For the Republicans, I really think it will be a toss-up between Romney and McCain. The winner will win by no more than 3 percentage points. A latest Rasmussen poll showed McCain and Romney knotted at 31 percent. There will be no early winner here, particularly with historically conservative Northwest Florida’s polls closing an hour later than the rest of the state.

On the Democratic side, the latest polls show Clinton with a double digit lead, to the tune of 19 percent according to a poll released earlier this morning. While the win in Florida is largely representative of nothing, as the DNC has stripped Florida of its delegates for moving their primary up without permission, a win in Florida would be big for Clinton after getting mopped up in South Carolina. I’d look for Clinton to win today but by less than the 19 and 25 percent the polls have projected. I’m guessing more than like 10 to 12 percent.
With the race tightening, Super Tuesday (Feb. 5) is still  huge for the candidates with 22 states holding primaries including California and New York. If nothing else, the early primary appears to have weeded out the gaggle of candidates in the race initially. It appears, and today’s election will go a long way in solidifying, that both parties have essentially a two-man race.

I was happy to read in USAToday that voter enthusiasm is up and it really leaves one with the impression that this is going to be one of those landmark elections like when Kennedy was elected in 1960. I try to stay apolitical in my work and kind of keep my political views entirely separate from my professional work but I like what Barack Obama’s candidacy means for the advancement of race relations in our country. If nothing else, we need change and I like thc change that his presidency represents. Judging from the stories I’ve read, a lot of other people feel similarly inspired.

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Playoff picks

NEW ENGLAND over San Diego

GREEN BAY over New York

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A word of advice to Pac Man Jones….

STAY OUT OF STRIP CLUBS, DOOFUS 

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Weekend Watching..

Eastern Promises

Pan’s Labyrinth

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No, seriously…

The French government has installed two toilets at the top of Mont Blac, Europe’s highest peak, which will have to be emptied by helicopter.

Great white sharks apparently don’t like kayakers.

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How effective will Rams first round pick Adam Carriker be at defensive tackle? I saw Carriker practice at the Senior Bowl and he’s got it all. He’s very quick, has great feet and hands and an unbelievable motor. The Rams shouldn’t over-think this. Leave Carriker at end. 

Great column in today’s Washington Post by columnist Sally Jenkins about the NBA ref scandal.

George Brett and the greatest gameday promotion ever.

Tennessee joins the list of schools who do not plan to drug test its high school athletes. I think a lot of these states are doing a big thing badly. If you think that steroid use and the use of performance enhancing drugs by high school athletes is limited to states like Texas and Florida, you’re kidding yourself. 

Florida basketball lines up another lackluster non-conference schedule.

Butch Davis on trying to rebuild the UNC football program.

Les Miles backs down from USC/Pac-10 comments. Not a bad idea, coach. Maybe Les peeped the Trojans’ depth chart.

Bobby Bowden has high expectations for his pair of (so far) underachieving quarterbacks.

AJC columnist Terence Moore says there is no way Michael Vick ever plays for the Falcons again.

Bob Stoops says he’s in no hurry to name his starting quarterback. At some point, this is just arrogance. Quarterback by committee has never worked anywhere. The Sooners need a starter. 

Carmelo Anthony follows Edgerrin James’ lead; introduces ‘the new Melo.’

Fellow Huskers impressed so far with new quarterback Sam Keller. I kind of think Keller is a baby. When Dirk Koetter didn’t name him starter at Arizona State, instead of staying and fighting it out with Rudy Carpenter, he immediately packed up and left. His mental toughness is certainly suspect.  

Mizzou coach calls QB Chase Daniel “amazing.”

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Response from last night’s YouTube debates is in. (New York Times/Time Magazine’s TV Blog/Jeff Jarvis). To be honest, I didn’t find this all that spectacular. The questions were predictable and kind of average. They certainly were no different than any question posed to the candidates during a traditional debate. I’ve decided that while I think Obama is the more viable candidate and certainly someone I would vote for, I love Joe Biden, even if he puts his foot in his mouth — a lot. Oh and as anyone who watched last night will tell you, Sen. Mike Gravel is nuts.

Premiere Magazine’s list of 10 TV shows that should be movies.

Is Netflix in trouble?

NBC is being sued after someone caught on Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator” series killed himself. While it is difficult to argue with the intent of this series, as a journalist, I do not feel in any way that reporters should be doing the police’s job for them and making the news. It was really only a matter of time before this happened.  

Teen Vogue to fold? Where will LC “work?” 

Part 2 in Entertainment Weekly’s Top 50 Best Love Songs ever.

The Cinematical on how much a critic should spoil a film when writing a review. When writing reviews and when I did the Industry Outsider podcast, I tried to always be respectful of the readers and listeners who hadn’t seen the film. To not do that, in my opinion, is an arrogant and pompous things to do because at that point you are not writing the review for anyone else, you’re writing it for your own self-satisfaction.

TiVo to debut a $299.99 HD DVR. Nice. I think this will prove to be the right price point for this product.

CBS’ Public Eye on how the internet has become the destroyer of financial models.