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It’s been a cliché in politics for the past decade to say that the I-4 Corridor in Florida is a swing area.
“Watch independents in the I-4,” has been a standard refrain from pundits as well as Democrats and Republicans alike, referring to voters along the interstate highway that cuts a swath West to East, from Tampa to North of Orlando.
But it looks like that just does not hold true anymore. Despite what was a tougher year than 2008 for President Obama, he once again ran up the score in the I-4.
The I-4 has changed quite a bit in 20 years. In fact, based on a First Read analysis of the six counties the highway passes through – Hillsborough, Polk, Osceola, Orange, Seminole, and Volusia – the I-4 Corridor has gone from about a 100,000-vote advantage for Republicans to a 100,000-vote advantage for Democrats.
CLICK HERE FOR THE I-4 CORRIDOR COUNTY MARGINS, 1992-2012, TABLE
Even in 2010, a year heavily tilted to Republicans, the losing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink, won the I-4 counties by 15,000 votes.
And it’s all about demographics. In the three counties that have become more Democratic, non-white populations have doubled in a decade.
The place most responsible for the shift is Orange County, which encompasses Orlando. Republicans had a 26,000-vote advantage in the 1992 presidential race and 1,000 in 1996. But Democrats won it by 6,000 in 2000, 1,000 in 2004, and 85,000 and 84,000, respectively, in 2008 and 2012.
What's more, it's shifted even in governor’s races. In 1994 when Democrat Lawton Chiles defeated Jeb Bush, Orange went for Bush by 7,000 votes. In 1998, it was a 38,000-vote GOP advantage. It was 20,000 in 2002 and 2006, but, in 2010, Democrat Sink won it by 30,000.
Hillsborough and Osceola have also moved Democratic. Polk has remained Republican, while Volusia is the only county to trend Republican.
What explains this? Orange is now 55 percent non-white, including 28 percent Hispanic, 22 percent black and 5 percent Asian -- all groups that went overwhelmingly for Obama. In fact, according to the U.S. Census, as of 2010, the Hispanic, black and Asian populations have nearly doubled since a decade ago. There were 242,000 more Latinos (140,000), African Americans (75,000), and Asians (27,000) from 2000. At the same time, there were only 114,000 more whites - a net change of 128,000 non-whites.
Hillsborough is 48 percent non-white (25 percent Latino, 18 percent black, 4 percent Asian). The Latino population increased 70 percent from 2000 to 2010; the black population is up 37 percent; and the Asian population doubled.
Osceola is 65 percent non-white (46 percent Latino, 13 percent black, 3 percent Asian). It's the same demographic story here. The Latino, black, and Asian populations all doubled.
Volusia, on the other hand, is just 25 percent non-white. Polk is 35 percent non-white, and Seminole is 36 percent non-white. Minority growth in these counties was slower than Orange, Hillsborough, and Osceola.
For more on the impact of Hispanics in Florida, NBC Latino has more:
Puerto Ricans turned Florida blue.
Romney-Obama campaigns zero in on Florida Latino voters
Florida's growing Puerto Rican population: Could they tip the election?
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That corridor is now full of greasers and blacks who do not, have not and wouldn't work if you woke them up at 2 in the afternoon and offered them a job.
Suspicious99....You are likely a Democrat trying to futher divide the country under the pretense of a Republican.
This is supposed to be the land of oportunity, not the land of free handouts. The conservatives had a much more difficult message to convey to the voters. Work hard and you will be rewarded. You are responsible for your success and your failures. For the good of the country and its future, ask for less and do more.
The Democrats message was much easier to vote for. Do less and get more. Vote for us and we will punish those that worked harder/smarter than you. We will do our very best to level the field.
It is sad that we are now to a point in history when their are more people thinking about now and themselves than the good of the country or their children.
DO the DEM'S have some good ideas? Yes, most certainly. Everyone should have equal rights including Gays, Lesbians, non religious etc. SOME environmental ideas are also worthy.
The main problem is that many minorities, especially those on welfare, have become much to important to the Democrats when it comes to the electorate. They prey on the fears of those that feel disenfranchised so as to guarantee their vote. What if this demographic started to believe in themselves? What if they overcame the fear and stuck to what is really important to them? Things like religion for blacks and Hispanics are a core part of most of their lives. No one can say that Hispanics are not a hard working demographic. They believe in family and in most cases are religious. SOUNDS LIKE A REPUBLICAN.
The bottom line is that the DEM'S are invested in, and dependent on keeping this a divided nation racially and dependent on government monetarily, to be trusted to ever change things to remove these demographics to the NOT DEPENDENT category. It would end their power forever. The reason Dem's won this election is simple. They stirred up racist thinking and got the votes of the people that have been added to the welfare system during Obama's 1st term. They are depending on these people forever being in their voting block and are invested in keeping them there. The DEM'S have convinced a slim majority of America that they are not smart enough or strong enough to make it in this country. Shame on them!
Even if there wasn't a single white person in America that would sell, hire or buy from a minority, that still leaves a pool of close to 100 million potential customers for any minority with enough motivation to start a business and hire anyone they want. There would be endless choices of markets to compete in. Great inventions would likely be made. Instead of making excuses, why not show the world what you can do? Food stamps are not a good legacy.
Of course this would be a terrible thing, this kind of division...but I think it illustrates that markets are there and so is the oportunity.
Since the DEM's and many minority commentators are always saying that they are the educated party, why are they not out there kicking some butt economically? It is because Ghettos are not a bastion of education. They are the enclosure in which Liberals keep their minions, dependents and DEMOCRATS. If they were to escape in high enough numbers, Libs would lose control and oportunity would be noticed by their constituents.