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« National Media Silence | Main | McCain's Stinky Buddies »

Florida Polls

Some of the most recent polls, like Suffolk, generously provide access to the internals of the poll which yield some interesting information.

19% of those polled had already voted.

16% are still undecided.

In the typical poll, the relative ranking of Romney and McCain is a matter of opinion by fewer than 20 respondents.

Interest is high, with only 3% of respondents saying they are only "somewhat likely" to vote. The rest have voted or are "very likely" to vote tomorrow.

A whopping 38% of respondents consider that they may in fact change their minds before tomorrows primary.

46% watched the Debate last Thursday and 32% considered that Romney won. Only 23% that McCain had won.

McCain has a significant edge on the electability issue--24% of respondents believe he will be the next president. 19% favored Romney to win.

The economy is the most important issue for 44% of respondents.

64% considered themselves conservative. 30% moderate. 6% liberal.

42% Evangelical Christian. 57% other. Only 32% were weekly church attenders.

47% had a veteran in the family. Half had someone in the family serving or having served in the military.

67% of respondents were over 46 years old and 90% white.

You can see where the variability can come in. This poll is geographically balanced, but its anyone's guess whether the polls actually reflect who will come out to vote and for whom. Romney is consistently ahead of McCain with younger voters, who are generally not reflected in these polls. If they show up, these polls will look ridiculous.

I'm afraid I overestimated Giuliani's appeal in Florida. Both he and Huckabee had lost six points each in the last week, while McCain and Romney have surged by 12 points each. Giuliani just hasn't been competitive with McCain, probably because national security issues simply haven't been as prominent as one might have expected even a few weeks ago. Judging from the internals, McCain's primary asset is the perception of his electability, which I personally don't get, but the media's lionization of McCain and faux-anxiety about Clinton's prospects, seems to be having an effect.

That makes some sense, particularly with reference to the polls, because older voters, in spite of being conservatives, will still have the mainstream media habit, and thus are subjected to MSM mind-control rays. Younger voters, relying more on the internet, will have a very different view of McCain.

This will come down to who comes out to vote and who has the best organization. I can of course afford to be wrong, so I'll just say that my gut tells me that we're in for a 10 point blow-out in Romney's favor. Here are my reasons:


  • The polls are under representing younger voters. My daughter was over for dinner yesterday and mentioned to me that her friends considered her election-central and that she is distributing campaign info via her Facebook page. She is in turn getting her information for me, which explains all the texting... I was surprised at how much interest she says her friends have in the primaries and how subrosa it all is. I get the feeling that the kids will actually vote this year, and internet communities and their social proof will be the impetus.

  • There is a large undecided vote and a surprisingly large contingent of "soft decisions" among voters. My perspective is that Huckabee and Giuliani have lost all the votes they are going to. What remains is a solid floor. So are they tentative about Romney or McCain? McCain is the establishment candidate running on trust and electability. Romney is the change candidate, running on competence and dissatisfaction. Considering that worry of the economy is the main dynamic in this election, I think McCain loses his soft support and the undecideds overall. These people are going to go with their gut in the end, and when you look at Romney and McCain, McCain comes off as frail, stumbling, and especially in the past few days, snarky and unpresidential. Romney looks well, presidential and backs it up with confident and eloquent speech.

  • Organization. Romney has most of Jeb Bush's people. Romney has been building his organization for two years. Its seat of the pants for McCain. Nuff said.
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