Wow, the weather is pretty here. Did we say we dig the sunshine? Why yes, guess we did. Sadly, it's not bikini weather but it's bright enough to rout our seasonal affective disorder. For the rest of it, we'll count on self-tanners. There are worse places to be, no? We think back to Iowa and the chill. OY.

Prognosticating to the sounds of steel drums outside our hotel room:

John McCain will beat Mitt Romney in a race here that is less tight than the polls suggest. Mayor Rudy will come in third and that will rock his campaign, which doesn't feel like it has plan B. At least to us. We heard a broadcaster on satellite radio last night wonder if losing his political thunder would mute Rudy's brand, hampering his ability to earn the big bucks making speechs touting his leadership moxie. It is a good point to ponder. We don't want to count him out yet, but the backlash down here seems huge. Folks who might have voted for him six months ago now have moved on.

We like Gov. Charlie Crist, but he is way different from former Gov. Jeb Bush, who got a lot of things done here during his time in office. Jeb muscled his measures through and was successful by force, popularity be damned. Mr. Crist is less conservative, it would seem, and more populist and cares far more about what people think of him -- and not just GOP dealers -- than his predecessor. Still, Crist's less than articulate endorsement -- probably would have been good to write something rather than go off the cuff -- was important. It gave McCain publicity across this very diverse state where voters in Miami are far flung from those in the Panhandle. You have several different political universes rotating around Florida, so candidates have to cast a broad net, rather than count on certainties. An endorsement by a key player this close to a primary seems to have some clout.

For the Democrats, we think Hillary will best Barack Obama, but her margin will also not be as wide as current polls suggest. While handily winning South Carolina was significant for Mr. Obama, he won't get a huge bounce from it in Florida, because the Hillary machine will gear up and take root someplace else very quickly. Kinda like anthrax spores. Kidding. Only kidding. She's got a big, well-organized operation and he's up against a lot. Nice that Caroline Kennedy endorsed him. Whatever her opinion means on the public scale, Barack must've beamed at hearing what she said.

These are our predictions based on nothing but gut and conversations we've had with people across the Tampa Bay area.

Oh, and Michelle Obama, throw a sister a bone and tell us where you got that pink, primary night suit. LOVED IT.

-- Andrea Billups, The Washington Times