Obamamania

"As long as the race is close come Election Day, Barack Obama should win Florida thanks to soaring supporter enthusiasm and a vast get-out-the-vote operation. So says Steve Schale, Florida director for the Obama campaign". "Campaign official: Voter enthusiasm will swing Florida to Obama".

"Michelle Obama wrapped up a two-week nationwide voter registration push Saturday with a large, enthusiastic rally on the campus of Florida A&M University. An estimated 8,000 fired-up Barack Obama supporters, many of them college students, stood for two hours under a cloudless sky as Jill Biden, the wife of vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, introduced Mrs. Obama. She received a thunderous ovation on the campus of the nation's largest historically black university. " "Spouses rally for Obama, Biden in Tallahassee". See also "Democratic spouses push Florida voter registration drive" and "Michelle Obama, Jill Biden urge voter registration in Tallahassee".




"Familiarity breeds contempt"

"Two years ago, the 13th Congressional District campaign between Vern Buchanan and Christine Jennings was a political slugfest that stretched into extra rounds. This year's rematch - with the added wrinkle of two independent candidates - has the makings of becoming a knock-down, drag-out political brawl. So far, the 2008 race between Buchanan and Jennings has been marked by multiple lawsuits, accusations of consumer and tax fraud, charges of campaign-finance violations, cries of slander and allegations of political smear tactics." "District 13 rematch even more heated".

However, "Democrats' chances of winning the district could be undone by the renegade candidacy of one of their own."

Jan Schneider, the district's Democratic nominee in 2002 and 2004, has rejected her party's pleas to stay out of the race and is instead running as an independent.

One poll shows Schneider winning 9 percent of the vote, siphoning support mostly from Democrat Christine Jennings.

David Wasserman, a nonpartisan analyst with The Cook Political Report, cites Schneider's candidacy as the reason he predicts Buchanan will likely win re-election.

"Democrat could help GOP congressman win".




"Jewish vote worries"

"It's not a Florida-specific poll, but it points to a problem for Obama in Florida:"

A new national poll of 914 Jewish voters commissioned by the American Jewish Congress shows Obama receiving 57 percent support and John McCain 30 percent (54 percent disapproved of the Palin pick, and 73 percent approved of Joe Biden as a running mate). Remember that in 2004 Bush received 24 percent of the Jewish vote nationally and 20 percent in Florida, according to exit polls.

Mind you, only about 5 percent of the Florida electorate is Jewish. But that's still about 400,000 voters, and serious slippage in the Democratic base makes it all that much harder for Obama to make up that 380,000-vote margin by which Republicans won Florida four years ago.

"Jewish vote worries".




Perhaps it's a health insurance thing?

"Officials seeing fewer Cubans trying to reach US".




Touchscreen-mania

The "touchscreens are kewl" crowd on the The Palm Beach Post editorial Board whines: "Early results are in. The paper trail demanded by so many Democrats and given to them by Gov. Crist and U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, has performed as expected: badly." "State's new paper trail leads to new problems".




Daniel Ruth

... writes that "there was no shortage of miffed readers who wanted to respond to a column last week on vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's parallel universe campaign, following the Alaska governor's appearance at The Villages." "Isn't This 'First-Person' Account Of Republican Principles Just Precious?".




The Zell Corporation wants you to know ...

that "Obama had an exotic upbringing". That being the case, how do you respond to the following inquiry by one of our genius talking heads: "did it surprise you that he was so un-ethnic tonight?".




"Insurance-bashing"

Aaron Deslatte: "Florida politicos are dusting off their insurance-bashing TV commercials this campaign season, demonstrating yet again that villains and cash cows can be one and the same." "Aaron Deslatte: Does bashing insurers still work with voters? Ad makers hope so".




Times whines

Steve Bousquet:

David Plouffe, Obama's national campaign manager, took a little shot at us Saturday over a St. Petersburg Times story a couple weeks ago suggesting Florida could be slipping away from Obama. The latest polls show a neck-and-neck race.

"Taking issue with the Times".




City of Industry

"One of America's largest time-share companies is getting ready to lay off hundreds of workers and halt much of its sales. Orlando-based Westgate Resorts is facing a sudden financing squeeze because of the nation's severe economic downturn." "Layoffs coming for Florida timeshare company".




"Right-wing gasbags"

Carl Hiaasen:

the same right-wing gasbags who've trashed Hillary Clinton for 16 years have morphed into sensitive souls when it comes to their own hockey-mom candidate. Each unsettling news revelation about Palin is automatically decried as a sexist smear.

If Palin were a male candidate, Democrat or Republican, she'd be taking heat for ducking reporters when the election is only five weeks away. Yet, except for a few grumps, the media have reluctantly accepted the Sarah snub as the new order of things.

"If Palin were a male candidate . . .".




Obvious

It is so obvious, even The Tampa Tribune editorial board sees it: "Kick Jim Crow Out Of Constitution And Don't Put Marriage In".




Bill Cotterell

"Unless you're a devotee of public broadcasting or the home-shopping stations, it will be hard to watch 10 minutes of TV in October without hearing from House and Senate hopefuls. Some will even be ringing your doorbell, glad-handing you at football games or waving signs on street corners."

From the farmlands of the Panhandle to the condo canyons of Miami Beach, it's the most expensive legislative campaign in Florida history — and neither party expects much to change when it's over. Republican majorities of 77-43 in the House and 26-14 in the Senate might change by a seat or two, up or down, but not even the most optimistic Democrat has any illusions about taking over either chamber of the Capitol's fourth floor.

"Florida House, Senate races heat up".




All depends on what you mean by "close match"

The headline is this "UF poll: Debate is a close match", but the story says this:

“Clearly they thought Obama had won the debate by a pretty big margin — about 14 of them believed that McCain had won. It fell pretty closely along party lines. The interesting thing was there were a few independents, and they seemed to go for Obama,” Kaid said."

Go figure.




HD 107

"The highly contested State House District 107 race pits Democratic incumbent Luis Garcia Jr. against Republican challenger and lobbyist Jorge Luis López."

"an influential county lobbyist and crony of former County Mayor Alex Penelas. With a month left, the two candidates are becoming more aggressive, with Garcia labeling López as kowtowing to special interests and pointing out he doesn't even live in the district he plans to represent. López says Garcia is disingenuous about his lobbyist connections and may be outright lying to voters." "State House District 107 election is heating up".




No change in Tally

"For all the talk of change in this year's presidential election, don't expect much of it in Florida's Legislature. A review of the 140 legislative seats up for re-election this November shows that about 120 have either been decided or have an overwhelming tilt for one candidate. Such outcomes are the norm in Florida. In 2006, only 19 of 140 House and Senate elections were closely contested." "Upheaval unlikely in state capital".




Like we said, no change in Tally

"New Fla. laws create 'In God We Trust' tags".


"Letters from Florida"

"Letters from Florida: Please, candidates, search for economic solution".




Florida Water Congress

The Tampa Tribune editorial board: "It's encouraging that delegates to the Florida Water Congress voted down a proposal to establish a state water czar, a position that could have forced regions to ship their water to another part of the state. But don't be surprised if this polluted idea resurfaces. Developers trot it out every few years, hoping to elude growth restraints by robbing rural counties of their resources." "Defeat Not Likely To Put Stake In Scheme For State Water Czar".




Must be balanced ...

Randy Schultz: "Bipartisan blame for financial crisis".