by Javier Manjarres

Earlier today, I set out to my nearest early voting venue to cast my vote in next month’s general election, and I couldn’t contain my excitement as I cast my vote.  The mood in the line at the polling site was of hope, the the hope that the votes casted by these individuals would  help steer the country back in the right direction from the wrong turn it made back in 2008.  Several voters told me that they were going to vote ‘Republican’ down the ballot. This seems to coincide with the national sentiment that the GOP will have a landslide victory come November 2 and gain the majority in the House of Representatives, and perhaps the Senate.

The candidate of the moment- Marco Rubio. Most likely voters that I have come across, be it at the grocery store, the gym and even the police officer that pulled me over a few days ago, have all expressed some level of excitement over the Miami politico.  Rubio’s momentum seems to be unstoppable. Throughout the state, thousands of Marco Rubio yard signs, bumperstickers and billboards are sprouting up.  However, in the densely populated and ‘must win’ county of Broward, the absence of  Rubio collateral and signage is highly noticeable- because it is not visible at all.  Broward County has long been considered Charlie Crist territory, but this may or may not be the case if you believe that to be true  based on the amount of visible signage the Governor has. By my own estimate, Crist signs outnumber Rubio signs by a margin of no-less than 5-1- many of these signs are found on private property.

The next candidate whose name is generating buzz amongst the people is ‘that bald guy’ Rick Scott. Everyone I spoke to seems to think that we need a man as Governor in this time of economic uncertainty-perhaps that sounds a bit sexist?  But aside from the preference in sex, these same voters see Scott as sincere, and they are confident that he can deliver on his promises of  helping Floridians ‘get back to work’.  The race for Attorney General is trending toward State Prosecutor Pam Bondi.  Bondi has generated quite a buzz around the state.  Her opponent, State Representative Dan Gelber, is known for his hard-nosed liberal persona.

Several other races to watch are Congressional races in District 20,22 and 25. Karen Harrington, who is running against in District 20 against Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz could turn out to be the dark horse that has a great chance of pulling off an upset of epic proportions.  Allen West who is running in District 22 against Congressman Ron Klein is a darling of the Conservative movement who has been under attack by Klein and the Democrat Party machine. State Representative David Rivera is in a very contentious race against Democrat Joe Garcia in District 25. This particular race has turned out to be one of the most, if not the most dirty race of them all.  Both candidates have come out swinging and at the end of the day, whoever wins, will be s pending a few days layed up in bed licking some deep wounds.

At the end of day, this is still politics, and two weeks in politics can be an eternity.  In spite of all the polling data, we may be treated to a couple of stunning upsets along the way.   November 2 will likely usher in a change of power in Congress, and almost immediately the results are announced, the quest to remove Obama in 2012 will begin.

Where will you be on election night? The Shark Tank will swimming around to all of the Politico-watering holes, before digging and resting the fin- I hope to “catch” up with many of Tank’s readers while we watch the results come in.