GOP loses Tampa cabbie vote

When pollsters dig down on the 2012 presidential election voting demographics, they can put Tampa cab drivers in the Democratic fold. Cabbies in the Florida city are livid at not only the security barriers and closed streets, but the number of shuttered restaurants and even strip clubs while Republicans are in town. They complain that delegates use shuttle and limousine services while the windfall they had anticipated never materialized. "This city never wanted Mitt Romney and the Republicans here,'' one said Tuesday morning. Another cabbie told The Star Monday night he is losing money and thinking of taking the rest of the week off. And they are unanimous on another apparent characteristic of Republicans in the U.S. - they are lousy tippers.