For my taste Guliani has a lot of support in the state, his personal approval rating stands at 60%.  I hope he gets cut down to size (and his negatives are brought up a lot) in the primary season.  If not, he would be a very formidable candidate, hard to beat nationally with his cross-over appeal.

Most folks I talk to here in the Tampa Bay area who voted for Bush have abandoned the GOP completely at this point.  Even Crist could easily be a centrist Democrat, the way he campaigned and has governed so far.  He ushered along and passed a massive insurance overhaul written by Democratic lawmakers through the state legislature (which is heavily GOP) that was last year attacked as "socialism" by the same GOPers who just a week ago signed onto it.

The state is definitely turning blue, but it is at heart a more moderate landscape than in other states.   The state has always had more registered Democrats than Republicans, but party affiliation has changed more dramatically towards the Democrats this past year.   This particular poll interviewed exactly as many GOPers as it did Democrats, which actually tells me that the true numbers, given current party demographics, are actually even worse for Republicans than this poll shows.      

I'm a Floridian, and I can't agree that Florida is turning blue.  True, it is the purplest of the Southern red states, but its underlying hue has shifted to a bright crimson, especially since 9/11.  The Democratic Party is very weak, and we are virtually shut out of state government.  I fear that the 2010 redistricting will deliver several more Republican congressmen to Washington - a gerrymander egregious enough to rival Texas - unless we focus on getting nonpartisan redistricting on the ballot as a constitutional amendment for 2008.

I wouldn't put too much stock in presidential polling for Florida.  Kerry was ahead by a couple of points going into Election Day, and he lost the state handily.  As a Floridian deeply committed to electing a Democratic president in 2008, I would urge the Democratic nominee to abandon Florida and take that money to blitz Ohio. Florida has a Republican Secretary of State; in Ohio, a Democrat holds that office.  I don't think much of a history lesson is needed to show just how important that fact is.

Campaigned almost center-left.  Maybe he will govern that way too.  He's a smart dude.

I have to agree with the first post - after working there for over a year, it's hardly ready for the taking.

The party ran virtually no coordinated campaign last cycle and built very little. Folks were excited about the party's growth, but unfortunately, I don't think things ever took off.

The Republican party is just a machine, with 20+ full time staff, and active financial and political networks.

The Dem party for years was virtually non existent, and it's going to take a long time to fix that, and the party didn't make up much ground this last year.

To win, the presidentials will have to fight hard, and invest early to get Florida moving again. I don't understand why the DNC hasn't invested - Florida shouldn't be treated any differently than any of the red states that Dean has invested in, for significant gains.

I just want to compliment this site on a non-Edwards thread

Running off memory here, but didn't the last ED and head of the state party really do a lot of work to begin to turn things around for the state dem party in florida, the first step? The ED is now Biden's campaign manager too if memory serves.

It occurs to me that it is very important to ensure that Katherine Harris keeps running for things. Is there a statewide race in 08 we can draft her for?

22 more months of Florida hype!

Nevermind that if the election is close and Florida is a factor in 2008, then somebody messed up on our side. ;)

I want to be clear that I support Gov. Dean's 50 state plan and that we shouldn't adbandon any state especially not during the first presidental election since the plan was started. People pay the most attention to politics during presidential elections so I think it follows that during presidental elections is the best time to get your message out - perhaps especailly to those places that have long been neglected by Democrats.

At the same time, I do think it only makes sense to focus more strongly on some states as opposed to others. Perhaps a certain amount of basic support and attention everywhere and then stronger support in areas that are of particular importance and/or that are showing signs of improvement or that are slipping backwards.

I would have expected that this was already happening and indeed I've heard a lot of good early work being done in Ohio before the last election to build a grassroots organisation there, but I've not heard the same about Florida.

Can anyone give any insight on the situation in Florida? I've only heard bad things about the party there. If anyone could provide insight on big improvements in other emerging battlegrounds that would be cool too.