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In Florida’s Economic Pain, Obama Gains Ground

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By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: October 3, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Jim Piccillo lost his job as a bank vice president in August, applied for food stamps to support his two young daughters and swore off a life of loyalty to the Republican Party. He now volunteers here in Pasco County for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.


Madeline Aquanno’s change of heart came more recently. Two weeks ago, she said, she had planned to vote for Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican, who impressed her with his knowledge of the world. But as the economy began to scare her more than terrorism, she reconsidered.

“Obama is more for the people,” she said, near the pool at her middle-class retirement community in Broward County. “I’m worried about the jobs that are being lost, for my son, my daughter, my granddaughter. You have to look down the line.”

Here in a swing state of severe economic hurt — a leader in foreclosures where empty offices now litter strip malls — there are signs that Mr. Obama is gaining ground. In interviews and surveys, voters across Florida said the debate in Washington over how to fix the credit crisis had fueled frustration with the Bush administration and pushed them away from the Republican ticket.

The four most recent polls from late September put Mr. Obama ahead of Mr. McCain by three to eight percentage points, a sharp swing from the previous six weeks, when Mr. McCain led by as much as 10 points.

Also in Mr. Obama’s favor, Florida as of August had 498,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans, up from an advantage of 373,000 four years ago. ....


Mr. Obama seems to have made some headway. At Christina’s, a family restaurant in downtown New Port Richey, the red leather stools at the counter held both Republicans tried-and-true, and Republicans, like Chris Hart, 48, who had begun to sour on Mr. McCain.

“Every time you turn around, he flips,” Mr. Hart said. A front-desk clerk at a local Y.M.C.A, he said he was also motivated by his need for health insurance, which had recently forced him to buy antibiotics at pet stores because it was cheaper than the pharmacy.

While not sure that Democrats could get him the coverage he needed, Mr. Hart said he wished Mr. McCain focused more consistently on the issue. “I was in the Navy, in aviation like John McCain, so I feel like I’m getting punched by one of my own,” Mr. Hart said.

For Mr. Piccillo, 34, skepticism arrived with the Republican convention. After voting twice for George W. Bush, he said he was especially turned off when Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor, mocked Mr. Obama’s early work as a community organizer.

“Those are the people I’m looking to for help,” said Mr. Piccillo, a former mortgage banker who said he had sent out 1,500 résumés without finding a job. ...


...Sherry Kruta, a Democrat and former Clinton supporter from Highland Beach who only a month ago said she might vote for Mr. McCain. “The thought of her maybe being the president scares me to death,” Ms. Kruta said.

Fear, in fact — of Mr. Obama or Ms. Palin — seems to be widespread. At Wynmoor Village, the retirement community in Coconut Creek where Ms. Aquanno said she was leaning away from Mr. McCain because his snap judgments made him seem “more like Bush....