I think Kerry is stronger in Florida than Gore was in 2000

[Tony_FLADEM]

In 2000 my brother volunteered for the Gore campaign in the Tampa Bay region. I went to a meeting of volunteers and I remember he had perhaps 40 - 50 volunteers. A few days ago I went to a Kerry/Edwards rally and they let the campaign volunteers go in first. I had to wait an hour because his campaign had more than 200 volunteers that had to check in. Another difference, in 2000 the St. Petersburg Coliseum was filled to capacity with over 2,000 people -- but this time not only were there 2,000 inside but an additional 10,000 had to stay outside because there wasn't enough space. Another difference, in 2000 there were perhaps 300 pro-Bush people protesting outside -- this time around fewer than 20.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x572961

[2Design]

1. Gore was strong in Florida....Florida did not count the votes...

Everyone keeps buying into the propoganda....Gore won the election...they did not count the votes.....period....and our congress people did not stand up for the peoples rights to have every vote counted...

[Still_Loves_John]

9. Well, he was still not strong in Florida

because he only one by a few hundred votes.

[2Design]

11. if they counted all of them....it would have been thousandss..

all of the voters they did not allow to vote...all the blacks they scrubed from the registered voters.....the same list that has over 40,000 who are still on it....that the state was sued to release...
the few hundred...was propoganda...by the repubs....and not the truth....

Gore won by many thousands of votes...that the republicans did not count and even sent Delay staff to florida to bang on the walls and raise a ruckus outside the office where they were tallying the votes...and then had the repub media televise it as if it were floridians..and people have pictures and names of Delay staff...

in my mind and the truth is Gore WON by thousands of votes that were not counted....in more than just florida.....

[JI7]

2. Kerry goes to the people rather than big media appearances

notice when gore picked lieberman, lieberman went on tv news shows like today show, good morning america cnn, etc.

but when kerry announced Edwards he went directly to the people in the states. he keeps his campaign open for the media to show the campaigning if they want, but he doesn't wait for them to show him. he invites people in to attend. he will campaign together with edwards for a while. and later on they will split up so they can cover 2 areas at once. i assume their wives will do the same so they will be covering 4 areas at once.

of course they do major tv things also as i think kerry and edwards are supposed to appear on 60 minutes together. but they don't only do that. they take it right to the people and no matter what polls show just keep going to the people and try to get their support.

[LTR]

5. I think talk show appearances are very important

Many don't get out to the personal appearances. And most people watch the morning yak fests, as well as Leno and Letterman. Witness Larry King last night. It really showed a more human side, rather than a speech to a mass crowd.

Look what Clinton acheived in '92. He hit Arsenio, MTV, Donahue, etc. and it worked well. Kerry should hit stuff like Oprah. It will really do wonders. He needs to show a more personable side. Picking Edwards was a good first step. It really seemed to energize him.

And we know Bush is only going to hit stuff like Rush's show anyway. The GOP is known for over-preaching to the choir.

[fujiyama]

7. Edwards

would be absolutely PERFECT for Oprah. I'm not sure who did best with female voters during the primaries, but in the general election I would Edwards to be very strong.

[RamboLiberal]

12. Oprah - get Kerry, Edwards, wives and Edward's kids

That would be a winner, especially if women saw Kerry interacting with Edward's kids. Maybe get the kids on for the first or last segment.

The intelligence and warmth these two guys would show would explode off the screen.

Get them on enough TV shows it's got to contrast nicely with the agressive stumbling over his words Bush.

[Larkspur]

3. I voted for Gore and liked Gore but did not participate in Gore's campaign

I didn't know how to do that then.

This time, I'm voting for Kerry, despise Kerry, and am not volunteering time or money for Kerry's campaign. So in that sense, nothing has change for me.

The main reason of the difference of support isn't between Gore and Kerry. It's that people didn't pay attention to Bush and his cronies in 2000, like they have since that election and are now alarmed at how Bush & Co. are manipulating our government for their contributors financial welfare. The difference is between Bush 2000 and Bush 2004. Kerry is riding the ABB wave and after he gets into office and screws things, the ABB'rs will turn against him.

[bullimiami]

4. I agree and..

I think Bush is much weaker here than in 2000

If the intended votes had been able to be cast and counted in 2000 Gore would have won by like 50,000.

I think * loses Florida by 200-500K+ this time. Do you think they can rig the election that much?

[Mz Pip]

6. Some GOP shill said

Bush had made big inroads in the Jewish community because of his strong support of Israel. Kerry supports Israel, too so I don't think Bush will really pick up many more votes on that front. So much for GOP talking points.

In addition there is a huge voter registration/education push going on the the African American communities where there is still much animosity over 2000.

Bush has also alienated his Cuban base by limiting the amount of money they can send to their families in Cuba.

Florida will go for Kerry. IMHO

MzPip
:dem:

[fujiyama]

8. Kerry will win it

if not for the fraud factor. Jeb has tricks up his sleeves, but I'm guessing it's more difficult to steal it if it's not that close.

[Worthless Teen]

10. All good points, however...

Jeb won gubernatorial re-election in Florida by 12% when that race was a DNC top priority, so it seems as if Florida has become more conservative since the 2000 election. However, the war in Iraq and the alienination of Blacks will certainly work against W. Florida could definitley go either way.

[fujiyama]

13. THat's true

but I don't recall McBride being quite as competetive as Kerry is.

Other than two or three polls, most have the race dead even, or Kerry ahead by a slight bit.

Plus, I don't think the mobilization and interest was there for a gubernatorial race. I may be wrong here, but I've got the impression that atleast among Floridians (or FL independants/swing voters), Jeb isn't as polarizing as his brother is.

[Thrill]

14. I don't remember excitement

like the other day in FL when Gore was running there