I made it into Human Events, the magazine and online publication, for the first time.
This is part of the Swing State Report.
Florida
Campaigns speed through Sunshine State in race for its 29 electoral votes
The U.S. Justice Department decided to drop its lawsuit over Florida’s early voting reductions–reducing the number of early voting days to 8 from 14–the same week the state vowed to stop ridding its rolls of ineligible voters.
The changes in voting laws worried many voter advocate organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which warned that changes would affect minority groups disproportionately and could tilt the scales in the November election.
In a candid moment on the campaign trail in Fort Pierce, pizza parlor owner Scott Van Duzer gave President Barack Obama a sweeping bear hug, landing Duzer on the front pages of newspapers and at the bottom of Republicans’ most-favored lists.
Hundreds of Romney supporters took to rating websites to blast the pizza parlor owner, disapproving of his seemingly innocent show of affection for the president.
“People are saying a lot of bad things and boycotting my restaurant,” Van Duzer said. “There’s no middle line anymore, and that’s exactly what’s wrong with our country right now.”
As the campaigns vie for Florida’s 29 electoral votes, every major city in the state has played host to dozens of candidate stops in the past few months.
On Sept. 11 and 12, Obama headlined grassroots rallies in Miami and Orlando with former President Bill Clinton, capitalizing on his charismatic performance at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., earlier this month.
GOP candidate Mitt Romney beat Clinton-Obama to the Miami punch by showing up a day earlier, hoping to convert Hispanics to his cause.
GOP vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan has been comfortable playing to the older crowds in the Sunshine State, stopping by retirement communities near Orlando with his mother to sell his Medicare plan.
Poll Watch: The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Sept. 13 gives Obama a 5-point advantage among likely voters, leading Romney 49 percent to 44 percent.
— Yaël Ossowski
Read entire article: Human Events