Giuliani in trouble as Florida votes

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Rudy Giuliani's White House quest could be in deep trouble as he lags far behind the leaders in a Florida presidential primary he counted on winning, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.

Hours before the start of Florida's voting, Arizona Sen. John McCain held a slim 4-point lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 35 percent to 31 percent, in what was essentially a two-man race, the poll found.

Giuliani, the former New York mayor, was battling former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for a distant third place finish in Florida. Both registered 13 percent.

The margin of error in the poll was 3.3 percentage points.

Giuliani had staked his campaign on a strong Florida showing after pulling out of other early voting states, but he has drifted down in national and state polls for weeks as the drama of an intensely contested Republican race passed him by.

"The race has become a two-man race, and Giuliani is just not a factor," said pollster John Zogby.

Giuliani, on several early morning news shows, said he still believed he would win in Florida and was not contemplating dropping from the race if he lost the state.

"Our desire tonight is to win. We're not looking at some second or third place finish. We're looking at a win tonight," Giuliani said on Fox News.