Florida seems to have some kind of magic allure on Democratic presidential aspirants. Like Al Gore and John Kerry before him, Barack Obama seems to be putting on a full court press to win the Sunshine State. Over a month ago, Obama sent his most successful political people to Miami and Tampa. Barack, Biden, and Michelle have flooded the state with recent ‘Early Voting’ appearances. Obama held two huge rallies there yesterday, including one with Bill Clinton. He did a joint appearance there with Hillary Clinton. And now Al Gore has announced he will campaign in West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale.
What’s odd about this is that Obama doesn’t really need Florida to win. But he doesn’t need North Carolina, either, and he’s invested a tremendous amount of time and money there, as well. Ordinarily, I’d be concerned with all this focus on superfluous states. It’s as if Obama isn’t playing just to win, but to blow McCain out.
Things look good, but not great for Obama in Florida. It’s one of the few battleground states (along with Missouri) where the Republicans still own the governorship. It’s not one of the states like New Hampshire, Virginia, and Colorado, where we’ve seen a recent Democratic trend. So, why is Obama placing so much emphasis on Florida?
I have to assume that the Obama campaign is as good at internal polling as they are at everything else. They must think they have Ohio and Virginia and Colorado and Nevada in the bag.
