responses part 2
abcity84
week5.docx
State: Florida
Electoral Votes: 29
Issues: “Florida has a large, diverse and transient population..” (Farrington) Florida contains a large Hispanic population which normally votes Democratic. The state of Florida is also home to a lot of retirees which are usually split between Democrats and Republicans. The retirees are going to focus on pensions, healthcare and state funded aid, while Hispanics want to focus on healthcare and immigration laws.
Key Groups: Retirees and non-Hispanic Whites
Voting History: (270towin.com)
2012- Democratic
2008- Democratic
2004- Republican
2000- Republican
1996- Democratic
Demographic Breakdown:
White- 75%
African American- 16%
Hispanic- 6.5%
“Based on the 2010 Census, Hispanics represent about 22.5% of Florida’s population.” (edr.state.fl.us)
In order to win the state of Florida I would put a lot of focus into immigration laws and helping the minorities get out of poverty. “Florida’s minority percentage of the population is 42.1%.” (edr.state.fl.us) I would put a lot of focus on Social Security and Healthcare (Obamacare) because I know money and healthcare are two of the biggest concerns for retirees. “17.6% of Florida’s population is aged 65 and over.” (infoplease.com) 17.6% is a lot of people to have with the same mind set and the same way of thinking, so you need to appease them.
State: Virginia
Electoral Votes: 13
Issues: The main issue that Virginia faces is unemployment. Virginia’s unemployment rate currently sits at 4.8%. (bls.gov) One of the major employers for the state of Virginia is the defense industry, which makes federal money very important to the state’s economic performance. (Hartfield)
Key Groups: Minority groups and Young College Graduates
Voting History
2012- Democratic
2008- Democratic
2004- Republican
2000- Republican
1996- Democratic
Demographic Breakdown:
White- 71.3%
Black- 19.8%
Asian- 5.8%
Hispanic- 8.2%
In order to win the state of Virginia I would have to focus on creating jobs and getting federal funding to support defense jobs. I would also focus on higher education and student loan debt due to the large population of young college graduates.
“A swing state in American Politics is one that has a high probability of tipping the balance presidential elections in favor of one candidate.” (Murse) Swing states are states in which the voters will alternatively switch between supporting Democrats and Republicans during Presidential elections. Swing States are important during Presidential elections because the political parties have no idea which way the states vote is going to “swing.” LOL “There were more blue states than red states in the U.S. in 2012 by a margin of 20 to 12. (Saad) I think that the swing states will be the closest races during the next presidential election. The only thing that the candidates can do in order to win these states over is focus on the Demographics and appease to their needs. I think that candidates will focus more strongly on swing states from start to finish of the campaigning process in order to lock in the voters. The Primaries and caucuses will be held throughout 2016. I think that some states vote a certain way or same way all the time due to the fact that they are used to how their state is run. If that particular state focuses on Obamacare and Democratic characteristics and the people grow up in that environment they are going to continue vote that way.
Farrington, Brenda. Florida’s Population makes It a Swing State. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/12/population-florida-swing-state-election_n_1962075.html
www.270towin.com. Florida. http://www.270towin.com/states/Florida
The Florida Legislature. Florida: Demographics. http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/presentations/population-demographics/DemographicOverview_4-20-11.pdf
Murse, Tom. What is a Swing State? http://uspolitics.about.com/od/glossary/a/What-Is-A-Swing-State.htm
BLS.Gov. Virginia Unemployment Rate. http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.va.htm
Hartfield, Elizabeth. Battleground: Will Virginia Stay with Obama? http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/virginia-swing-voters/story?id=17589979
Saad, Lydia. In the U.S. Blue States Outnumber Red States, 20 to 12. http://www.gallup.com/poll/160175/blue-states-outnumber-red-states.aspx
StateElectoral Votes
Nevada4
New Hampshire4
Iowa7
Colorado 8
Wisconsin11
Virginia13
North Carolina14
Ohio21
Florida25
