In a New York Times' blog post, author Nate Silver speculates that recent gains by Mitt Romney might necessitate the Obama administration to withdraw from competing in the Sunshine State, but Chicago Mayor and Obama supporter Rahm Emanuel said nothing doing on that front.
"Based on the president and the vice-president's schedule, I think you can indicate that's the advice the campaign's taking," Emanuel told a group reporters from both Chicago and Tampa at an Obama campaign office just blocks from the University of South Florida campus. "They see the fight for Florida as like the rest of the campaign … between the president and Gov. Romney in the sense of who's going to fight for the middle class and who's not going to hear their voices in the Oval Office."
Emanuel is right. Shortly before Silver's post went up, the Obama campaign announced that in addition to the president's previously scheduled appearance next Tuesday in Delray Beach, he will also be flying into Tampa for an, as of yet, unscheduled Thursday appearance.
While most recent polls have Romney leading in Florida, the average is only by 2 percentage points according to Real Clear Politics. A SurveyUSA poll out on Saturday has Obama up by one point.
This article appears in Oct 18-24, 2012.
