FLORIDA 27 Electoral Votes
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  |  Nader  |   Candidate Travel  
With the disputes over the seating of their convention delegations resolved, the candidates turned to the general election campaign and Florida was once again a hotly contested battleground state.  Both campaigns built up substantial field organizations, each with more than fifty offices. 

The candidates spent roughly equivalent numbers of days campaigning in the state.  Interesting visits included a relatively rare Obama-Biden joint rally in Sunrise (Broward County) on Oct. 29.  Obama also prepared for the first presidential debate by spending several days in Bellair (Clearwater area; Pinellas County) from Sept. 23-25 (in 2000 Gore had also done debate prep in Florida, at Longboat Key, near Sarasota).  McCain, meanwhile, applied the "Joe the Plumber" tag to some of his later campaign events.

In the summer, the Obama campaign waged a substantial advertising campaign that went unanswered by the McCain campaign.  Wisconsin Advertising Project analysis of TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG data for the period from June 3-July 26 found that, "John McCain has not aired a single ad there since June 3rd.  Senator Obama has aired over 7,000 ads in Florida since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee and has spent more money in Florida than in any other state."  By the close, both campaigns were fully engaged.  From Oct. 21-28 Florida was the top state in spending on TV advertising by the Obama campaign, by the McCain campaign/coordinated, and by the RNC independent effort (Obama $4.615 million, McCain/coordinated $1.441 million, RNC independent $1.493 million).  The McCain campaign and the RNC produced a number of Florida specific ads (examples: Jeb Bush Spanish ad, "Jeb", Charlie Crist ad, "Obama-Chavez").  Both campaigns targeted the Hispanic audience (ads in Spanish, 2)

As in other states, Obama's Campaign for Change focused on voter registration.  Democrats' registration advantage increased from 311,340 (3.05%) for the Jan. 29 presidential primary to 657,775 (5.85%) for the general election, and this was certainly a key factor in their success.

Jan. 29, 2008 primary
(closing date Dec. 31, 2007)		 Aug. 26, 2008 primary
(closing date July 28, 2008)
 Nov. 4, 2008 general
(closing date Oct. 6, 2008)
Dem.
 4,137,067 (40.55%) 4,389,698 (41.34%)
 4,722,076 (41.98%)
Rep.
 3,825,727 (37.50%) 3,924,081 (36.96%)
 4,064,301 (36.13%)
No Pty Aff.
 1,911,510 (18.73%)
1,960,073 (18.46%)
 2,103,119 (18.70%)
Other Parties
 328,808 (3.22%) 344,667 (3.25%)
 358,138 (3.18%)
Total
 Total 10,203,112 10,618,519
 11,247,634

Early voting was also important in Obama's win in Florida.  According to county early voting reports compiled by the Secretary of State, 2,610,308 Floridians voted early (30.88% of turnout).  One person who worked on the Obama campaign in Florida stated, "We absolutely blew McCain out of the water in early voting, which significantly reduced lines (and hence, reduced problems) on Election Day.  This was key to winning."


Travel  compare...
Five Months (June 1-Nov. 4, 2008)
OBAMA-BIDEN McCAIN-PALIN
Barack Obama - 8 visits (15 days)
Joe Biden - 4 visits (7 days)
Michelle Obama (solo) - 2 visits (3 day)
Jill Biden (solo) - 1 visit (2 days)
 John McCain - 8 visits (13 days)
Sarah Palin - 4 visits (5 days)
Cindy McCain (solo) - 1 visits (2 days)
Todd Palin (solo) - no visits


