More from my contribution to this week’s Human Events magazine:

FLORIDA

Romney pushing to lock up support in Sunshine State

It seems that a television debate and good press is all that’s needed to turn a presidential campaign around.

That’s the scene in Florida fewer than three weeks before the general election, as GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney pulls ahead of President Obama, capitalizing on his performance in the first presidential debate Oct. 3 in Denver.

Romney has an average five-point lead in the surveys conducted since the debate, putting the Obama campaign in offensive mode after riding high in the polls for several months.

Just last week, the Obama campaign announced it was ready to notch up its ambitious effort to encourage millions of citizens to send off absentee ballots — hoping to lock up support ahead of Election Day.

Thursday, Ann Romney made a quiet visit to Fort Lauderdale, touring the local children’s hospital and refraining from any big speech or post-debate victor celebration. Her sons have also been making the rounds across the state, trying to persuade Hispanic groups to keep concerns about the economy as their main focus, as well as to cast a ballot for their dad.

Poll Watch: The latestTampa Bay Times/Miami Herald/Mason-Dixon poll shows Romney up 51 percent to 47 percent. Romney’s lead hasn’t provided a boost to Senate hopeful Connie Mack, who is still struggling in his battle against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

The latest Marist poll shows Nelson with a 13-point lead over his GOP challenger, with 6 percent still undecided. Their only live television debate is Oct. 17, in Davie.

— Yaël Ossowski

Read more: Human Events