Bill Nelson deserved better from the people of Florida

[Awsi Dooger]

25. You post this repeatedly and you are wrong every time

Ideology is the variable, not flawed subjectivity.

The ideology in Florida has not changed further to the right. The state has 36-39% conservatives every time, depending on whether it is a presidential year or midterm. States like Texas and North Carolina and even Georgia always have 42% conservatives or higher.

It was 39% conservatives this time because older voters showed up in greater frequency than young voters. Big shock. If we had a 2016 electorate this year with 36% conservatives and 25% liberals in Florida, and 60% of the electorate aged 45+ instead of 75% aged 45+ like this year, then both Gillum and Nelson would have won. Independents slanting our way would have been more than enough.

Florida is a difficult state to maximize and Republicans recently have figured out a way to boost rural turnout and percentage, while also limiting losses in Miami-Dade County. That is what is going on. We have favorable trends in Duval (Jacksonville) and Orange (Orlando) but need to do a better job in the Tampa area.

Bottom line, Florida is like a good college football team in a very good conference...ending up with one frustrating tight loss after another. Anyone who knows anything about power ratings knows that teams like that can maintain very high power ratings despite the won/loss record, and are hardly a lost cause.