Kerry's Florida Headline Indigestion

Betsy Newmark thinks this will give the Kerry campaign indigestion.

Under the headline "Poll: Many Democrats in Florida may vote for Bush," the Tallahassee Democrat reports that a new poll found 11 percent of Democrats willing to vote for Bush on Nov. 2, compared to just 5 percent of Republicans who said they would cross over for Kerry. According to the Tallahassee Democrat:

And while only 18 percent of Democrats consider themselves conservative, more than one-third of conservative Democrats said they will vote for Bush.

The Kerry campaign tried to put a positive spin on the poll:

Matthew Miller, a spokesman for Kerry's state campaign, noted that Mason-Dixon surveyed only Democrats and Republicans - not independents or members of minor parties - because the main purpose of the poll was to handicap next Tuesday's U.S. Senate primaries. Only Democrats and Republicans can vote in the Senate primaries, but all registered voters can cast ballots on Nov. 2.

There is more Florida headline indigestion for the Kerry campaign. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel ran "Veterans in Florida like Bush, poll finds," reporting on a statewide poll this week of 400 veterans who favored President Bush over Kerry 56 percent to 39 percent.

Kerry's Awful August continues.