Sunshine State Clouds
WINTER PARK, FLA.—Michael Conner has no doubts. "I'm big on the war," says the 60-year-old retired schoolteacher as he helps a friend sell homemade honey at the Winter Park farmers' market. "I'm supporting our president. I support our country. I support our troops." This is too much for Nini Galyon, who overhears her pal's declarations as Conner chats with a reporter. "I'll tell you the opposite," volunteers Galyon, 58, a retired electrical engineer and lifelong Florida resident who runs the honey concession. "I've been very unhappy with the current administration from the start," she says. "I support the troops, but I feel that this war was illegitimate." Neither Galyon, a Democrat, nor Conner, an independent, knows how to end the conflict, but both express hope that someone will come up with an acceptable exit strategy—fast.
Their focus on the war reflects the larger reality in central Florida's Eighth Congressional District and across the country that Iraq is the nation's most pressing issue and is creating strong crosscurrents and frustrations within the electorate. "The average citizen is ready for the war to be over," says political scientist Aubrey Jewett of the University of Central Florida, a specialist on the state's politics.
That sentiment is abundantly clear in the Eighth District, centered in Orlando. It is part of the Interstate 4 corridor, which runs from Tampa on the west coast to Daytona on the east, featuring a swath of swing voters who hold the key to electoral success in the megastate of Florida. Most of the presidential candidates have made the Eighth a regular campaign stop. And the eventual nominees will keep on coming, right on up to Election Day 14 months from now.
The district used to be little more than sun-bathed orange groves and villages, punctuated by lakes, swamps, and palm trees. In 1971, the opening of Walt Disney World set off a massive surge in tourism, helped along by the addition of Universal Orlando Resort and a profusion of other amusement centers, water parks, and golf courses. The Orlando area is now one of the top vacation destinations in the world, and the Eighth District is a blend of wealthy suburbs such as Winter Park and Celebration, where many residents work in high-tech industries, and less affluent areas filled with service employees. Unemployment is just about 3 percent, but urban sprawl is increasing, along with housing prices and taxes. Republicans hold a slight edge over Democrats in voter registration, 39 percent to 36 percent.
Vulnerable. In the presidential race, the leaders are Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democrats and Rudy Giuliani for the Republicans. The district supported George W. Bush solidly in 2004 and 2000, and it has returned Republican Ric Keller to Congress four times. But his 2006 race was relatively close, and the Democrats think he will be vulnerable next year. Still, Keller is an elusive target. He was one of a handful of Republicans who voted against the president's "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq, and he isn't backing off. Keller says he will reassess the situation after the administration's mid-September report on Iraq. But his antisurge vote has prompted talk that he will be seriously challenged by a pro-war conservative in a GOP primary.
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