JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Republican White House hopeful Rudy Giuliani was a no-show in Michigan Tuesday because he was busy making a stop in Jacksonville.

A muddle from the start, the GOP race has only grown more fluid as the first states voted over the past two weeks.

Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucuses, John McCain prevailed in New Hampshire's primary, and Mitt Romney was second to both -- but claimed victory in scarcely contested Wyoming.

Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator, is camping out in South Carolina looking for his first win. Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, is doing the same in Florida, which votes Jan. 29.

On Tuesday, Giuliani spoke to a crowd of about 200 people at Jacksonville's Veteran Memorial Wall about everything from the war to homeland security and soldiers.

One of the first things Giuliani did during his address was speak to the loved ones of men and women killed fighting for their country. He called the mother of fallen soldier Julian Woods to the podium.

Carolyn Woods' 22-year-old son was killed in 2004 while fighting in Fallujah.

"I support the war with all my heart," Woods said before being interrupted by protestors. "They don't get the picture. They can go home to their sons and daughters and hug them and kiss them and tell them don’t support war. But, I never got the chance to tell my son how proud I am of him."

Woods held back tears as she said the protestors do not deter her support.

The crowd rose and gave the mother a standing ovation.

"See how they love you? And they love your son for what he did," Giuliani said.

Tuesday's visit was Giuliani's third trip to Duval County in recent months.

When asked why he spent so much time campaigning in Florida while other candidates campaigned in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Michigan, Giuliani said it's simply because Florida is an important state.

"It's a big statement if you can win Florida. It's going to be at the end of the month. It's the biggest state of the states that are voting in January. It's the state that's the most diverse, to the extent that any state as a microcosm of the country you could think of Florida that way," Giuliani said. "Of course you've been a state that's decided presidents before."

After speaking in Jacksonville, Giuliani was expected to head north to speak at a 7:15 p.m. meeting of the Safari Club International at Wild Creek Plantation in Yulee.

A Quinnipiac University poll of likely Florida voters released Monday shows Giuliani trailing McCain by 2 percentage points in the state's Republican primary, with Romney and Huckabee one point behind him.

Quinnipiac showed McCain up 7 percent since Dec. 20, with Giuliani down by 8 points despite numerous campaign appearances in the state.

In the Democratic race in Florida, the Quinnipiac poll found Hillary Clinton with a solid lead of 52 percent over Barack Obama, at 31 percent -- both higher numbers than in last month's similar survey.

John Edwards, who had 19 percent a month ago, appeared to be the big loser among Democratic voters, polling only 9 percent in January's polling.

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted from Jan. 9-13 and involved telephone interviews with 421 likely Democratic primary voters and 419 likely Republican primary voters. For each, the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.

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