A lot of new Democrats registered to vote down in Dade county (Miami), especially good among hispanic voters who in South Florida tend to be Cuban and more inclined to vote GOP. I’m curious what the numbers in Florida’s other major Democratic stronghold, Broward county (Ft. Lauderdale) are like – especially since the black population there is considerable.
Having just re-read Joan Didion’s Miami, which usefully put the city’s late-1980s politics in the context of the el exilio city born in the 1940s, I’m wondering if *any* of Obama’s appeals to expat Cubans have made a dent — or if it’s just boomer retirees being smart about what side their Medicare is buttered on.
I’m wondering if *any* of Obama’s appeals to expat Cubans have made a dent
It may just be because the sons and daughters of expats are actually loyal to America now. The old people are still hoping to rush back in case of a vacuum.
Here are Broward County’s numbers of registered voters.
I compared the numbers of registered voters on 6/30/08 versus the numbers on 12/31/07. These are the newly registered voters for Jan-Jun 2008:
Dem 34,928
Rep 7,348
NPA 3,577
Other 5,051
Total 50,904
Of the new 2008 voters, 69% were Democrats, 14% Reps and the rest No Party or Other.
I have a friend with the Obama campaign who told me Dems have gained 55k new voter regs this election cycle in Broward while the GOP is up 14k.
It won’t make any difference. Any county that has 50% more democrats than republicans as new registrations will have the Blackwell rule enacted: The voting machines will be serviced before the general election to verify that almost all will break down. Ensuring only one working machine per 100,000 democrats. In republican precincts, there will be one working machine per 10 republicans.