Swing state Florida is definitely one of the most interesting places to visit during election time. During the last couple of months both candidates and their running mates hold many rallies at places such as Palm Beach and Jacksonville. The grand finale was this week, when Michelle Obama and former president Bill Clinton held five meetings in only two days. Unfortunately the two photographers and I arrived yesterday evening, when both of them flew back north to campaign in other states.
In our mission to cover the American election circus, we are now on our way to Panama City, a town in the north west of Florida. Republican Veep candidate Paul Ryan will speak there today at two in the afternoon. We landed in Miami yesterday (a flight that was booked way in advance) and are driving now up north to the pan handle, where Panama City is. It’s a nine-hour drive and we are making the best of it. Our rental car, a monstrous white Chrysler SUV, brings us there.
Though we have been on the road for hours, we did not see any campaign signs along the road. Nor did Floridians talk about the elections with us. Most of them like the fact that we are here to cover it all, but don’t really seem to care about the campaign. I get the impression that months of political campaigning are now finally coming towards an end in Florida. The Paul Ryan rally is also the last one planned for now, which means that our team has only one chance to cover the campaigning in this warm and sunny state.
Today we will drive for six more hours to attend Ryan’s rally. It better be good.