Immigration Killed Romney In Florida

A key exit poll is how well John McCain did with Hispanic voters.

McCain won the Cuban vote 50-10 over Romney. And the non-Cuban Hispanic vote by 51-21. Those are gigantic differences, and can easily swing a close election like Florida. Since only 10% of the Republican voters were Latino, I'm not sure that Latinos were the decisive factor on Tuesday (but only because I have no idea how to do the math on that). But it's obvious that McCain's surge with Hispanic voters helped him substantially in winning Florida.

Mitt Romney has waged a hypocritically demogogued the immigration issue. Community Lawn Service mowed the lawn of Romney's home. It is no secret the lawn service used illegal immigrants.

The Florida primary was close. If Romney didn't attempt to cope Tom Tancredo's message, he could have beaten McCain. I doubt a pro-business Romney is actually going to do anything against corporations that use illegal immigrants. His record as Governor is all hot air. Andrew Sullivan summed up Romney's problems.

The exit polls show the critical distinction between Romney and McCain supporters. Romney's are still pro-Bush. McCain's aren't. If you're fighting a general election this fall, you'll need those who disapprove of Bush's record - not the kool-aid drinkers. McCain also won Hispanics by a big margin - another key advantage for November.

Running as a less tolerant George W. Bush is a recipe for disaster.

Update: Fox News exit polling shows John McCain beating Mitt Romney 54 percent to 14 percent with Hispanics.