Big, big news out of Florida today: The state's most conservative daily newspaper, the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, where McCain used to live, announced today that it will NOT endorse John McCain. The paper could not bring itself to endorse Obama, so it has decided to not make an endorsement. But trust me, that fact that the Times-Union is not backing up McCain is significant here. It's one of many stunning signs over the past few days of how the growing rift between the Florida Republican Party and the McCain campaign has widened into a gaping chasm, with more and more GOP insiders lashing out publicly against McCain's campaign for being "poorly run" and "Dukakis-like" -- FL GOPers have even decided to not waste all their money on McCain.
For some reason there is not yet a link on the Times-Union website, but this morning the political editor of the St. Petersburg Times reported the news about the Times-Union's non-endorsement:
Florida's most conservative major daily today today announced it would not endorse in the presidential race. Despite John McCain being a former resident of the area, the divided editorial board declared, "It's your call" and said mostly nice things about McCain and Barack Obama.
Wow, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of THAT editorial board meeting. Seriously, I would have thought that the paper would have been totally "in the tank" for McCain. The fact that they told readers it's "your call" speaks volumes.
It turns out that one big concern for the Times-Union regarding McCain is -- you guessed it -- Sarah Palin:
"The selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate is one example of a questionable decision, when a far more qualified candidate like Mitt Romney would be more useful during this economic crisis," the paper said of McCain, whom most people would have expected to be a lock for the T-U nod.
The fact that this paper praises Mitt Romney (!) gives you some idea of why most people would have expected a Times-Union endorsement for McCain. The Times-Union non-endorsement of McCain is one more sign of Florida Republicans' growing dissatisfaction with how McCain is campaigning, or not, in this state. The friction went public several weeks ago, and things have only gotten worse.
Yesterday the Orlando Sentinel reported, for example, that many Florida GOP insiders say McCain has "botched" his campaign to win Florida:
Troubled by sliding poll numbers, GOP loyalists here -- many of whom met in Orlando on Saturday for a presidential "victory rally" -- wonder whether the national campaign has taken the state for granted.
"My question would be, 'What campaign?' I just don't see one," said Bill Negron, an Orlando member of McCain's regional Hispanic steering committee. "To me, it looks like people are working hard to ensure that McCain doesn't get elected."
The article includes many brutal assessments like that of the McCain campaign, which are stunning in that GOP leaders are so willing to say them so publicly and powerfully so close to the election. It's a sign that they are really pissed off.
One who has advised the McCain organization called it the "most poorly run presidential campaign of the last 25 years. It's truly Dukakis-like," referring to the hapless 1988 campaign of Democrat Michael Dukakis.
"They have absolutely no strategy for winning," said the veteran operative, who did not want to be identified criticizing a candidate he supports. "I see . . . no rhyme or reason to this campaign or its scheduling or its planning."
Florida Republicans say that McCain's campaign is much less organized in the state than Bush's campaigns were, and they are looking jealously at Obama's operation here.
Bush's 2004 effort is legendary for its message discipline and attention to detail. Despite predictions that the race would be tight in Florida, Bush beat Sen. John Kerry with relative ease. Four years later, McCain has seemed unable to duplicate that precision.
"Quite frankly, Obama's used the model more successfully," said Jamie Miller, a former state-party regional director. Miller said volunteers he has spoken with wonder whether a final push by McCain "may be too little, too late."
In another shocking sign of the worsening rift between the Florida Republican Party and the McCain campaign, the St. Petersburg Times reports that the state party has decided to not spend all its money on McCain's sinking fortunes:
Florida Republicans already are looking ahead to 2010 when Crist runs for re-election. State party officials announced to their state executive committee Saturday that they expect to carry over at least $2-million into 2009, rather than spend all their money on this election.
Crist is not expected to have a tough re-election, so this looks really bad. Jonathan Martin at Politico has a bit more on this Republican feud:
The news came on the same day that Crist was explaining why he hadn't appeared in any ads for McCain in the state.
"I haven't been asked," Crist explained to the Miami Herald's Mary Ellen Klas.
Although all this Republian in-fighting is delicious schadenfreude, it really is beside the point. Today the final numbers were revealed showing that Democrats head into the election with 657,775 more voters in Florida than Republicans, having added more than 200,000 voters just since July. Four years ago, the Dems' advantage was 368,757.
But we now have to get people out to vote. Early voting starts today in Florida. Obama will be here in Tampa today for a rally, and he'll join Hillary in Orlando this evening for another rally to kick-off early voting. If you can help in any way with GOTV efforts in Florida, please do. Me, I'm about to head off to vote for Barack Obama.
UPDATE:
Here's a PDF list of Florida's early voting sites (H/T distraught)