More from my contribution to this week’s Human Events magazine:
FLORIDA
Romney has ‘senior moment’ in Sunshine State
The fight for Florida’s 29 electoral votes continues to ramp up in the last month of presidential campaigning. As miles are logged across the Sunshine State’s vast area, poll data becomes more frequent and voters tune in to the televised debates.
Mitt Romney visited the Tampa Bay area once more Friday, Oct. 5, emboldened by hisWednesday debate showing in Denver. The GOP nominee’s event was held at the St. Petersburg pier, and he banked on the enthusiasm of the senior-heavy crowd, one of the most important constituencies in the nation’s fourth-largest state.
With that in mind, a new volunteer coalition group, Florida Seniors for Romney, headed by vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan’s mother, has vowed to support the GOP ticket and its plan to reform health policy for elderly Americans.
“Florida seniors know that Mitt Romney and my son, Paul Ryan, will protect Medicare for me and my generation, and preserve it for Paul’s and my grandchildren’s generations,” said Betty Ryan Douglas, a south Florida resident, in a statement.
Obama, himself no stranger to the Sunshine State, will make his 15th visit in just three months when he swoops into Miami on Thursday, Oct. 11.
Poll Watch: The most recent polls to come out after the debate, Rasmussen and the WeAskAmerica survey, show Romney with a 49 percent to 47 percent and 49 percent to 46 percent lead, respectively, all within the margin of error. The Real Clear Politics average over the past year has the race tied.
Florida will play host to the only debate between the two main candidates focused solely on foreign policy, to be held at Lynn University in Boca Raton on Oct. 22, moderated by CBS’s Bob Schieffer.
— Yaël Ossowski
Read more: Human Events