Republican sources in Florida tell THE WEEKLY STANDARD that they're very pleased with the early and absentee voting tally in Florida, and its implications for the governor's race between Democrat Alex Sink and Republican Rick Scott, which is expected to be one of the closest races in the country. The GOP had a turnout advantage over Democrats of 276,987 among all early and absentee voters:
Combined EAV (early absentee voting): Republicans 1,102,090 Democrats 825,103 Other 322,959 TOTAL 2,250,152
"In 2006, the same 1 day out number we were plus 147,019. In 2008, the same 1 day out number we were minus 354,374,"says the source. One source thought that Alex Sink couldn't win if Republicans had an edge of 300,000 voters going in, and they're pretty close to that number.