Here's a little-noticed item from today's coverage of yesterday's primaries, courtesy of Miami Herald:
More than one in five Florida Democrats who showed up at the polls voted not for Kerry but for rivals who left the race days and weeks ago but remained on the presidential preference ballot -- raising questions about Kerry's ability to fire up the base in a key state.
Nearly 10 percent backed North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who ended his presidential bid last week after impressing many Democrats with an upbeat, populist style but winning just one primary.
Edwards' lingering strength in Florida -- and the three other states, where he finished with similar numbers -- could be the result of early voting and absentee balloting that took place before he dropped out.
But Kerry strategists are likely to take note that Edwards performed particularly well Tuesday in the same moderate swing regions of Florida that could decide the election this year as they did four years ago: 17 percent in Nassau County near Jacksonville, 16 percent in Escambia County in the Panhandle and 12 percent in Orange County in the heart of the Interstate 4 corridor.
Exit polling conducted for The Associated Press showed that nearly half of Florida Democrats who voted Tuesday want Kerry to pick Edwards as his running mate -- compared to just 20 percent who said they want their own retiring senior senator, Bob Graham, on the ticket.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/8148673.htm