Bill Nelson’s Guide to Watching the Florida Election Results

I caught up with Florida Senator Bill Nelson at Obama’s Jacksonville rally. He told me he believes Obama will carry the state by 4 percentage points. “Florida has never seen a presidential organizational effort like this,” he said. “This overwhelms George Bush’s 2004 effort.”

As election returns start coming in tomorrow night, Nelson will be watching Pasco County, in the Tampa-St. Pete area, as an early bellwether. Bush carried the county handily in 2004, but he narrowly lost it four years before. “Another indicator is North Florida,” he says. “Is [Obama] only 10 points behind, as opposed to 20? John Kerry lost it by 18 or 20. If he’s within 10 points, that’s a win.”

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  • http://www.ghostnote.com Cookie Puss

    “Another indicator is North Florida”

    The Lynyrd Skynyrd constituency doesn’t vote D? Shocked!

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks

    Another indicator is North Florida…

    Presumably because it more closely resembles Georgia and Alabama than it does Miami and Ft Lauderdale. I just hope that I can go to sleep comfortably at 1AM EST but I have my doubts.

  • wvng

    Speaking of Florida election results, via Steve Benen, this is really really funny:

    “WHEN A GATOR LOSES HIS APPETITE…. Most college campuses are dominated right now by Obama supporters, but the New York Times had an interesting item the other day noting on-campus McCain backers — and their apparent plight.
    .
    Most notably, the Times highlighted the University of Florida, home to one of the country’s largest McCain student groups. “Gators for McCain,” the piece noted, is led by Joshua Simmons, who said student volunteers stand in a central campus plaza for nine hours a day, letting students know that “this organization does exist,” and that “there are students out there who support McCain.”
    .
    And what is Simmons up to now? It’s a funny story, actually. (via Jason Zengerle)
    .
    Less than 48 hours before Election Day, about 4,500 people gathered on the Reitz Union North Lawn to hear Sen. Joe Biden as part of the Obama campaign’s final push through Florida. Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, and his wife, Jill, were introduced by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to a Gator–chomping crowd. [...]
    .
    “I wanted to see the next vice president of the United States,” said Josh Simmons, Gators for McCain chairman.
    .
    Simmons said he voted for Obama about two weeks ago.
    .
    “I’ve seen a different John McCain than the one I signed up to work for,” he said.
    .
    Simmons said he submitted his resignation Sunday night and will no longer be chairman for the group, which has more than 1,000 members.
    .
    “I expect them to be incredibly pissed off,” he said.
    .
    I think that’s a safe bet.”
    http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_11/015496.php

  • wvng

    KT, let me out, let me out!

  • wvng

    That was quick. Thanks KT! You are the best.

  • newfloridian

    Both campaigns have been staging rallies in New Port Richey using Palin, and Biden. It has been a focus in the Florida play. Lots of seniors, but also lots of red necks. Down here in the Tampa bay area we have a saying what’s the difference between a Pasco county business owner and a Pinellas business owner. The Pinellas business owner still has most of their teeth. The education system in Pasco also is crap. I would be surprised if Obama gets within 10% in Pasco. More interesting will be how much of a lead Obama gets in Hillsborough (Tampa) and Pinellas County (St. Petersburg. In Florida Obama needs to roll up huge numbers in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, win the I-4 cooridor and stay competitive in north Florida and SW Florida. If Florida is called before 11:00 pm I’d be surprised. We have a number of just plain out incompetant supervisors of Elections especially in Hillsborough and Pinellas- they can’t haven’t been able to get any final votes counted by 11:00pm.

    I’m not sure where Florida will fall, the polls say Obama by a couple of points, but who knows. No one seems to be able to get a real good feel this year on Florida. People are suffering with home forclosures, job losses, high unemployment, but the average Floridian is not well educated and I have found a number of my acquaintances who have fallen for the McCain misinformation campaigns. I am alot more comfortable with Pennsylvania and Ohio for Obama than Florida.

  • newfloridian

    One additional point…

    McCain only drew about 1,000 people to his outside Tampa Stadium event this morning. Now understand it was held at the end of rush hour on a Monday morning and in a location where many seniors will not drive to in a rush hour setting and was not well advertised. The liberal blogs are making a big deal about the small crowd, but I suggest it is just poor planning, poor location and no PR effort. If it had been held in Pinellas instead- say Clearwater it might have been a better attended rally. This is reflective of a campaign running long hours and not clearly thinking in the last hours of a very hard campaign. But then again you can say that of the McCain campaign staff pretty much on any given day of the past 45 days. They just have to be the worst bunch of over paid hacks in the business.

  • http://pourmecoffee.blogspot.com pourmecoffee

    Zogby has Buchanan +10. Developing hard …

  • wvng

    Perhaps this will help McCain in Florida. NewFl, what do you think?

    Kinda like the Cheney endorsement.

  • sgwhiteinfla

    Uhmm KT,
    .
    It might make sense to point out that McCain only drew 1,000 people in Tampa today for his rally, a day before the election. They were set up for 10,000 according to press reports. I am down here in Tampa and it doesnt look good for McCain

  • sgwhiteinfla

    sorry for the double post newfloridian

  • Joe Bftsplk

    Sully’s really going off on a pro-BHO rant today:
    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/barack-obama-fo.html
    Lord only knows who’ll have time to read it all. For all I know I fanatically agree with him, but it’s longer than a Whig speech.

  • sgwhiteinfla

    KT,
    .
    Its official, George Bush is trying to get revenge on John McCain. Check out this “endorsement” of McCain’s policies on the economy and national security. The two things McCain says he disagrees with Bush on. This is about as blatant as you can get. I wonder if McCain will say something on Wednesday about it.
    .
    http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/03/perino-bush-mccain/

  • http://www.inworldstudios.com jayackroyd

    Has there been any account of a ground game anywhere that has been less than awed?
    .
    I’m still getting over the 538 post about how one Obama office was using the extra hour on Saturday night, with the photo of the “speed limit 186,000 miles per second.”
    .
    which of course brings to mind the jefferson airplane “three fifths of a mile in ten seconds” on Bless this Pointed Little head.

  • http://www.inworldstudios.com jayackroyd

    Bless ITS Pointed Little Head.
    .

  • http://www.inworldstudios.com jayackroyd

    Of course, the post that corrects is in limbo….

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