Fla. Dems Looking for Record Turnout in Vote-Rich Broward County
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Broward County, home to nearly one million voters and the site of much controversy in past presidential elections, is in the eye of the election campaign storm, with Democrats pushing to capture roughly 75 percent of those million ballots for Sen. Barack Obama, hoping to edge out Republican votes elsewhere in the state.
County Democratic chief Mitch Ceasar is a man on a mission to see that happens, taking on GOP spokespersons in a marathon schedule of debates, in raising sufficient funds to air the first-ever TV commercials from a Sunshine State county committee, organizing a crowd-filled number of workshops to get out the vote, and overseeing dozens of events to "bring out the crowds" for early voting.
In previous presidential elections, Broward has turned out approximately 67 per cent of the votes for Democrats, but with non-stop TV commercials, a surge in early voting, Ceasar believes that the county will set new turnout records. County election officials say there are actually 997,321 voters in Broward, roughly two-thirds registered Democrats.
"Mitch is all over the county, urging everyone to go out and vote and attend workshops to get other people to vote," said one Democratic Executive Committee member. "And Obama will be back in Broward this week for a rally in the city of Sunrise.
Ceasar is not only the Democratic Chairman of Broward County, he is also a member of the Executive Board of the DNC and a former Florida Democratic State Party Chairman. He is the originator of the Florida Presidential Recap of 2000.
Broward -- with its Fort Lauderdale hub -- is the site of dozens of concentrated communities, including many condominium buildings housing a population which is historically, overwhelmingly composed of Democratic voters. The area -- along with two adjacent South Florida counties -- Miami-Dade and Palm Beach -- is being inundated this week by celebrities in hopes of "upping" the percentage in the party's growing tally.
Actors Matt Damon, Jason Alexander and Alicia Silverstone plus a handful of Latin entertainers including Spanish vocalist Noella Zanon are among those showing up at concerts, get-out-the-vote parties and other Democratic get-togethers here. Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife as well as several western state governors have been active in the get-out-the-vote campaign as well.
Not to be outdone, the Republicans brought out Sen. Joe Lieberman, again, and TV personality Elizabeth Hasselback to counter the large number of Democratic events featuring celebrities. The Miami Herald (which earlier had endorsed Obama) in its front page story Monday referred to the surge in personalities as "Star Wars."
Whether or not these celebrities influence any votes is questionable, but no one doubts that their appearances may have helped spur the large numbers of early voters who have turned out here (forcing those in line to wait up to five hours in some locations). Early voting continues through Nov 2.
Florida is astir with politics, with most pundits watching the South Florids turnout (particularly Broward and the adjoining counties ) and early voting along the I-4 corridor (the Spacecoast-Orlando-Tampa stretch) to get an indication of just what is happening.
While most eyes currently are on South Florida, huge crowds were reported in the Tampa Bay area for Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who was introduced by conservative talk show host Hasselback.
As big as the target vote is for Broward, Democratic officials also are hoping for an avalanche in the nearby Miami area as well. In figures provided by the Democrats and not refuted by the local GOP, signs point to a pivotal win for Obama. Indications show that in Miami-Dade, 57 percent of those who opted for early voting were Democrats, 25 percent Republicans and the balance, independents.
The Republican leadership in Broward says that county's hopes for such a large Democratic "record-breaking" turnout may be "wishful thinking."
However, the number of normally Democratic voters casting early ballots is viewed by most as a positive sign for Obama.
All agree -- despite the polls now showing Obama with as much as a double digit lead -- that the fluctuating polls can not be relied upon in this volatile swing state.
But, Democrats are saying that the huge early voting turnout indicates Florida will become a Blue State and provide its 27 electoral votes to their nominee. Republicans are arguing their historic lead in absentee ballot will be more than enough to counter the Democrats.
All of the latest polls have the Illinois Senator leading by several percentage points in Florida. On Sunday, the influential South Florida Sun-Sentinel endorsed him, following the lead of three other publications: the Miami Herald, Orlando Sun-Sentinel and the Naples Daily News. Those three newspapers in the past have endorsed mainly GOP presidential candidates. More newspaper endorsements are expected as the campaign winds into its final days.
Republicans still are making a last ditch appeal to keep the Sunshine State "red," urging their long-term loyal base to make the difference.
"But all the headlines, polls, long lines and endorsements seem to be heading our way," said Democratic Sen. Dave Aronberg of West Palm Beach.
Mary Cooney, public service director for Elections in Broward indicated advance voting and absentee balloting might set new marks despite the long wait in most polling sites designated for early balloting.
Hoping to add to the numbers, the Obama campaign on Monday - using symbolism "27 for 27" -- organized 27 statewide early vote marches for the State's 27 electoral votes, according to Congressional candidate Joe Garcia. Garcia is one of three candidates hoping to unseat South Florida's three incumbent Republican House members, with a huge coattail effect when all the votes are tabulated.
Among the big events this week will be an enormous sports complex rally in Broward where Obama is scheduled o appear. Weston Democratic Club president Ann Zucker reminded her members to be on hand to meet "the next president" less than a week before Election Day.
