Republicans make final sell to Florida voters

Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts, used a final televised debate before the all-important primary election in Florida next week to burnish his image as a Washington outsider and former businessman with the right record of balancing the books and cutting taxes to fix America's economy.

The mostly polite debate at Florida Atlantic University on Boca Raton saw all the Republican runners putting out their stalls on economic management just hours after President George Bush and the US Congress cut a deal on stimulating the economy amid growing fears of an impending recession.

"I spent my life in the private sector, I know how jobs and I know how they go," said Mr Romney adding that people in his state never had to worry about "Taxachusetts coming back" while he was Governor.

Mr Romney is spending huge sums in Florida on television advertising ahead of Tuesday's primary in hopes of repeating his victory in the Michigan primary last week and stopping what some see as Senator John McCain's status as the party's frontrunner after winning New Hampshire and South Carolina. Polls have put Romney andMcCain in a dead heat in the sunshine state.

Mr McCain went into last night's debate buoyed by an endorsement of his candidacy in this morning's editorial pages of the New York Times. The newspaper notably chose him over home-town former Mayor Rudy Giuliani. On the Democrat side it gave its nod to Hillary Rodham Clinton. An inside source said that choosing between Mrs Clinton and Barack Obama had been "agonizing".

Asked why the Times had spurned him and about an article it published earlier this week portraying him as a mayor known for meanness and for having a vindictive streak, Mr Giuliani, who is sinking in Florida polls, was predictably dismissive. "I probably never did anything that the New York Times suggested I do in the eight years I was mayor of New York City," he countered.

He also refused to admit any sense of shock or despair that the win that he has been counting on Florida to propel him forward may be slipping away. "This has become a very competitive race and I always expected it would be a very competitive race," he said. "We are going to come from behind and surprise everyone."

Displaying more poise than in previous televised encounters, Mr Romney took time to fire potshots over the fence to the Democrats and notably Hillary and Bill Clinton. Asked about the prospect of running against her and her husband should he be nominated, he replied. "Frankly, I can't wait." He went on: "The idea of Bill Clinton back in the White House with nothing to do is something I just can't imagine."

Nor did he flinch when asked about the amount of his own money he has been spending on trying to win Florida. (Nor would he disclose what that sum might be.) On the contrary, he said it meant he would go to the White House beholden to no one. "I owe no one anything. I don't have some group out there I owe something to - nobody who can call me and say 'You owe me'.

It was the job of Mike Huckabee, the populist former Governor of Arkansas, to inject the few moments of humour into the proceedings. After congratulating Mr Romney on raising five sons, he noted that if they would support him instead of their father they would not only inherit a "great country" but Mr Romney's millions too.