Central Florida

Major Florida Factor Often Not Considered: The Puerto Rican, And Other Non Cuban Hispanic Vote

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As the battle for Florida’s electoral votes goes on, many observers are failing to realize the possible influence of the massively increased Puerto Rican population, particularly in the major area of significance, Central Florida.

Often, many people assume that the Hispanic vote is mostly Cuban, and that they, of course, traditionally vote Republican because of the failure of John F. Kennedy to eliminate Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

But in recent years, the Puerto Rican population in the state of Florida, and particularly, in Central Florida, has ballooned to nearly match or surpass the Cuban population found mostly in South Florida.

There are nearly a million Puerto Ricans in Florida, a state that is always rapidly changing, and becoming more non Cuban Hispanic by the month.

The Puerto Ricans of Florida, with smaller numbers in the past, supported the election and reelection of Governor Jeb Bush, but they went to Barack Obama for President in 2008, and are seen as likely, by large percentages, to vote for him again. The key, as always, will be voter turnout.

Additionally, there are a growing number of Hispanics from other nations in the Western Hemisphere, and the tendency of many would be to support Obama, although the very religious element, against abortion and gay marriage, might not, but the point being made here is that to assume, because of some polls at the moment, that Mitt Romney has Florida locked up, with its 29 electoral votes, is a massive mistake, as Florida will be in play, and may well decide who is the next President. And realize that younger Cuban Americans, in many cases, are abandoning the Republican beliefs of their parents and grandparents, and some will vote for Barack Obama!

And remember, with the biggest prize of the “swing” states, 29 electoral votes, Florida may select Barack Obama for a second term, and without the intervention of the Supreme Court for George W. Bush, as in the Presidential Election of 2000!

John Glenn: Fifty Years Ago The Hero Of The American Space Program

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John Glenn, the first American astronaut in space on February 20, 1962, celebrated the 50 year anniversary at the Cape Canaveral Kennedy Space Center in central Florida yesterday, alongside the only other surviving Mercury astronaut, Scott Carpenter. The other five original astronauts have all passed away.

Glenn, also the oldest astronaut in space in 1998 at age 77, was a great national hero on the level of Charles Lindbergh in 1927. The author remembers the news of his ride into space being broadcast over the public address system in classrooms of his high school, before the era of televisions in classrooms. It was a very exciting and patriotic moment.

Glenn went on to become a three term Democratic Senator from Ohio, and a failed Presidential candidate for the Democratic nomination in 1984. Despite his failure at gaining the Presidency, Glenn always came across as a popular, pleasant, approachable hero, much admired by Americans over the course of a lifetime.

The sadness of the celebration of the fifty year anniversary of John Glenn in space was the fact that we have, as a nation, abandoned a space program for the future, a shortsighted view of the importance of space. John Glenn expressed the sadness that we have lost our long range view, and the hope that at some point, we will start up again the adventure into space, the final frontier.

Florida: A Complex State Politically, And Hard To Predict Its Impact

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With the Florida Republican Primary just eight days away, and with many Republican voters having already engaged in early voting or absentee mail ballots, the question arises as to what one can expect to happen on January 31.

Mitt Romney has the most money and is seen as the moderate in the race, although he professes to be conservative.

Newt Gingrich, flush off his victory in South Carolina, would seem to have an edge, although Florida is not quite the same as South Carolina electorally, being much more unpredictable.

Florida is really multiple states in electoral behavior, as the Panhandle, particularly west of Tallahassee, the state capital, is very much like South Carolina or “southern Alabama”, strongly evangelical Christian and Tea Party oriented. But central Florida, including Tampa and Orlando, tends to be made up of people from the Midwest, while South Florida has large concentrations of Cubans, but also Northeasterners, including Jews in large numbers. And Puerto Ricans are found in Orlando in large numbers, and liberal strongholds exist in Tallahassee due to Florida State University’s presence, and in Gainesville, home of the University of Florida.

So if Florida comes across in the GOP Primary as too conservative, that can affect the balance among Hispanics, African Americans, and Jews, heavily concentrated in South Florida and portions of Central Florida, when it comes to the Presidential election in November.

Florida has a “split personality”, and being a megastate, more representative of the nation than Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina, it could turn out to be very unpredictable in its impact on the Republican Presidential battle, and in the fall campaign against Barack Obama.

The Tragic End Of The Space Shuttle Program: A Mistake!

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This nation is going through difficult economic times, but still one has to have vision about the future, and not only think about the present!

Therefore, it is a mistake that the space shuttle program is ending, and that many of the talented engineers, scientists, and support staff at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in central Florida and in Houston will now, after years of dedication, lose their jobs, and in the process, leave us rootless in space!

While President Obama today suggested travel to the nearest asteroid before going to Mars, there is no plan for any definite commitment to a space future, a mistake once made in the 1970s, but then revived with the Space Shuttle beginning in 1981 under Ronald Reagan.

Two weeks before astronaut John Glenn’s 90th birthday, we are faced with the fact that the only way now to reach space, specifically the International Space Station, will be through Russian vehicles, of all situations imaginable!

It is again a shortsighted view of what really matters, and a sad commentary on the fact that America is losing its vision of the future in so many ways, while the elite rich become wealthier, with a larger portion of income and a greater stratification of the social classes than at any point in American history, and greater than the worst extremes in the history of Great Britain!