Kerry up in FLORIDA, latest poll

[montana500]

Health care debate boosts Sen. Kerry in Florida polls
However, race still a statistical dead heat statewide

Published Saturday, October 16, 2004
by Sean Salai

The issue of health care yesterday gave Sen. John Kerry a small boost in Florida, propelling the Democratic challenger to a four-point lead over President George W. Bush in one statewide poll.
In the Florida Insider poll, Bush had held a 47 to 44 percent lead entering Wednesday night’s domestic policy debate. But yesterday’s Insider numbers, from 450 registered voters surveyed between Tuesday and Thursday, showed Kerry taking a 48 percent to 44 percent lead over the incumbent Republican. The poll has a five-point margin of error.
A Strategic Vision poll of 801 likely voters conducted during the same time period gave Kerry a one-point gain over an Oct. 7 poll. Bush yesterday still led in that poll – which has a three percent margin of error – 49 percent to 46 percent.
Although the race remains a statistical dead heat, pollsters said Kerry this week helped himself in the battle for the state’s 27 electoral votes.
“Kerry has gained the momentum in Florida, and health care is a large component of that,” said Matt Towery, Insider pollster. “Why? Because you have so many seniors in Florida, and health care and social security are always their biggest issues.”
“Health care caused this bump, although it wasn’t as big as I expected Kerry to get,” said Strategic Vision pollster David E. Johnson.
The Insider poll reports that 24 percent of Floridians said the debates influenced their vote. This rose to 32 percent of respondents who described themselves as “moderate,” a category where Kerry now leads 54 to 35 percent. Bush in the poll lost ground among women and among men, where the Republican no longer enjoys a double-digit lead over his Democratic challenger.
Florida had been trending toward Kerry all week, and Towery said Bush’s insistence in the last debate on promoting his prescription drug bill – which has failed to resonate with Florida’s seniors – is the cause of this latest bump.
“Support for the president’s prescription drug benefits package has been surprisingly small,” Towery said. “For the seniors we polled, prescription drugs wasn’t even one of their top five concerns. It’s not a winning issue for the Republicans because seniors can’t get excited about something that doesn’t take effect until 2006.”
Neither candidate on Wednesday fully exploited a winning health care issue, the pollster added, and Kerry’s numbers may falter within the next two weeks.
“If the president follows up on his support for importing drugs from Canada, I think that will make a huge difference in South Florida,” Towery said. “In the second debate, the president said, ‘If they’re safe, they’re coming.’ I bet a lot of GOP policy advisors fell over in their chairs when he said that, just as Democrat advisors fell over when Kerry didn’t talk about stem cell research in the last debate. Stem cell research is a disaster for the Republicans, but Kerry didn’t say a word about it.”
Strategic Vision, which also polled voters in other states, found Kerry yesterday picking up four points in Wisconsin and Iowa – and five points in Ohio.
“Senior citizens in Pennsylvania and Florida were least affected by the debate,” said Johnson, whose company has an office in Tallahassee. “Florida’s undecided seniors are still undecided.”
Florida’s spokeswoman for the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), a non-partisan senior advocacy group, said 89 percent of her organization’s 2.7 million members plan to vote on Nov. 2.
“Health care, local phone rates, long-term care, social security and Medicare prescription drugs,” said Kathy Marma. “Those are the big health care issues.”
Meanwhile, senior citizens in the Palm Beach area yesterday were either sharply polarized or stubbornly undecided regarding the election.
A source at the Mae Volen Senior Center in Boca Raton, the lead agency for senior care in south Palm Beach County, said many of her clients remain in “a state of confusion.”
“Our seniors are very much in favor of Bush, very much in favor of Kerry, or very much frustrated and confused,” said Brenda K. Bryant, 57, Mae Volen vice president. “Concerns include prescription drug costs, health care costs and access to HMOs. Stem cell research is an issue for those who understand it. Many didn’t find the debates informative, and probably won’t make up their minds until they’re inside a voting booth.”
Area political players disagreed sharply over whether health care will trump terrorism as an issue for Florida’s seniors.
“The biggest issue for Florida’s seniors and for many families is health care,” said Sen. Ron Klein, the state senate’s Democratic leader. “The cost of health care in Florida is putting a drag on our economy, because employers cannot afford to hire people when premiums go up every year. For the senior population, the cost of prescription drugs and the fact they can’t buy them from Canada and the holes in Medicare coverage. We’ve got veterans who are very unhappy with the cutbacks in veterans’ benefits.”
Klein joined area Democrats yesterday in unveiling two aggressive TV ads which fault President Bush for the high cost of health insurance and prescription drugs. The ads will run this weekend in the Palm Beach County Area.
But the chairman of the Palm Beach County Republicans, dismissing the ad campaign, said he thinks health care is a secondary issue for seniors.
“The number one issue for seniors is being safe,” Sid Dinerstein said. “It doesn’t matter who pays for your prescription drugs if terrorists are flying into buildings. Regardless, we’re in great shape on health care because everyone knows where President Bush stands. He’s not a flip-flopper.”

Link: http://www.bocaratonnews.com/index.php?src...0News&prid=9844

[sherilocks]

1. If seniors are worried about health-care why

does the * campaign advertise every other minute on every station their stupid ad with the organization chart of government agencies. If you haven't seen it, it's a pack of lies about John Kerry's health plan and it's run endlessly here in Florida.

Line from the Boca Raton news article:

<snip>

But the chairman of the Palm Beach County Republicans, dismissing the ad campaign, said he thinks health care is a secondary issue for seniors.

<snip>

[montana500]

2. maybe nm

nm