I was all prepared to write a little bit about recent handicapping (as in horse race) in the Florida Gubernatorial race, when this little headline showed that Florida is well on its way to being the next Florida:
Glitch leaves some Broward residents with wrong voting ID card
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/14672866.htm

Seems that anyone in two zip codes whose name begins with A or B got someone else’s voter ID card. Ah yes, you’ve got to love government incompetence.

But, while the Florida Secretary of State’s office isn’t busy handicapping (quite literally) the state elections, several others have been doing so (in the horse race sense). As this recent story shows, it seems even His Lord has gotten into the fray:

A reverend who introduced Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist during a breakfast with other pastors Monday said the Lord came to him in a dream two years ago and told him Crist would be the state’s next governor.

“The Lord Jesus spoke to me and he said ‘There’s something I want you to know,”‘ Dozier said. “‘Charlie Crist will be the next governor of the state of Florida.”‘
Christ for Crist? posted by Mark Skoneki (AP)

On the other hand, a recent Quinnipiac University poll shows Democrat Jim Davis in the lead in the race to replace Gov. Jeb Bush:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2006/05/survey_said.html

The latest poll, however, from Strategic Visions shows Christ is right, and the Right’s Crist is in the lead:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2006/05/more_polling.html

It is worth noting that Strategic Visions is a recently formed Republican leaning polling organization based in Atlanta Georgia most recently known around these parts for having paid out of its own pocket for a poll showing that former Gov. Tommy “Stick it to ’em” Thompson would beat incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle by a nearly two to one margin were he to run:
http://www.strategicvision.biz/political/wisconsin_poll_050306.htm
Strategic Visions appears to be trying to drum up interest in their services by running, and paying for, polls in hotly contested and nationally observed, races. One wonders just how much money they have available to throw down this rabbit hole.

Bill Christofferson, no stranger to partisanship, wrote about the tactics of this group in a recent blog entry:
http://www.wisopinion.com/blogs/2006/05/whos-paying-for-these-polls.html

Of interest in these recent polls, both the Florida and Wisconsin ones, is that when asked “Would you like to see the United States Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade?” the answer in both cases was 36% yes and 57% no. Those are some encouraging numbers given the current state of affairs. Another interesting number was “Do you expect another terrorist attack within the next six months?” Yes 73% No 15% Undecided 12% – again the same for both polls.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, and remember – it’s time to get those whites out!