While the Democrats were tangling the last week in South Carolina, there was an escalating war of words going on as well in the Republican party, as John McCain and Mitt Romney spent the weekend exchanging barbs over the Iraq war, the economy and more.

Depending on the polls, it's either McCain or Romney with a short lead here in the Sunshine State, and then it's a decent-sized gap back to Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee.

While the Democratic dustup in South Carolina focused a lot on race, the GOP row has been more personal. McCain and his surrogates have bashed Romney about his views on Iraq, accusing Romney of favoring a withdrawal before the US surge.

Romney heatedly denied that and fought back on the economy, mocking McCain's experience with economic matters, ridiculing his ideas as McCainonomics, as Romney asserted that his own business background is what the nation needs.

McCain hurled one more personal inuslt, disparaging Romney as a "manager" and not a leader. In many ways, it was more of a real donnybrook that whatever it was that Hillary and Obama were supposedly fighting about.

After an event Sunday afternoon in Miami, the battle almost took a big step forward, as Romney was asked about McCain's charge that Romney favored an Iraq withdrawal instead of the US military surge.

"I don't have a time line. I never have," said Romney.

"Well, he says you do," pressed a reporter.

"Well, he's lying," shot back Romney.

"Are you calling him a liar?" asked the reporter.

Romney backpedaled quickly.

"No I'm not. He made a dishonest comment. I mis-spoke," he added, with some nervous laughter.

At stake in Florida is a serious chunk of momentum going into the Super Tuesday states on February 5th for both McCain and Romney, as they try to shed their rivals for the GOP nomination.

McCain won some prime endorsements over the weekend in Florida, getting both Governor Charlie Crist and Sen. Mel Martinez got on the McCain bandwagon.

For now, the GOP race is too close to call.

Florida as Hillary Clinton's Firewall

With no Democrats campaigning here in the Sunshine State because of the dustup over the early date of the Florida primary, there hasn't been much public activity concerning the Democratic race in Florida.

Hillary Clinton quietly flew into Sarasota Sunday afternoon for a fundraiser, but no public rally or any campaign effort, which was forbidden by the Democratic National Committee because of the early primary date.

That was just the first piece of news she made about Florida, as her campaign announced Sunday that she would fly back to the state after the polls close on Tuesday to hold a rally and thank Floridians for their votes, after an expected victory.

It's all part of an emerging strategy in recent days where Clinton has clearly made Florida an important piece of her nomination strategy, allowing her to accuse Obama of ignoring the state.

Last week, Clinton suddenly announced that if she wins her party's nomination, she would restore Florida's convention delegates, which were stripped by the national party over the January primary date.

That of course drew strong praise in the state, but it drew little to no reaction from the Obama or Edwards camps.

Hillary has a strong lead in the polls in Florida, and certainly her Brain Trust would love to offset the big time win of Obama in South Carolina by trumpeting a big win in Florida.

The goal - cut off Obama's Super Tuesday momentum.

As my father told me when he heard the news, "I told you that Florida would be her firewall."

It's also now expected that Florida Senator Bill Nelson will endorse Clinton on Tuesday. He's been a big advocate of restoring Florida's convention delegates.

The State of the Union and Campaign 2008

If you tune into President Bush's State of the Union address tonight from Washington, D.C., I will guarantee you that there will likely be a lot of reaction shots on the TV of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Obama spends the day off the trail in Washington, D.C., where he will hold a rally at American University and also net the endorsement of Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Ironically, Hillary campaigns today in Connecticut and then in Kennedy's home state of Massachusetts.

As I wrote yesterday, I'm not much for endorsements and their political effect. A few weeks ago, John Kerry endorsed Obama and I heard one political strategist say Kerry would be a 24-hour story at most.

Kennedy's endorsement of course is a bit different, as other than Bill Clinton, I would rank the senior Senator from Massachusetts as the maybe the most popular leader in his party, as well as one of the most unpopular outside the Democratic party.

I find the timing to be very interesting. I'm sure the Obama people wanted Kennedy to join up during this post-South Carolina boost to try to build even more momentum.

But how long does this boost really last? Two things get in the way, the State of the Union address on Monday night does to some extent, and then the Florida primary.

I will be very interested in the details of the Clinton and Obama travel schedules the rest of this week. This will certainly show us where they think they can win on Super Tuesday.