TALLAHASSEE -- Joe Biden's barely a blip. Mitt Romney's more of a hit. Gov. Charlie Crist should stay where he is. And Joe Lieberman should go away.

That's according to Mason-Dixon Polling & Research's latest Florida voter survey gauging this year's vice-presidential picks and possibilities.

The poll shows the presidential race is almost dead-even: 45 percent favor Barack Obama and 44 percent favor Republican John McCain.

Obama's decision to pick Delaware Sen. Biden as a running mate doesn't seem to have done much. The percentages of those who said Biden would make them either more or less inclined to vote Democratic almost canceled each other out, while 64 percent of likely voters said the pick made no difference.

Not so for Romney.

About 32 percent of respondents said they would favor McCain if he picked Romney. That's double the number of those who said they would be less inclined to back the ticket. Only 17 percent said they wanted Crist on the ticket.

''People like Charlie Crist where he is, in the governor's mansion. They know Romney, who campaigned hard in this state,'' said Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker. ``Romney looks like he gives McCain more of an edge than Biden gives Obama.''

TOXIC

But Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman looks toxic to the ticket. Nearly twice as many people said they would be less likely to vote for McCain if the former Democrat was on the ticket. Many Democrats see the former vice-presidential candidate of 2000 as a turncoat. Conservative Republicans can't stand the Democrat's abortion-rights record.

''Lieberman's luster has faded,'' Coker said.

McCain will probably make his pick Friday. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin barely registered in the poll, which didn't include the name of former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

Obama's campaign released a statement almost egging on McCain to pick Romney, saying the ticket would be the ''largest job-killing machine'' because the Republicans will continue George W. Bush's economic policies.

STATE BREAKDOWN

The poll shows that South Florida favors Obama the most, where he leads 53-37 -- almost the reverse of the numbers favoring McCain in North Florida. McCain also has a slight lead in the crucial Central Florida I-4 corridor, which is often the decider of the statewide elections.

The virtual tie, though, is doubly good news for Obama. It should make McCain nervous because he needs to win Florida more than the Democrat because of the vagaries of the election map. And recent polls have shown Obama was slipping after making up major ground in Florida by blitzing the state with more than $7 million in ads over two months.

Also in Obama's favor: New voters, who have flocked to the party in eye-popping numbers. Most of them aren't showing up in the polls because they're so new to the rolls. Obama leads 48-42 among independents, according to the poll of 625 voters, which has an error margin of four percentage points.

The poll shows McCain has strong Republican support, at 78 percent, but that's weak when compared to Jeb and George Bush, who consistently polled in the high 80s in Florida.

BAGGAGE

In the Jan. 29 primary that he barely lost to McCain, Romney won more conservative parts of the state. But McCain prevailed largely due to the last-minute endorsement of Crist and Hispanic support in Miami-Dade swung by Sen. Mel Martinez, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and the Diaz-Balart brothers, Lincoln and Mario, both congressmen.

Romney's baggage: Some Christian conservatives are nervous about his Mormon religion. He also switched his position on abortion to ''pro-life'' before he ran for president.

Romney frequently blasted McCain for knowing little about economics and acknowledging as much during the primary. Romney tried to dismiss his own attacks as election ''hyperbole'' when he appeared Wednesday on MSNBC's Morning Joe political forum.

WEB AD

This week, McCain's campaign released a Web advertisement recycling Hillary Clinton's primary attacks on Obama, whose campaign is ready to respond in turn after a Romney pick. Romney's big-business record was also the subject of scorn from fellow GOP candidate Mike Huckabee, who suggested blue-collar workers wouldn't want to vote for ``the guy who laid you off.''

Many Republicans, though, say a Romney pick is worth that risk.

''Romney should bring McCain some of those conservatives. And he could help with the economy,'' said Republican state Rep. Julio Robaina of Miami. ``But this is a close race.''

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@