Romney climbs into Florida tie with McCain: poll

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Reuters) - Republican Mitt Romney climbed into a tie with John McCain three days before a critical presidential primary in Florida, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, wiped out a 3-point McCain advantage overnight to pull into a deadlock with the Arizona senator at 30 percent. The margin of error in the poll is 3.4 percentage points.

Romney enjoys big leads among Republican voters who describe themselves as conservative or very conservative, while McCain has an edge among Florida moderates ahead of Tuesday's primary.

They also were tied among most key demographic groups in the state. Romney held a slight edge among seniors, who make up more than a third of the sample in Florida, and among voters under 30.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee gained 4 points overnight to register 14 percent and move past former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who continued his downward slide by losing two points to 13 percent.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul was at 3 percent and about 9 percent of likely Republican primary voters in Florida were undecided.

"This is a two-man race. It's all coming down to McCain versus Romney," said pollster John Zogby.

"Romney is ticking up a bit and he's getting strong support from conservatives," he said. "It's just going to be a battle from here on in."