Florida U.S. Senator Bill Nelson is a moderate Democrat, practicing the type of politics that most Florida voters like for the most part. His center-left stances on issues are similar to those of former Senator and Governor Bob Graham, and consistent in tone with center-right elected officials that have enjoyed popular support in Florida over the years, like Charlie Crist and Mel Martinez.
Nelson has infuriated liberals over the years for some of his stances, and he's a notorious conservative sort when it comes to making sure that he's on the side of the issue that most Floridians support. That's why in 2005 and 2006 he began leaning to the right on some major issues, even though as 2006 went further along and he was running against one of the worst candidates ever in Katherine Harris, he continued to play it safe.
But now election reporters, having cleared their head over the weekend, are already looking ahead to 2012, and Nelson will be running for re-election against , well, there is no clear cut candidate for the GOP nomination right now, but plenty of possibilities, some of whom nobody maybe even speaking about now.
This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2010.