Republicans can't win without Florida. Just sayin'.
From the great state of Connecticut, and the eggheads at Quinnipiac:
President Barack Obama's job approval rating in Florida is 51 - 43 percent approve, a jump from his negative 44 - 52 percent score April 7, before the killing of Osama bin Laden, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
President Obama's improved job rating in Florida is largely due to a big swing among independent voters, from a negative 39 - 55 percent April 7 to a split 47 - 45 percent today. Democrats now approve of the president's performance 86 - 11 percent compared to 79 - 16 percent in April. Republicans disapprove 84 - 13 percent, unchanged from April.
Men split 49 - 47 percent now compared to a negative 38 - 58 percent then, and women approve 53 - 40 percent now compared to 49 - 46 percent then.
"Whether these numbers represent a 'bin Laden bounce,' President Barack Obama's popularity is up in Florida, which will be a crucial state for him in the 2012 campaign," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "The good news for the president is that by 50 - 44 percent Florida voters say Obama deserves a second term in the Oval Office, compared to April when they said 51 - 42 percent that he did not."
I wonder, though. We just saw a Republican district go Democrat because of the Medicare issue. The key thing there being that the district skewed older, and old people loooove the Medicare. You know what else old people love? Living in Florida.
Unfortunately, Q didn't break the crosstabs down by age, so my hunch remains just that until I can track them down, or until someone else polls Florida. But if I'm a Republican (and in 35 years, statistics say I will be), I'm keeping an eye on this as another potential fallout zone for the Ryan budget battle.