The electoral map is littered with obstacles, trenches and dead ends on the march to victory. This election cycle hasn’t and won’t be any different. There are various paths to 270 electoral votes, the amount necessary to win the presidency.
Four years ago, President, then Senator Obama picked up the electoral map and through it out if the window of conventionalism. Never again would any candidate take the road map “as is”. The days when there were only four “purple” or battleground states, i.e. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Florida, are over.
The nation’s demographics have shift in some regions and exploded in others changing the electoral map forever. Over the next 9 days, we’ll look at 9 different ways to get the necessary electoral votes to win The White House. Today, Florida, Florida, Florida!
Republicans play a significant role in all of the battlegrounds and Florida is not any different. At the state’s legislative and executive branch conservatives currently hold to the reins of power as they have for some time. That hasn’t affected the Dems voter registration advantage of nearly half million more voters.
The states pressing issues this election cycle revolve around Medicaid, Medicare and the privatization of Social Security. In the state’s Jewish community, america’s relationship with Israel has caused some consternation. The portions of the state that are crucial for either party is:
South Florida:
Palm Beach Counties, Miami-Dade County and Broward County came out strong for Obama in 2008.
Central Florida:
The all inclusive middle ground of this enormous battleground represents a varied voter. Tampa in the west has a large retirement population of voters that ironically are not at the age of retirement mixed with a liberal trending populous and diverse middle class workforce. Orlando in the east and Kissimmee just south of Orlando has the largest non-Cuban Hispanic demographic. Puerto Ricans have become the largest minority along the infamous I-4 corridor.
North Florida:
Duval and Leon Counties delivers an even greater difference between the voting blocks. Jacksonville and Tallahassee respectively are delivering both the military and the college town which happens to be nestled in the state capital sprawling with conservatives.
PROS: Florida carries a hefty 29 electoral votes and polls close in the first hour of east coast closures, although the results don’t typically report the results until well after the 9pm hour. Although Obama carried the battleground in 2008 with 50.9% of the vote, this would be a huge gain for Team Romney. Tampa in the west, and Pinellas county are republican strongholds, hence the place of the GOP convention. In the North, the military presence and strong Religious presence of southern baptist Christians will vote more conservatively, likely to the benefit of Romney.
CONS: For Romney, the states large Hispanic population will present challenges given his stance on various immigration reforms. Additionally, the large African American presence in the south represents a dominant voting block for Obama. As goes Florida, so goes the presidency, most likely. That’s my story and um sticking to it.
PoliticianNextDoor.com
Antron Johnson
