Latin Voter Strategy Success: 'Late Surge Trump'... Again 2016?

Florida Comeback After Poll Deficit
Securing Advantageous Position
Biden's 'Radical Left' and Intense Field Campaign Strategy Pays Off

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] On the 3rd (local time), as U.S. President Donald Trump gained momentum in Florida, attention is focused on the possibility of another comeback victory just like four years ago. However, since the vote counting in the northern battleground states is still in its early stages, it is expected to take some time to determine the final winner.

Florida is one of the six major battleground areas in this presidential election (Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona), and it is a must-win state for President Trump to secure victory in this election. Florida has 29 electoral votes, making it the most populous among the battleground states. It has always played a decisive role in U.S. presidential elections. In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, the outcome was decided by the vote count in Florida.

For this reason, President Trump has devoted nearly all-out efforts to Florida. Last September, he even moved his official residence from New York to Florida, showing special attention. He stayed at his Palm Beach villa every weekend, effectively making Florida his second hometown. Additionally, after testing negative for COVID-19, President Trump resumed his campaign activities in Florida.

In pre-election polls conducted the day before the election, Democratic candidate Joe Biden recorded 47.9% support in Florida, leading President Trump by 0.9 percentage points. According to polls, Florida had generally maintained a slight but long-term lead for Biden. However, in the actual election, President Trump’s counterattack was successful.

President Trump’s ability to overcome his previous disadvantage in Florida appears to be due to his attacks on Biden as a radical leftist, which strongly resonated with Latin American immigrants from Cuba and Venezuela who have a strong aversion to socialism. While Biden focused relatively more on TV and internet advertisements, Trump conducted a ground campaign centered on in-person rallies. The narrowing gap between the candidates in battleground states is largely attributed to Trump’s vigorous on-site campaigning. A Trump campaign official said, “Although Biden was known to be leading in Florida, the results we confirmed today show that President Trump is ahead.” The official added, “Winning Florida has given us a favorable position.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Trump is also performing well not only in Florida but in southern states such as Georgia and North Carolina. The New York Times (NYT) projected that Trump would win Georgia by a 3 percentage point margin and North Carolina by 1.3 percentage points.

With President Trump likely to secure Florida, it has become even more difficult to predict the outcome of the presidential election. This is because the situations in the northern battleground states and Texas must also be considered. Especially since Biden’s hometown is Pennsylvania, there are forecasts that he may have an advantage among voters in the northern Rust Belt. As of 11 a.m. Korean time on the 4th, 55% of votes had been counted in Ohio, where Biden had 52.3% of the vote, and 15% of votes had been counted in Pennsylvania, where he had 65.1% support.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.