Florida GOP Stage a Repeat of 2002, Not 2000(antigay/abortion,pro faith )

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-florida4nov04.story
ELECTIONS 2004
Florida Republicans Stage a Repeat of 2002, Not 2000
The party learned from the reelection of Gov. Jeb Bush two years ago, and its efficient, centralized efforts ensured a solid win this time.
By Peter Wallsten and John M. Glionna
Times Staff Writers

November 4, 2004

MIAMI — The demons of 2000 are history. This time, the margins in Florida were wide enough that its vote is not in doubt.

President Bush turned a statistical tie four years ago in a state that became synonymous with the polarization of a nation into a relative landslide. His winning this time by a margin of 300,000-plus votes over Sen. John F. Kerry instantly eliminated talk of legal challenges and removed a microscope from Florida's much-maligned voting system.

The turnaround, according to strategists in both parties, was due to a Republican get-out-the-vote drive in the final days executed with quiet efficiency and drastically underestimated by the Democrats.

"It's not so much that Kerry lost; it's that the Bush campaign won," said David Johnson, a Republican consultant in Tallahassee, who once directed the state Republican Party. "The Bush side squeezed their base as hard as they could squeeze it and got them to the polls."

Florida Democrats, bruised and defeated handily just as they were when the president's brother Jeb won reelection two years ago, hailed their own efforts — noting that Kerry won half a million more votes than Democrat Al Gore did in 2000 when he ultimately lost the state after a recount battle.<snip>