Florida is always a key state in a Presidential race.
You can add Michigan and Wisconsin’s governors to that list.
What, no hate for Ohio’s governor?
If Obama can hold Florida and any one of Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Michigan he’s got a great shot at winning. If he holds Florida and Michigan, losing Ohio and Pennsylvania, then he can lose VA, NC, IN, and any one of NM, NV, or IA, and he still wins by a whisker. If Obama can pick up AZ, which may have gone red in 2008 partly because it’s John McCain’s home and has had some pretty stiff anti-Hispanic laws lately, his victory starts looking even more likely.
It’s all in the nominee. If the Pubbies nominate Bachmann, she’s going to be giving Mondale and Dukakis a run for the bottom of electoral totals. Personally, I think the Ryan Kill Medicare Act is a bigger millstone than any governor could be.
National politics are pretty divorced from state ones in FL. Which is true in a lot of places, but more so in FL then any place I’ve lived. The State is famous for being evenly divided in Presidential elections and its Senate delegation is divided with one Dem and one Repub, but the state politics have been totally dominated by the GOP for more then a decade.
So I’d be skeptical Rick Scott will hurt the GOP Presidential candidate. Honestly, given his history, I’m just impressed he made it through the first six months without (getting caught) embezzling anything.