Will Sunshine State Sway Red Or Blue?

For the series "Final Battleground," the CBS Evening News is traveling to three key areas of the country - the South, the Midwest and the West - to hone in on the states that will decide this presidential election. Florida is one state that could swing toward either Barack Obama or John McCain, CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports.

"And then I watched the Republican National Convention, and it really hit a nerve," he said. "I was unemployed and watching the entire Republican delegation basically sit up and laugh at someone who helps the unemployed really affected me."

So much so that he's voting for Barack Obama. Former Tampa Mayor Dick Greco is switching sides too. He's a democrat who thinks John McCain has the experience to fix the economy.

"He is one hell of a man," Greco said. "There is no question. He sold me and what he is saying makes sense to me."

Both campaigns are trying to use the poor state of the Florida economy to their advantage, and there's no shortage of angry voters in the Sunshine State - with more than 600,000 people out of work, and nearly as many who've lost their homes to foreclosure in the past year.

What makes Florida a battleground is that Obama has the southeast - and its large number of African American, Jewish and liberal white voters. McCain is the favorite among military and socially conservative voters in the southwest and north. Both are fighting for the middle - the I-4 corridor - home to a diverse group of blacks, whites, hispanics, retirees and young workers - and nearly 40 percent of the state's independents.

"In the 2000 and 2004 elections, the Independent voters split right down the middle. This time out both parties are going after them heavy-duty" said political scientist Susan MacManus of the University of South Florida.

Both sides plan to spend the next crucial weeks trying to convert their neighbors - in a region that could decide whether Florida stays red or turns blue.