-aged man in a tracksuit haggles with the shop's proprietor over a Winchester rifle. Shop owner Charles Harding shakes so violently from Parkinson's disease that he clutches the counter for support. But he gives the customer his best sales pitch. A $250 transaction like this could be the difference between a good day and a bad.

A smiling Hillary Rodham Clinton waved from the front page of the Miami Herald on Monday after an evening of fundraising in Florida. The image of Barack Obama flickered on TV screens across the state, from the Panhandle to the high-rises lining South Florida's Biscayne Bay. But don't call it campaigning.

While his Republican rivals fought hard in the week before today's primary, Mike Huckabee was forced to largely forgo this expensive battlefield. After his loss to Sen. John McCain in the South Carolina GOP primary Jan. 19, Huckabee arrived in Florida short of cash and having little luck finding more. He decided to conserve money by traveling less and advertising only on cable TV, limiting his visibility in the state.

As Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has crisscrossed Florida trying to sway voters, he has promoted his business skills as vital to fixing the nation's economy. "We need to have a president who's actually had a job in the private sector to make sure the economy stays strong," he told hundreds of cheering supporters Monday in an airy airport hangar in this Panhandle beach community. "I'm that guy."

It was a rare flash of the pugnacious Rudolph W. Giuliani whom New Yorkers love or loathe: In Miami's Little Havana, he recalled barring Cuban President Fidel Castro from a 50th-anniversary banquet for the United Nations. Why? "To make clear what I think of him -- what people should think of him," the former New York mayor told a roomful of elderly Cuban immigrants.

A prominent civil rights leader has told the Democratic National Committee that refusing to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan would disenfranchise both states' minority communities. In a Feb. 8 letter to DNC Chairman Howard Dean, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond expressed "great concern at the prospect that millions of voters in Michigan and Florida could ultimately have their votes completely discounted."

The importer of a Valentine's Day lollipop said it was voluntarily recalling the treats after metal fragments were found in at least two lollipops sold at central Florida stores. Sherwood Brands of Maryland, which imports the candy from China, said it was recalling all of its Pokemon Valentine Cards and Pops, which have been pulled from the shelves of thousands of stores across the country. About 20 lollipops were seized at Kathleen Elementary School in Lakeland.