
TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 17, 2008
Will Sunshine State Sway Red Or Blue?
CBS Evening News: Why Florida Is One Of The Final Battleground States
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Play CBS Video Video McCain Aims For The South GOP presidential candidate John McCain has concentrated his campaign on Florida and several other Southern states. But, as Chip Reid reports, Barack Obama has made strong gains in this region.
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Video Florida's Critical Voters Florida is a critical swing state this election year and, as Kelly Cobiella reports, a very diverse area known as the I-4 corridor may ultimately decide who Florida chooses.
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Video Eye On Key Battleground States Katie Couric speaks with "Face The Nation" host Bob Schieffer about the close race between presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama in several battleground states.
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(CBS/iStockphoto)
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In-Depth Ways To Win Calculate your own path to the presidency with CBSNews.com's electoral vote prediction map.
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CBS Evening News Where They Stand The CBS Evening News provides an in-depth look at the issues facing the 44th president.
Lifelong republican Jim Piccillo always thought he'd vote for John McCain. But as the Florida housing market crashed, so did the mortgage company he worked for. Two months ago, he lost his job.
"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.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."





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See all 136 Comments"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."
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At the convention the Republican''s barely mentioned average people and they were in denile on the economy. Anyone who votes for 4 more years of republican leadership gets what they deserve.
Think about it. It is bad enough that you didn''''t see Bush''''s incompetence prior to his first term, but to repeat in 2004 your voting mistake in light of clear evidence of Bush''''s poor judgment is a wretched shame! And now you two-time Bush-backers have the audacity to pen your opinions on this commentary in support of a FAR WORST presidential ticket than Bush-Cheney. McCain-Palin is so pathetically worst than Bush-Cheney, that if Obama-Biden were not an available option, I would write-in Bush-Cheney for another 4 years.
YOU TWO-TIME BUSH-BACKERS HAVE NO CREDIBILITY ON THIS COMMENTARY. IT IS BETTER THAT YOU SAVE YOUR DIGNITY THAN TRY TO PROVIDE ANOTHER OPINION.
GOD Bless the United States of America!
GOD Bless the Obama-Biden Leadership Team!
Posted by Indepedent01 at 04:53 AM : Oct 19, 2008
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Amen!
Think about it. It is bad enough that you didn''t see Bush''s incompetence prior to his first term, but to repeat in 2004 your voting mistake in light of clear evidence of Bush''s poor judgment is a wretched shame! And now you two-time Bush-backers have the audacity to pen your opinions on this commentary in support of a FAR WORST presidential ticket than Bush-Cheney. McCain-Palin is so pathetically worst than Bush-Cheney, that if Obama-Biden were not an available option, I would write-in Bush-Cheney for another 4 years.
YOU TWO-TIME BUSH-BACKERS HAVE NO CREDIBILITY ON THIS COMMENTARY. IT IS BETTER THAT YOU SAVE YOUR DIGNITY THAN TRY TO PROVIDE ANOTHER OPINION.
GOD Bless the United States of America!
GOD Bless the Obama-Biden Leadership Team!
"Ronald Reagan was also opposed to the holiday. He recanted only after Congress passed the King Day bill with an overwhelming veto-proof majority (338 to 90 in the House of Representatives and 78 to 22 in the Senate).[11] Prior to that date, New Hampshire and Arizona had not observed the day. Throughout the 1990s, this was heavily criticized."
"John McCain voted against the creation of the holiday to honor King"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Day
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Democrats hate Republicans. That is what we have been taught to believe. I have accepted the fact that most black Americans are Democrats. So my question is, do Democrats really hate Martin Luther King Jr.?
MLK was a registered Republican from 1956 and throughout his life. It was Ronald Reagan who signed the law to make MLK''''s birthday a national holiday, and it was the Republicans who overwhelmed the Democrats to grant Civil Rights to our black brothers. So why the hate? Because Democrat White Liberal Racists are really good liars.
Posted by forthinvader at 09:37 PM : Oct 18, 2008
+ report abuse
"John McCain voted against the creation of the holiday to honor King, and later defended Arizona Republican Governor Mecham''s rescinding of the state holiday in honor of King created by his Democratic predecessor. After his opposition grew increasingly untenable, McCain reversed his position, and encouraged his home state of Arizona to recognize the holiday despite opposition from then-Governor Evan Mecham[10]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Day
______________________________________________
Democrats hate Republicans. That is what we have been taught to believe. I have accepted the fact that most black Americans are Democrats. So my question is, do Democrats really hate Martin Luther King Jr.?
MLK was a registered Republican from 1956 and throughout his life. It was Ronald Reagan who signed the law to make MLK''''s birthday a national holiday, and it was the Republicans who overwhelmed the Democrats to grant Civil Rights to our black brothers. So why the hate? Because Democrat White Liberal Racists are really good liars.
Posted by forthinvader at 09:37 PM : Oct 18, 2008
+ report abuse
MLK was a registered Republican from 1956 and throughout his life. It was Ronald Reagan who signed the law to make MLK''s birthday a national holiday, and it was the Republicans who overwhelmed the Democrats to grant Civil Rights to our black brothers. So why the hate? Because Democrat White Liberal Racists are really good liars.
In 2004 exit polls all day had Kerry ahead by 6-7%, then late afternoon and evening after polls closed... totals REVERSED!
The GOP continues to resist attempts to subpoena Michael Connell, a shady Republican computer operative who programmed the 2000 Bush-Cheney web site. Connell was also hired by former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell in 2004 to tabulate the Ohio vote count. Under Connell, Ohio''s vote totals were shunted to a computer bank in the same basement in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that housed the servers of the Republican National Committee. In the early hours of the morning after election day, vote totals mysteriously began shifting from Kerry to Bush, swinging the 2004 election. Connell''s cyber-security industry colleague Stephen Spoonamore, a Republican and former McCain supporter, has said that Connell may be able to shed light on vote count rigging in the 2008 vote count as well. Attorneys in the King-Lincoln- Bronzeville civil rights lawsuit have thus far been unable to secure Connell''s sworn testimony.
check it out... and more.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10553
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