Incredibly LOW Voter Turnout Today In South Florida (Bad News For Katherine Harris?)

I voted less than an hour ago. When I entered my polling station, I was the ONLY voter in there. On my way out I remarked that the turnout seemed light and guessed only a hundred folks had voted there up until then. The poll worker then told me I was number 14 voting today. I thought she was kidding but she assured me she was not. Since I figure my precinct must have at least a couple of thousand registered voters, I figure there will be only a about a 2 percent turnout.

One reason for the low turnout is that today follows Labor Day, not exactly a great day to schedule an election. Also it has been raining a lot all day. On top of that the Palmetto Freeway has been closed down Northbound in northern Dade County due to a gasoline spill from a truck.

So how does that bode for the prospects of Katherine Harris? Not good. The main reason that I voted today was to cast a ballot for Leroy Collins. Why? Well, just as the tail end of the Collins radio commercials have been saying: "SHE CAN'T WIN!!!"

If Collins wins the primary, whoever produced that radio commercial should win an award for creativity. I first heard the Collins radio commercial last week. The first part of it is like any other forgettable political commercial which lists the attributes of the candidate. I can't even tell you what was said. However, it was the woman yelling loudly at the end that got my attention: "SHE CAN'T WIN!!!" Not only did it make me laugh but I actually looked forward to hearing it again.

So why did I cast my ballot for Collins instead of McBride? The biggest reason is that McBride was MIA. I have heard zip from him. Hey, if he was serious about running then he should have made some sort of EFFORT. Therefore I went with Collins because he made an effort with that BRILLIANT radio commercial. Hopefully, if he wins, that creativity will be used in the campaign against Bill Nelson.

Motivation will count for a lot today in who votes and IMHO, ensuring that a WINNABLE Senatorial candidate is nominated will be a motive for those battling the lousy weather and heavy traffic today.

>>"If Rep. Harris had only one opponent she might be in deep trouble. But having three candidates splitting the anti-Harris vote is a major plus for her," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

I find the above conclusion to be highly biased !

"So she's sitting on a 16-point lead a week before the voting in a race where there has been little movement - all in all, a good place to be."

"Harris has a cadre of strong supporters that might be especially important in what is expected to be a relatively low-turnout primary. Only a third of her supporters say they might change their mind and vote for one of the other candidates," Brown added.

But even among likely primary voters - the GOP hardcore - she has higher negatives than might be expected for a candidate for statewide office. Only 36 percent of likely primary voters rate her favorably, while 25 percent view her unfavorably; 22 percent have a mixed opinion and 14 percent say they haven't heard enough about her to form an opinion. Each of her three opponents are so little known that none has more than 18 percent rating him favorably.

By comparison, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, who leads the race for the party's gubernatorial nomination, is viewed favorably by 51 percent, negatively by 11 percent. Even Tom Gallagher, who is trailing Crist by more than 20 points in the latest Quinnipiac University poll, is viewed favorably by 32 percent, unfavorably by 17 percent.

From August 23 - 28, Quinnipiac University surveyed 317 Florida likely Republican primary voters, with a margin of error of +/- 5.5 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and the nation as a public service and for research. For additional data-www.quinnipiac.edu and quicklinks

7. (If registered Republican) If the 2006 Republican primary for United States Senator were being held today and the candidates were Katherine Harris, LeRoy Collins Jr., Peter Monroe and William McBride for whom would you vote? (If undecided q7) As of today, do you lean more toward Harris, Collins Jr., Monroe or McBride? This table includes Leaners.

LIKELY REPUBLICAN
PRIMARY VOTERS

Harris 38%
Collins Jr. 11
Monroe 3
McBride 22
SMONE ELSE(VOL) 1
WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) -
DK/NA 24

I find their information questionable !

I find their information questionable !

When a candidate with very high name ID cannot get a majority of the vote in the primary despite being challenged by unknowns, it it not a good sign. Had only one viable candidate challenged Mrs. Harris, there certainly is the possibility that Governor Bush and and many others would have gotten behind that person.

All of that is irrelevant now. It is important for everyone to get behind the Republican ticket 100%. Even if your preferred candidate didn't win in one of the races, it is important to work for the party's Get Out The Vote effort, which will help all candidates.

>> When a candidate with very high name ID cannot get a majority of the vote in the primary despite being challenged by unknowns, it it not a good sign. Had only one viable candidate challenged Mrs. Harris, there certainly is the possibility that Governor Bush and and many others would have gotten behind that person.

All of that is irrelevant now. It is important for everyone to get behind the Republican ticket 100%. Even if your preferred candidate didn't win in one of the races, it is important to work for the party's Get Out The Vote effort, which will help all candidates.<<

She clearly won the primary, so obviusly we should get behind Harris, win or lose !

I also support Spencer of Yonkers NY in his struggle to win the Senate seat now occupied by Hillary !

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