To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the James Madison Institute held a big luncheon Tuesday at FSU's University Center and invited a like-minded media star as its guest speaker. Conservative pundit Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard and a co-host of Fox's The Beltway Boys, talked about the 2008 presidential race -- to be altered by yet-to-be-determined events, he predicted -- and how President Bush has missed many opportunities to rein in federal spending.

Former House Speaker Allan Bense of Panama City asked Barnes to handicap the Republican field and Barnes, fresh from a Saturday spent chasing Mitt Romney around New Hampshire, said he sees a two-man race between Romney and Rudy Giuliani. But he favors Romney's tried-and-true strategy of securing early wins in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"I think Romney has the best strategy," Barnes said, noting that Michigan follows the first two on Jan. 15, a state where his father was governor. He suggested Giuliani is banking too heavily on Florida.

"Rudy Giuliani is really expecting that Florida is going to be where he's going to explode as a candidate, and really take off. I think you've got to do something before then," Barnes said. "I don't think you can last as a strong candidate that long -- Jan. 3 in Iowa until Jan. 29 in Florida. But we'll see."