Friday, August 27, 2004


President Bush in Miami



Contrary to what the Orlando Sentinel anticipated a couple of days ago, President Bush's remarks at his rally in Miami today made no mention of Mel Martinez.  In attendance were Representatives Mark Foley (a former Senate candidate who has endorsed Martinez) and Mario Diaz-Balart (who has endorsed Bill McCollum.


Florida Senate Campaign, Politics comment []7:46:37 PM   trackback [] 


Senate Campaign News 20040827



The Democrats had a debate last night and new polls came out for the Republican side of the race, which made this quite a busy news day.

The details of the Republican half of the Mason - Dixon poll are out. It shows Mel Martinez leading Bill McCollum by six points, which is an eleven point swing from the July poll. It indicates that Martinez leads in all regions, with central Florida being his strongest and South Florida as his weakest (the region is Doug Gallagher's strongest). 18% of voters are undecided.

I believe this 'lead' is far too high. It doesn't coinicide with either of the internal polls released a few days ago, and it doesn't agree with another poll released yesterday (see next item).

The story buried in the polling stuff is that former candidate and state State House speaker has decided to endorse Bill McCollum after Martinez campaign driven attacks against McCollum's conservatives.

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A poll from Advantage 2000, commisioned by the Florida-Times Union and South Florida Sun-Sentinel . It contrasts strongly against both halves of the Mason-Dixon poll. It shows Betty Castor's lead against Peter Deutsch to be a mere eight points, and it shows McCollum leading Martinez by four points. It indicates that 10% of Democrats and 13% of Republicans are undecided. It was conducted August 23-25, which means that it has one later day of data than the Mason-Dixon poll.

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The Democratic debate that was televised state-wide on PBS stations featured the ongoing feud between Betty Castor and Peter Deutsch. Deutsch went after Castor on a variety of issues including Sami Al-Arian and partial-birth abortion (which Castor is against).


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The Republican candidates debate tonight and it will be televised state-wide on PBS.

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The Palm Beach Post covers a story that other papers mentioned in their debate articles. A group calling themselves Alliance to Protect Seniors is making phone calls that disparage Peter Deutsch.

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Staying with the Post, they have an article on the Alex Penelas campaign.

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The Associated Press has a biographical article on Bill McCollum.

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Finally, the St Petersburg Times takes a look at the money awaiting the nominees from both parties.



Florida Senate Campaign, Politics comment []9:46:22 AM   trackback [] 


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