Despite superficial appearances and popular prejudice, Florida actually has a plurality of registered Democrats, five millions of them to the Republican's four millions.

The seeming Republican advantage in Florida is that "Independents" are a little less than three million, and currently represent the "swing vote."

Many Independents are Libertarians, many (perhaps most) of whom have no interest in State-enforced morality, nor in State protection of bigots, although they also tend to be fiscal conservatives, so can be swayed by carefully-crafted campaigns in which the fiscal conservative platforms of the party are played up and the social conservative aspects played down.

The "tea-bagging" right-wing, who seem to be calling the shots with party leadership, have ticked off a lot of the Libertarian and fiscal-conservative base, so the partisan threats mentioned in the article may not have as much weight as they used to carry. Florida is heavily "Hispanic," and many of Spanish-speaking ancestry have been alarmed by what appear to be racist statements made by many on the far right, so the Republican "Red-State" picture many have of Florida may be turning distinctly purplish these days, perhaps even royal blue.

Cheers,

Puddin'