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Sunday, May 19, 2013 | 12:31 a.m.

Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider

Posted: 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Now On To....Florida? 

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By Jamie Dupree

Yes, with primaries still left in Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton today will be stocking up on frequent flier miles as they meet with voters in Florida.  That's no typo.

When Barack Obama announced last week that he would be going to Florida for several days of campaigning, it was understood that the soon-to-be-proclaimed Democratic nominee was looking to the General election in November.

He needed to spend some time in Florida, because he hadn't been there since August of 2007, when he was seen as some Rookie Senator from Illinois who was going to get fed to the wolves, namely Hillary Clinton.

But, along the way, the underdog upset the unbeatable one, and so after doing no campaigning in Florida to satisfy the national Democratic Party, Obama will now spend three days in the Sunshine State, trying to mend fences and bring people over to his side.

But like the ex-girlfriend who doesn't want to believe that she's been dumped, Hillary Clinton has also made plans to campaign in Florida, though right now it doesn't look like she's going to crash any Obama events (that might make for a great story!)

Obama starts off his Florida tour in Tampa, where he'll likely chalk up another giant crowd of around 20,000 people, as he reaches out to the swing voters in the I-4 corridor between the Tampa Bay area and Daytona Beach.

Clinton meanwhile, will go to her strength in South Florida, as she has events in Boca Raton, Sunrise and Coral Gables. 

Clinton "won" the Florida Primary with just under 50% of the vote to Obama's 32%.  John Edwards got 14% and dropped out of the race the next day.

Of course, Florida and Michigan have been at the center of a dispute over how their delegations should be seated at the Democratic convention, because their states ignored the rules of the Democratic National Committee and moved their primary up too far on the calendar.

Let's remind ourselves that even if Michigan and Florida were counted on Hillary's terms, she still wouldn't be in the lead of the Democratic race.

But it might have changed the intangibles if those vote totals were included.

She'll get to make that case repeatedly today, but in the end, it won't matter.



 
 
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