Giuliani Takes Bus For Spin On Daytona International Speedway

Is God on Huck's side? Alan Keyes pollyanna campaign strategy. Will Rudy be broke after Florida? Mitt tries desperately to be loved.

The following piece was produced through the Huffington Post's OffTheBus. Edited by Richard Riehl and Denise Wheeler. Reported by Kirsten Anderson, Ken Bank, River Curtis-Stanley, Jodi Lampert, Julie Pierce, Debbi Plummer, and Theresa Weathers.

Romney claims McCain has never lived outside of D.C.: ''I think if people want somebody who has been in Washington all their life...then John McCain will be their person,'' Romney said Sunday in a Fox News interview from Jacksonville. Mitt apparently wants his war-hero opponent to come clean about whether he kept his Washington address during his lengthy stay at the Hanoi Hilton.

Huck reminds supporters God's on his side: Team Huckabee posted a video yesterday titled, "A Reminder." It looks to be a clip lifted from the 1981 film, Chariots of Fire, (a copyright violation?) showing four young runners at the starting line. A narrator intones, "My text this afternoon is taken from Isaiah..." During the race, one of the runners is pushed to the ground, then rises to beat them all to the finish line. The clergyman's voice drones on, "They shall run and not be weary," as the screen text explains, "It's not just how you are doing at the beginning, it's whether you still have some kick left at the end." We'll be watching to see if Huck can part the waters for himself in Florida.

So long, Fred! Bidding Fred Thompson a fond farewell, means, alas, that all campaign reporters must also say goodbye to words such as "phlegmatic," "laconic," and "leisurely." Good luck Fred! Keep on putting the chill in chillax for us.

Cheer up Roadkill fans: Fred and Duncan may be gone, but we still have Alan Keyes to kick around. He announced on his website plans to camp out in Texas until its primary on March 4 with the belief that if Super Tuesday fails to produce a presumptive Republican nominee, Texas becomes all the more important as the last big prize of the primaries. It seems appropriate His Verbosity should make a final stand at the Alamo.

Not much sun for Rudy in Florida: Even though he's sinking tons of cash into the Sunshine state, there are far more clouds than sun for Rudy. At this point he has 50 paid staffers in four state offices and is spending about $350,000 a day on TV ads, which sources said would leave him essentially broke after Tuesday's primary. Little doubt what his next move would be then, which even his campaign isn't denying. When asked if Rudy would drop out if he tanks in Florida, his top strategist said: "I don't know. I mean, that's going to be Rudy's decision." Hmmm. Let the campaign deathwatch begin.

Hillary's latest stand: In her ongoing attempts to makeover her wardrobe and her campaign, Hillary Clinton has a new ad in South Carolina, which carries her promise to look out for the average American, and not the oil companies, drug companies and predatory lenders, as the Bush Administration has done the past 7 years. As she boldly puts it, "I intend to be a president that stands up for all of you!" She first might have to empty her pockets of all that cash she so gladly accepted from the corporate wolves and predatory lenders, lest she falls over while standing up.

Here's a finish line Rudy finally crossed: In search of a checkered flag of any sort, Rudy's campaign bus roared over to the Daytona International Speedway, where aides set up a perfectly staged photo-op finish. After assembling the bus full of press in the grassy infield, the giant "Florida is Rudy Country" bus tore around the track, fast enough to keep from tipping over on the banked track, while Giuliani grinned in the front passenger seat. No one was in the stands of course, but what the heck. The campaign finally has a photo of Rudy making it across something other than a parking lot.

From flip-flopping to stereotyping: On Monday Romney was around black people so he talked hip-hop and jewelry. Yesterday he was around Jews, so he talked about the economy. Before a group of Jewish Republicans in Boca and a crowd at a Broward eatery, Romney reached into his CEO bag of tricks and put an optimistic spin on the country's economic future. "There's a great deal of nervousness about what's happening in the stock market," Romney said, noting that the looming threat of a recession should not dissuade potential investors. "In my experience, what goes down always comes back up," said Romney. Sounds more like his next campaign metaphor.

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