Battleground 2012? New Poll Colors Florida Purple

A new poll from Gallup compares the political views of residents of all 50 states -- and reinforces how pivotal Florida is in any national political battle. Asking more than 90,000 Americans about their politics over the first half of 2010, Gallup has Florida right in the middle when it comes to ideology and identification with one political party or the other. The poll found 38.5 percent of Sunshine State voters are Republicans while 46.2 percent are Democrats. It also found 39.3 percent of Florida voters see themselves as conservatives; 37 percent as moderates and 19.3 as liberals. Florida was a battleground state in each of the last four presidential elections and from this poll it seems safe to say it will be again in 2012 -- not to mention tight races in the general election coming up in November for governor and the open seat in the U.S. Senate.