Just six days away from election, Florida has once again emerged as the make-or-break battleground state, as both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump make whirlwind trips to the state and pour millions of dollars into ads in order to secure its prized 29 electoral votes.
One of the most racially and ethnically diverse states in the United States, Florida’s population comprises 60.1 percent Whites, 20 percent Hispanics or Latinos, 17 percent African Americans and 2.1 percent Asian Americans.
On Wednesday the latest CNN/ORC poll saw Clinton slightly ahead with 49% support among likely voters versus Trump’s at 47%.
Adding to the suspenseful political landscape of the Sunshine State is a mix of the evolving trends: Black voters’ turnout so far is down to 15 percent from 25 percent in 2011; Hispanic turnout is up from 9.4 percent in 2008 to 14 percent; Millennials, generally favoring Clinton, have cast just 52 percent of the 2012 vote so far; and three million Floridan voters are not registered as Democrats or Republicans.
The state is witnessing a convergence of political star power figures with President Barack Obama scheduled to appear in Raleigh late Wednesday and Jacksonville and Miami on Thursday.Vice President is touring Florida in his first appearance to campaign for Hillary Clinton. He will also stop in Palm Beach as Democrats race to encourage citizens to take advantage of early voting.
According to Politico, by Monday morning the State had around 3.7 million absentee and in-person early ballots cast, splitting almost equally between two major parties, 40.5 percent Republicans and 40.2 percent Democrats.
Both Clinton and Trump have been making frequent trips and stops through the state. The stakes for Trump are particularly high in Florida as sans Florida’s rich electoral prize, it looks difficult for the billionire businessman to carve out a victory path in the tight White House race.
Meanwhile, a News-Press.com report says on Wednesday Donald Trump will blitz through Miami, Orlando, and Pensacola.
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, will be reaching out to voters in Las Vegas, Nevada and Tempe, Arizona.
By Tuesday, the news story says, Trump had made 23 campaign stops in Florida, while Hillary Clinton had undertaken 18 visits.
Early voting has generally been up, according to reports.
However, it is the unaffiliated or independent citizens who do not ally themselves with either Democrats or Republicans are likely to hold sway over the ultimate outcome of Florida vote.
A report in Heavy.com cites Election Smith as detecting a newfound soaring voting trend among unallied voters. Around 34 percent of unaffiliated voters who have cast their ballot early in 2016 did not vote at all in 2012, it says. Heavy.com also refers to findings of a recent Remington Research poll, which found that 49 percent of those without a party affiliation said they were inclined to vote for Donald Trump while in comparison 36 percent chose to favor Hillary Clinton.
Democrats have been hoping to cash in on Trump’s outbursts against Mexicans and other immigrants in the state but lately another probe into Clinton aide’s computer to judge whether they are linked to her private emails as secretary of state have hurt her standing.
As things stand now, it appears that turnout among African American voters and political choice of independent and unaffiliated citizens will contribute significantly to determining which way Florida goes, and with it perhaps the 2016 election.
