Hillary Clinton was in Broward and Barack Obama is expected in Miami Tuesday as the Democrats draw big crowds.
BY BETH REINHARD AND JENNIFER LEBOVICH Posted on Tuesday, 10.21.08
ORLANDO -- With some Florida polls showing the presidential race tightening in the final fortnight, Democratic nominee Barack Obama tried to lock down the nation's largest battleground state with a flurry of early-voting pep rallies and a coast-to-coast tour that wraps up Tuesday night in the heart of downtown Miami.
Knowing Florida's soft spot for Hillary Clinton, Obama dispatched her to the Democratic stronghold of Broward County on Monday and joined her later that day in a rare joint appearance here in Central Florida. Republican John McCain follows them to the state's most contested region later this week, with a visit to Sarasota Thursday.
Until then, the Obama campaign is counting on the image of the first black presidential nominee standing arm in arm with the nation's most successful female politician in front of tens of thousands of people to resonate as a powerful show of Democratic unity.
Though Obama has led in most statewide polls since late September, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Monday showed McCain with 49 percent of the vote, compared to Obama with 48 percent. The poll found also voters split down the middle on which candidate they trust to fix the economy, a pivotal issue in a state leading in jobs lost and running second in foreclosures.
'At this rate, the question isn't `Are you better off than you were four years ago?' '' Obama said, in both Tampa and Orlando. 'It's `Are you better off than you were four weeks ago?' ''
CRITICIZED GOP
Obama also decried the Republican Party's negative tactics by pointing to remarks that McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, made Sunday about the GOP's nationwide blitz of automated anti-Obama calls. Palin described calls made by both sides as ''draining'' and said she wished she could spend more time talking to voters in person.
''It's getting so bad that even Senator McCain's running mate denounced his tactics last night,'' Obama said. ``As you know, you really have to work hard to violate Governor Palin's standards on negative campaigning.''
The McCain campaign issued a response that said Obama ''completely mischaracterized her position.'' Campaign officials also went after Obama for his record-setting fundraising, arguing he should go farther than federal law requires and post information about donors who give less than $200.
In a telephone call with reporters in Florida and other states, McCain's political director, Mike DuHaime, said Obama was trying to ``buy the election . . . to run up the score and early vote.''
The Obama campaign has made no secret of its goal to send voters to the polls in droves before Nov. 4., and the visit to Florida was timed to coincide with the start of early voting. Michelle Obama will carry the early-voting pitch across North Florida this week, while Gov. Bill Richardson will hit predominantly Hispanic communities across the state.
Obama is also blanketing the airwaves, having spent $4.2 million on television ads over the past week, compared to the $1.1 million spent by McCain, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG.
But perhaps the nominee's most valuable messenger in Florida is his former nemesis, Clinton, who resoundingly won the state's Democratic primary. Citing estimates by law enforcement officials, the Obama campaign pegged the crowd in Orlando at 50,000 -- the largest at a modern-day Democratic campaign event in Florida.
With the sun setting and the weather starting to feel like autumn, the crowd spilled over the steps of the Amway Arena, through the massive parking lot and into the streets.
''Now is the time to close the deal for Barack Obama and close the book on eight years of failed Republican leadership,'' Clinton said.
In Fort Lauderdale, the crowd endured a steady drizzle to see Clinton. Lisa Taylor, a Cooper City massage therapist, was among dozens of middle-aged women who made it clear why they had come to the rally.
''Hillary was my first choice,'' Taylor said. ``But I'm with Obama. I didn't come to him right away. But I guess you could call this my way of formally accepting him. My biggest concern is healthcare, and I don't see McCain coming anywhere close to Hillary's plan.''
Earlier Monday at a Tampa minor league baseball park, Obama enjoyed another well-received, celebrity-esque introduction. He shook hands with and hugged members of the Tampa Bay Rays, one day after they won an improbable spot in the World Series.
''When you see a White Sox fan showing love to the Rays and the Rays showing love back, we're onto something right here,'' Obama said.
BELLWETHER
Surrounding Hillsborough County serves as one of the state's most reliable political barometers and has picked the candidate who would win Florida since 1976. ''I think he should spend some more time here to get more votes,'' said Monique Jessurun, 47. ``In my neighborhood I see a lot of other signs.''
Along with Democratic governors from Michigan, Ohio and Colorado, Obama will continue to pitch his economic plan in Lake Worth on Tuesday. He plans to end the day with a rally in Bicentennial Park with his wife.
While Obama is targeting states like Florida that shunned the Democratic nominee in recent elections, McCain finds himself trying to shore up support in states that have been friendly to the GOP. Daughter Meghan McCain campaigned Monday in Central Florida, while U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman met with McCain supporters in Jacksonville.
McCain campaigned Monday in Missouri, where he took aim at Obama, telling the crowd: ``Show us that you understand and see a liberal when he's standing out there in front of you. Make sure you show America that it does matter that you keep your word if you're president of the United States.''
Obama heads to Hawaii Thursday to see his ailing grandmother.
Miami Herald staff writers James H. Burnett III, Marc Caputo and Mary Ellen Klas contributed to this report.
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