Newspaper Endorsements
OBAMA
Daytona Beach News-Journal  (Oct. 19)   99,627 (100)
Florida Today [Brevard County]  (Oct. 26)
Gainesville Sun  (Oct. 26)
Lakeland Ledger  (Oct. 26)
Miami Herald  (Oct. 18)   240,223 (30)
Naples Daily News  (Oct. 19)
Orlando Sentinel  (Oct. 19)  227,593 (33)
Palm Beach Post  (Oct. 19)   164,474 (62)
Pensacola News Journal  (Oct. 26)
St. Petersburg Times  (Oct. 26)   316,007 (20)
Sarasota Herald-Tribune  (Oct. 19)   114,904 (86)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel [Fort Lauderdale]  (Oct. 26)   218, 286 (39)
 McCAIN
Bradenton Herald
Cape Coral Daily Breeze
Palatka Daily News
 Tampa Tribune  (Oct. 17)   220,522 (38)
Winter Haven News Chief
NO ENDORSEMENT
The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)

Counties Carried by Obama (results by county   |  Obama  |  McCain)
780,934 more votes were counted in the presidential race than in 2004.  Obama improved upon Kerry's total by 698,530 votes, while McCain tallied 81,102 more votes than Bush had in 2004.  Obama carried 15 counties, while Kerry had won 11.  Of these 15 counties, the greatest swing toward Obama occurred in Osceola and Orange Counties.  At the other end of the spectrum among these counties, Obama won fewer votes in Jefferson County (adjacent to Leon County/Tallahassee) than Kerry had in 2004.
Arranged by percentage for Obama
County
 2008 Total Votes
 Obama Votes (%)
 Plurality
2004 Total Votes
 Kerry Votes (%)
 Plurality
Gadsden
 22,516
 15,582  (69.20%)
 8,771
20,984
 14,629  (69.72%)
 8,376
Broward
 733,899
   492,640  (67.13%)
 254,911
706,872
 453,873  (64.21%)
 209,199
Leon
 148,608
 91,747  (61.74%)
 36,042
136,379
 83,873  (61.50%)
 32,258
Palm Beach
 590,500
 361,271  (61.18%)
 135,234
544,622
 328,687  (60.35%)
 115,999
Alachua
 125,519
 75,565  (60.20%)
 27,052
111,328
 62,504  (56.14%)
 14,742
Osceola
 100,670
 59,962  (59.56%)
 19,876
82,204
 38,633  (47.00%)* (4,484)*
Orange
 462,711
 273,009  (59.00%)
 86,177
388,041
 193,354  (49.83%)
 815
Miami-Dade
 863,486
 499,831  (57.89%)
 139,280
774,726
 409,732  (52.89%)
 48,637
St. Lucie
 120,579
 67,125  (55.67%)
 14,613
100,063
 51,835  (51.80%)
 4,243
Pinellas
463,282
 248,299  (53.60%)
 38,233
455,357
 225,460*  (49.51%)*
 (226)*
Hillsborough
 513,312
 272,963  (53.18%)
 36,608
463,222
 214,132*  (46.23%)*
 (31,444)*
Volusia
 243,817
 127,795  (52.41%)
 13,857
228,939
 115,519  (50.46%)
 3,595
Monroe
 40,272
 20,907  (51.91%)
 1,974
39,535
 19,654  (49.71%)
 187
Jefferson
 7,957
 4,088  (51.38%)
 291
7,478
 4,135  (55.30%)
 837
Flagler
 40,031
 24,726  (50.43%)
 775
38,480
 18,578 (48.28%)* (1,055)*








Statewide
 8,390,744 4,282,074 (51.03%)
 236,450
7,609,810 3,583,544 (47.09%)
 (380,978)*
*Won by Bush.
also Obama made significant advances in Sarasota County and Duval County (Jacksonville):
Sarasota County: McCain carried by a 211-vote margin: McCain 102,897 to Obama 102,686.  In 2004 Bush had a margin of 16,250 votes over Kerry, 104,692 to 88,442.
Duval County: McCain carried by a 7,919-vote margin: McCain 210,537 to Obama 202,618.  In 2004 Bush had a margin of 61,580 votes over Kerry, 220,190 to 158,610.

Copyright © 2008  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action