Sp Times: Rural vote gave state (Florida) to Bush

[ryban]

A lot of Florida Democrats scoffed when President Bush flew into the little Democratic stronghold of Gainesville two days before Election Day.

And as Democrats chuckled dismissively, some 17,000 people from nearby rural counties such as Gilchrist, Lafayette and Dixie drove in to cheer the first sitting president since Grover Cleveland to visit their area.

Then those bucolic, often overlooked counties produced some of the most dramatic Bush victory margins in the state.

Now many Democrats are rethinking long-held assumptions about how they can win Florida. The emerging post-election gospel: It's past time for Democrats to start fighting hard for voters living outside Florida's cities and nearby suburbs.

<snip>

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/11/14/State/Rural_vote_gave_state.shtml

[Fridays Child]

1. More spin on a stolen state.

:boring:

[sherilocks]

2. Actually it's a good analysis

The St. Pete Times is a pretty good newspaper. The FL Democratic Party should read it. But with the gerrymandering in the state, they have an uphill fight. It's practically impossible to get Dems in the state legislature and congress, except for the Senate. The repugs rigged the lines, conceding a few areas to African-Americans to comply with federal regulations, and dividing the rest of the Democratic voters up so that a Democrat could never win.

[itzamirakul]

3. If these are rural areas...

then they are not supposed to be so densely populated, else they would be called, urban areas. Where in the hell did so many rural votes come from sparsely populated areas?