Yesterday was a big day for the Sunshine State. Both candidates were campaigning in Florida with Sen. Obama visiting the Bay Area and Sen. McCain in Orlando. Sen. Obama was heckled at his town hall meeting in St. Petersberg by members of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, a pan-African Socialist group. (The Obama campaign responded by thanking the group and blasting undecided voters inboxes with a memo titled, "Jesse's not the only one: More lefty black folks that hate me.") Meanwhile, McCain yukked it up with National Urban League in an attempt to cut into Obama's base.
The visits also happened to coincide with a report that Florida is in a recession for the first time in 16 years.
Ambinder speculated about whether today's Florida headlines would focus on economics or race and that a move in one direction would indicate whether the "race card" attack was taking hold.
The Protocol looked at today's front pages of the top five Florida newspapers (by circulation) and is ready to deliver a verdict . . .
St. Petersburg Times circ. 422,410
The Times leads with "Obama open to drilling" with a large picture of him smiling among supporters. The picture of Obama dominates a smaller picture of McCain joking with National Urban League President Marc Morial. With economics front and center particularly Obama's move toward drilling, an issue that the McCain campaign wanted to wedge between the two candidates, this front page is favorable to the Democrat. Papers commonly give favorable coverage to any visiting candidate and that phenomenon is borne out by the contrasting front pages of the St. Pete Times and the Orlando Sentinel. Obama's visit focused on the Bay Area and McCain's centered on Orlando. ADVANTAGE OBAMA
Miami Herald circ. 390,171
The Herald provides equal visual coverage under the headline "Florida Showdown." In the article, however, the body starts with racial issues, hecklers included, and this after a lede that set up the economy before the racial issues ("...offering contrasting fixes for the economy while confronting racial issues"). That subtle mismatch smacks of an editor flipping the body paragraphs before going to press. Burying the economic news after the jump: ADVANTAGE MCCAIN
Orlando Sentinel circ. 341,025
The Sentinel headlines with "MCCAIN: OBAMA NOT BEST PICK FOR BLACKS," and a picture of Sen. McCain and National Urban League President Marc Morial having a good ole time onstage. If a picture is worth 1000 words, then this one is repeating "Playing the race card? Me? John McCain? How could I?" about a hundred times. Again, the soft coverage of McCain could be due to the fact that he was the candidate with a higher profile local visit. ADVANTAGE MCCAIN
South Florida Sun-Sentinel circ. 339,728
The Sun-Sentinel had nothing on the front page about the candidates save for a small photo of McCain at the bottom in the Daily Digest referring to reader mail about his rejected NYT editorial. Above the fold they ran a story on the aforementioned recession. They were the only paper on this list with that story on the front page and the only paper with no front-page story on the candidates. ADVANTAGE OBAMA
Tampa Tribune and Times circ. 309,916
The Tampa Tribune focuses on the battle and gives equal coverage to both candidates. There is no mention of race and the text highlights the main theme of each candidate's visit: Obama's economic stimulus plan and McCain's school vouchers strategy. While the issues and the economy trump race on this page the coverage seems even-handed. NO ADVANTAGE
Sooooo, that's two for Obama and two for McCain with one tie. Looks like both campaigns are getting their message out in equal measure. Keep an eye on those Sunday papers to see if there is any movement toward race or economics.
The Protocol always buries the lede below the fold.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Florida Front Pages
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Swingtown, USA: Clearwater, FL
Welcome:
Clearwater is the county seat of Pinellas County, located on the Pinellas Peninsula between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The town is named after a fresh water spring flowing from near where City Hall is located today. Pinellas is named for the Spanish Punta Pinal, or "Point of Pines."
The city is the smallest of the three principal cities in the Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater metropolitan area. The Tampa metro area with a population of 2.7 million people is the second largest in Florida and the third largest in the Southeastern US.
By the Numbers:
According to the US Census, the 2006 population estimate for Clearwater was 107,742, down from 108,787 in 2000. The 2006 estimated population for Pinellas County was 924,413, up from 921,482 in 2000. Clearwater is 84% white, and 10% African-American. Persons of Hispanic or Latino descent make up 9% of the population. In 2006, the per capita income for the city was $25,126.
Bush won Pinellas County by 246 votes in 2004: 225,686 to Kerry's 225,460. In Pinellas County's Republican Primary, McCain won 37.5% of the vote, Romney won 30%, Giuliani won 16.5%, Huckabee won 10.5%, and Paul won 4%. In the invalid Democratic Primary Clinton won 52% to Obama's 33%, with Edwards tallying 12%.
Presently in Pinellas County there are 235,960 registered Democrats, 233,708 registered Republicans, and 149,274 voters registered as Other. In 2004, there were 223,544 registered Democrats, 231,652 registered Republicans, and 135,793 registered Other.
Fun Facts!
The area was originally settled in 1835 when Fort Harrison was built overlooking Clearwater Harbor to serve as an outpost for the US Army during the Seminole Wars.
During WWII, Clearwater became a major training base for troops headed to Europe and the Pacific. Most of the hotels in the area served as barracks for the troops and nighttime blackouts were common to confuse potential enemy bombers.
Clearwater Beach is consistently ranked among the top beaches in the nation.
The Belleview Biltmore Resort and Spa, built in 1897, is the oldest occupied wooden building still used for its original purpose. And it has ghosts.
The worldwide "spiritual headquarters" of the Church of Scientology is in Clearwater. This international HQ, founded in the late 70s, is known as Flag Land Base in the official parlance of the pseudo-religion.
Evel Knievel lived in Clearwater when he died and Hulk Hogan maintains an estate in nearby Belleair a beach house in Clearwater Beach.
Your local news source: Clearwater Citizen, Clearwater Gazette
The following chart shows the five smallest vote margins among Pinellas County precincts in the 2004 General Election.
Precincts
Vote Margin (in # of votes)
St. Petersburg 252
Bush +1
Clearwater 503
Kerry +2
Clearwater 603
Bush +2
Pinellas Park 191
Kerry +3
Clearwater 636
Kerry +3
Swingtown, USA is a regular feature on the Protocol where we introduce readers to a city or town from a swing county in a swing state.