"It's part of a concerted for Florida's 27 electoral votes -- one-tenth of the number needed to win the presidency, " she noted in an email to Democrats.
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The Republican party has always been of the opinion that on November the 4th, all of the base will turn out.
What will happen if there are 5 hour waits on November 4th?
I am betting on the polling places being open for extended hours.
We must all vote as soon as possible so a large turnout on the 4th will not be able to overcome the early voting numbers. Vote now!
This is sweet music to my ears! Bless you Floridians for getting your chance to make right what was taken from you before. I could hug each and everyone of you! Really, I could.
YES WE CAN!!!!! I am getting so jazzed I could cry!
I live in Broward County. Many, many people are waiting in the hot sun for three hours to early vote for Obama. The new voting system has an electronic trail AND a paper trail so hopefully there will be no controversy this year.
I think he will win at least in Miami, Broward and Palm Beach. He has a huge radio and television presence while McCain has advertised so little that I have to turn to the Internet to keep up with the basics of his campaign.
I have seen John Edwards, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton when they campaigned down here as hopefuls. I will be at the rally in Sunrise tomorrow, except this time I can say I saw a future president!
Florida will go to Obama. The number of young and minority voters that are voting democrat will surprise a lot of people. I believe Tampa, Orlando and all of South Florida will go to Obama. Not to mention our small democratic enclaves all around central/north florida as well.
Floridians don't need convincing. They just need honest elections. Something that did not happen in Florida in 2000.
Why do the citizens of Florida need so much convincing!!
Are they that racist?
I think it's mostly rich old people who only get their information from Fox News. They're still under the spell of Leo Strauss.
"Old People" in South Florida are overhwhelmingly Democratic. However, many may have trouble getting to voting places and the extra "push" and energy this year may help. If there's record #'s of early voters then it's a great thing for the Dems.
BTW - I used to live in South Florida, though before th 2000 election. I can attest to voting there, however, and finding the ballots they used to have very confusing. It was a booklet and if, when one turned the page it got stuck with the next, you ended up voting for Joe the Plummer.
Yes. My family lives there and they are racists.
MJJM -- North Fla. is the deep South, a 'pro-America' enclave: 20 years ago you could get the hate stare for a Noo Yawk accent; it is pretty much a mind-over-matter-and-you-don't-matter area (I lived in Ocala area for 2 years). There are also several active military bases along the top part of the state.
Tampa and Miami are the historic home of Cuban immigrants, (although Tampa largely represents the Cuba/Key West migration of the 1800s); Miami holds the largest population of post-Castro exiles from the 1950s through 1970s. Fidel Castro's Cuba remains a terribly painful subject in many households because families were torn apart by the politics. Cuban expats chose the Republican Party as their community identity years ago, (I lived in Tampa and Key West combined, 10 years), and a shift in voting in this ethnic group is remarkable indeed.
The I-4 corridor represents a lot of retirees from the U.S. Midwest and Northeast, so those older voters likely to be as racist or non-racist as their respective home states; as a voting block this is an aging population and there may simply be fewer of these conservative voters than there were in 2000.
The I-4 technology corridor also contains a lot of colleges, universities and white-collar workers (I lived along here for 30+ years), and tends to be progressive, its likely that Sen. Obama's internet campaign will have the greatest effect here.
Maybe FL will pull it out but it was wise to conduct field opperations/plan without Florida as the state has shown to be unable to turn out a vote and/or conduct a proper count of votes. It is not entirely a R generate fiasco in FL as Ds have done their share to contribute to past messes.
It would be great to see the Democrats win without FL after hearing for so long how important-critical FL is to the entire process of electing a president. The lack of, umm, humility which has come out of Florida since 2000 and esp. with primary date change that eliminated campaigning in the primaries for the state.
If the Dems win without FL it would be a great lesson to FL itself and other states who try to over estimate their influence/power in the process and make it clear that states such as Colorado, Ohio, New Mexico, and yes Iowa are all equally important in the process contrary to royal proclamations by some from the Sunshine state that without them it is impossible to win.
We shall see what happens Florida. We shall see.
No, no, no ..... I am a Floridian who voted early!! We need an Obama win in Florida to make up for the last two elections, which were stolen, when voters were denied the right to vote. A win this time will be for them!!!
Please help get your friends and have them take friends and family to vote. I early voted yesterday in Las Vegas for OBAMA/BIDEN 08'
FLORIDA TAKE SOMEONE WITH YOU!! AND THAT GOES FOR EVERYONE.
Tampa area is looking very McCain/Palin heavy lately... hope we can do it!
I'm worried about Tampa.
I hope Obama can pull out FL what a big boost. More so I'm concerned about the Rethugs stealing this election again.If we don't win FL or even OH we still can win.Obama/Biden '08/'12
YES WE CAN, YES WE CAN. THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE CHANGE WE BELIEVE IN IS TO VOTE AND HELP OTHERS TO VOTE!
OBAMA/BIDEN 2008
Go Florida...I have 2 brothers living in Fla. who are Democrats, every vote counts. Hope and pray that Florida will turn blue as the sky on November 4th.
OBAMA/BIDEN08/12
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