Damn oldies get to decide again...

I think Florida is in a constant state of toss up. It will be close, and I agree it could decide the election again. Get ready for more conspiracy theories if McCain wins it.

In play with extreme prejudice.

Both candidates have appeal and neither party has a traditional lock.

This could be the state that decides the election

It'll probably go to McCain. Of course, if it doesn't, McCain's probably toast. The Cuban right wing vote has a lock which is why we've liberalized our trade policies with every communist country except Cuba. Florida used to be a sure Republican state, but Democrats have been moving in from the north east, and the younger generations of Cubans aren't quite as locked up in the same positions as their parents and grandparents.

Florida will likely be once again a key swing state. The state this year is trending slightly Republican. Voters here in FL tend to favor candidates who are slightly right of center. That should favor McCain going forward. Demographically, Florida is mixture of many competing political and cultural interests. The northern half of the state, which is part of the old South, is strongly Republican--it used to be Democratic until very recently. The Southwest portion of the state around Naples and Fort Myers is also strongly Republican. Southeast Florida, from Miami to West Palm Beach are the Democratic areas of the state, although Miami has pockets of strong Republican voters due to the Cuban vote. The area which decides elections in FL is a strip of highly populated counties running through the center of the state from Tampa through Orlando to Daytona Beach. This area is known as the I-4 corridor.

The Democrats will need to do well in Tampa and in Orlando if they expect to have a reasonable chance of winning. In theory, they should have a good chance: the economy has slowed down significantly in Central FL. Orlando in particular has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. So in short, FL is a real wildcard this time around. It went Republican in 2004, but that was during the real estate boom down here. Like in Ohio, the election might be decided by the economy, which doesn't benefit the Republicans. However, McCain is the type of Republican who does well down here, so it will be close.

In the last two elections Bush won Florida each time. However the margin was by 5% in 2004 and by a miniscule amount in 2000. The combination of it being so closely contested in recent history and the twenty-seven elctoral votes at stake make it one of the most critical states for either party.

This will definitely be a battleground state and an important one at that.

Did you notice that when the Republicans lost many, many seats in the 2004 elections they took their losses like ladies and gentlemen and you didn't hear people crying for recounts and of disenfranchisement.

I hope Obama and the "Hildabeast" can lose with dignity and not contend that they were cheated like Al Gore did!

Prior to the 2004 election, thousands of elligible Florida voters were scrubbed from the rolls for the heinous crime of having a name similar to a convicted felon's. According to local news reports, little or nothing has been done to correct this "error". The Democrat candidate will have to get about 52 % of the vote just to break even.

Bush beat Kerry 52% - 47% in '04 here, without a single report of any hanging chads, unlike 2000. But, this will be a battleground state in '08