Heading into the third and final debate that will be held Monday in the Sunshine State, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, a prominent surrogate for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said Florida is looking good for the GOP standard bearer.
We like the way Florida is going, Rubio said while appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.We always predicted it would go this way.
Rubio, who also appeared on CBS's "Face the Nation" and ABCs "This Week" on Sunday morning, said he also expects the recent trends to continue to get better for Romney.
Rubio credited Floridas Republican-dominated state government for implementing tax reform and rolling back regulations for economic growth in Florida despite the dysfunction of Washington.
The most startling thing that has happened here the last month over this campaign is the president has completely given up on outlining any sort of agenda for the future. Whats his plan for the next four years? Rubio said on "This Week."
There have been rumors that Obama would like to pull out of Florida, but remains to keep Romneys campaign money from being shifted to Colorado and Ohio, which could be more vital swing states on Election Day.
Nationally, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey released Sunday had the two candidates locked at 47 percent each.
A Fox News poll of likely-voters in Florida released Friday put Romney up over President Obama 48 percent to 45 percent, an 8 point reversal from mid-September when Obama was up top.
A Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers/WPTV News Channel 5 poll gave Romney a 48 percent to 47 percent edge over the president in Florida.
Obamas chief re-election campaign strategist David Axelrod, also appearing on "Meet the Press" pointed to absentee balloting information as a better indicator for the Democratic White House incumbent than poll numbers.
In Florida, 45 percent of the ballots cast have come from registered Republicans, 39.5 percent have come from registered Democrats, and 15.6 percent from other.
Historically, Republicans have dominated absentee ballots, while Democrats have seen their pre-Election Day voting strengthen in early voting, which begins Oct. 27 in most Florida counties.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
