Florida voters react to recount

By Pat Neal/CNN

MIAMI (CNN) -- Florida's recount of nearly 6 million presidential ballots has triggered a wide range of emotions from Sunshine State voters who went to the polls Tuesday.

Dottie Shay, who voted for Vice President Al Gore, said the Democratic nominee was robbed of a victory.

"It upsets me to even think about it, the most powerful man in the world," she says of the presidency. "And it's got to be right."

While Shay may be upset, it's her fellow seniors who have contributed the most to Gore's current predicament. In years past, Democrats could count on 60 percent of Florida seniors; this time around Gore received just about half their votes. Across the state, slightly younger and more conservative newcomers are gradually replacing the older, reliably Democratic seniors.

Phil Lucia voted for Republican nominee George W. Bush because of his plan to allow private investment under the Social Security program: He didn't buy Gore's pledge to keep the federal program solvent.

"Social Security is an issue. Americans deserve good Social Security programs. I don't know about the lockbox, I don't know if that's feasible nor intelligent," he says.

Others liked Bush's stance on strengthening the military and his reluctance to commit U.S. forces overseas.

"We have to conduct foreign policy our own American way, without influence of the rest of the world," said Nikail Lashkanbanoff.

The post-election map shows a state that's finely balanced between Democrats and Republicans, plus a large number of independents.

"Over 20 percent of the electorate has no party affiliation. Those people will swing every time and it doesn't take 20 percent," said Kevin Hill, a political science professor at Florida International University. "This election will be decided in less than one half of 1 percent."

Bush won the swing districts around Tampa and racked up numerous votes across the more conservative northern part of the state from Jacksonville into the Panhandle. Bush's father, former President George Bush, campaigned for his son across many of those counties during the closing days of the campaign.

Gore won big in southeast Florida with big help from African-Americans and Jewish voters. Gore also won in Orange County -- home of Disney World as well as a large number of Democratic-leaning Puerto Rican voters.

Florida has increasingly trended Republican, but neither party can reliably count on it. That's because the continuous flow of newcomers to the state constantly changes Florida's political landscape.