DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD HAPPEN: GALLAGHER TO REMAIN IN

The Miami Herald reported Wednesday that State Chief Financial Officer and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Gallagher has been encouraged by some supporters to withdraw from the race and allow his supporters to make peace with his rival, Attorney General Charlie Crist.

Today, the Herald says that a trio close advisers tell them that Gallagher will announce that he plans to remain in the race, despite being 20 points behind in a couple of recent polls and lagging campaign contributions.

While the official announcement is expected today, the Orlando Sentinel political blog Central Florida Political Pulse notes that Gallagher told the newspaper's Tallahassee bureau chief John Kennedy Wednesday while campaigning at The Villages and Lake County --- quoting here --- "Right now, my head tells me to continue on", but that he does watch the polls.

"I always watch polls. That's what you do. They're moving in the right direction. The question is, do they move in the right direction fast enough?"

From today's Herald story:

Gallagher and his campaign staff still hold out hope that ''the stars will align'' and he will overcome the odds to edge out Crist, said Pete Dunbar, a Gallagher campaign advisor who ran his unsuccessful 1994 bid for governor.

The elements Gallagher needs to pull off a victory: Conservatives will have to come out and vote for him in large numbers; turnout must be high in Miami-Dade County -- where his campaign polls show he has an edge -- and turnout in the rest of the state must be low, as many election supervisors have predicted, Dunbar said.

I really cannot see with less than a month before the primary that Gallagher has any realistic chance of catching up with Crist. The best scenario for the GOP here would be for Gallagher to withdraw and for Crist to entice him to become his running mate. Will that happen after the primary? Nah!