Tampabay.com
OCTOBER 15, 2008

Florida riper for Obama than Ohio?

Is Florida the new Ohio, in the way Ohio four years ago was the new Florida? Back in early June, when many politicos were doubting Barack Obama's potential to win Florida, Democratic pollster Dave Beattie was a lone voice:  Obama has a better shot at winning Florida, said Beattie, than he does Ohio.

Florida has a bigger African-American population, he told us then, and as more of a growth state offers far more educated suburban voters who often don't vote. "There's a type of voter in Florida that doesn't always vote, that lives around Tampa, St. Pete, around Orlando and Palm Beach County and Jacksonville, and those are the types of voters that are very open to Obama,'' said Beattie, whose clients include Sen. Bill Nelson and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.

Beattie was prescient. Obama's lead in Florida today is slightly better than in Ohio.

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