Testing Florida's political waters
By CNN's Richard Quest
 |  Sunny Florida could once again tip the balance in the U.S. election. |
| |
|  VIDEO |
 CNN's Richard Quest heads to the beach in search of voters
|
YOUR SAY |
Check back to read a selection of your e-mails.
|
|
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (CNN) -- "You have to lean forward and pull the water back towards you, and watch No. 1 at the front of the boat," Noelle Calakos told me.
It's useful advice, as I am about to become an unofficial member of the Fort Lauderdale Outrigger Canoe Club for an hour or two.
"After 16 strokes, we call 'hup' and then 'howoah,' and we all switch sides," club president Calakos says -- reminding me we're talking rowing here, not politics!
I am in sunny Florida, learning how to dig into the water -- and dig into American politics.
This is where the White House was won four years ago in an election infamous for its hanging chads and spoiled ballots. George W. Bush became president only after the U.S. Supreme Court brought to a close a month of confusion in Florida.
To find out how things have changed and what people are thinking about the 2004 election, I've headed to the beach on this picture-perfect weekend.
It seems positions have hardened with time. Both sides feel badly hurt by what took place here: Democrats are sure former Vice President Al Gore was cheated out of the White House, while Republicans believe Bush won fair and square and that his victory was tainted by the Florida confusion.
Beachgoer Catherine Kerrier summed it up: "It was a disaster ... a disaster."
Floridians don't seem embarrassed about what happened here four years ago. Nor do they think it will happen again.
"It was one of those rare things that happened," says Bob Ward as he watches his teenage daughter play softball. "If anything is going to go wacky, it is going to go wacky in America."
The people I spoke to agreed that the country -- and Florida -- was split once again.
|  Quest digs into Florida waters -- and politics. |
"It's going to be a close race, maybe the closest ever, more so than last time because of geopolitical concerns as well as the economy," says Kevin Short of the Outrigger Club.
The latest polling shows that Democratic Sen. John Kerry is ahead of Bush by about 3 to 4 percentage points in this crucial state. But his lead is within the margin of error.
Four years on, in a race where the contenders are just about tied, Florida once again is a swing state that could tip the balance.
