In the state of Florida, not only is Democratic Presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama of Illinois is possibly getting help from the youth vote, but is also getting help with the Jewish vote.
For the 2008 United States Presidential race, Florida is one of the most crucial battleground states in this election. Ohio is another major battleground state. While Michigan is a crucial battleground state, GOP Presidential nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona had chosen to withdraw from the state.
According to the McCain campaign, it is to use those resources and allocate them to both Florida and Ohio. However, many within the GOP are not happy with McCain’s decision.
So far, McCain and Democratic Presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama of Illinois are heavily fighting it out in Florida.
It is revealed that the youth vote could be the
X-Factor on who ends up winning the state of Florida. So far, the youth vote has been very helpful to the campaign chances of Obama.
There could also be another X-Factor, the elderly vote. While Obama strongly has the youth vote on his side, he may also have the “
great schlep” on his side as well. Schlep is defined as the Yiddish meaning of pull.
So far, it has been revealed that there are plenty of Jewish Democrats that have been promoting Obama in Florida. They have been helping the Obama campaign appeal to Florida’s elderly community.
For Mike Bender, it is an interesting mission to accomplish. In Bender’s case, it took a lot to persuade his grandparents to vote for Obama. While many within Florida’s Jewish community are lifelong Democratic voters, there are many that really never thought about having an African-American president.
This can be correlated with the youth vote. One can make the assumption that the younger Jewish voters are going for Obama. In regards to the older Jewish voters, there is still the air of prejudice.
However, the co-executive director of Jews Vote, Ari Wallach, says that the reluctance of older voters was not just about skin color. Wallach adds that there have been misconceptions about Obama’s religious faith. While there are many believe that Obama is a Muslim, he is a Christian.
In regards to the “Great Schlep,” this can be connected with the youth vote. This is due to this movement being formed by young Jewish Democrats. However, the Great Schlep will have a rocky road to travel in convincing their elders to give their vote to Obama come Election Day.
Spreading the Great Schlep would be comedian Sarah Silverman. There’s a web video already out with Silverman promoting the Great Schlep.
So far, it the Great Schlep seems to be working in Florida.
While the youth vote is deemed to be an X-Factor on who wins Florida, the elderly vote can also be deemed the other X-Factor. And through this Great Schlep, it would seem these two X-Factors could possibly be linked together.
In a nutshell, Florida's going to get very interesting between now and Election Day on November 4.
