Reporter's file: Gore (coulda) won

St Pete Times' Tom Tobin, pulls out his FL recount file to look at then-overlooked optical scan overvotes: "The recount will forever be remembered for punch card voting machines and the tiny paper "chads" they produced. We think of big South Florida counties, rich with Democratic votes, where Gore sent lawyers and operatives by the planeload.

"In hindsight, however, his best chance was in the 41 counties that had optical scan ballots, which required voters to fill in ovals or arrows. Of particular interest were 3,491 spoiled ballots, most of them optical scan, later examined by the media consortium. The voters who cast these ballots selected either Bush or Gore for president, but also wrote in their candidate's name or otherwise marked the ballot to emphasize their choice.

"Their intent could not have been clearer, yet they had turned their votes into "overvotes." The problem was that many of Florida's county election supervisors interpreted the law to say that overvotes should not be counted at all, even in a manual recount — a position that was certainly open to challenge in 2000. The law has since been changed to cut down on overvotes and consider them in recounts.

"In any case, 62 percent of the 3,491 overvotes in question were clear selections for Gore, and would have been enough to push him over the top."

Tina Fey pander for FL votes? You betcha!

Tina Fey on SNL last night: "From a very young age my two greatest loves were always Jews and Cuban food."

John McCain's Pensacola proving ground

PENSACOLA - The young pilot had a reputation, and it was nothing to be proud of. Fifth from the bottom of his class at Annapolis. Bratty. A carouser. Fellow officers called him "the Punk."

On July 27, 1959, he was at the controls of a propeller-driven T-28 Trojan, flying in patchy skies near Pensacola. His mission: Land the 4½-ton aircraft on a 150-foot long strip of the Antietam, itself a moving target as it steamed into the wind, heaving in the swells of the Gulf of Mexico.

Few pilots have the skill or the nerve to land a plane on a carrier. Some die trying. Others wash out, their egos left on deck with the skidmarks.

On this sweltering day, John Sidney McCain III faced the biggest challenge of his 22 years.

"The carrier landing experience is a metaphor for his psyche, the drive he has," said Bob Stumpf, an ex-Navy fighter pilot living in Pensacola. "You can't be a wimp. Carrier pilots are a breed apart." (story here)

Meet the winner and loser of the week

Winner of the week:Former Tampa legislator George Sheldon, our winner of the week, couldn't beat Charlie Crist when they ran for education commissioner, but he did earn Crist's respect. The governor tapped him to be secretary of the Department of Children and Families, which, come to think of it, is one of the most thankless jobs in Florida.

Loser of the week: This was a good week to stock up on Rolaids for state Republican Party chairman Jim Greer, our loser of the week, who would like to get re-elected after November. A slew of polls showed Obama taking the lead or at least neck-and-neck in Florida. And the Rothenberg Political Report concluded that three GOP congressional incumbents — Tom Feeney and Ric Keller in the Orlando area and Lincoln Diaz-Balart in Miami — have a good chance of losing.

Obama easily winning surrogate war

UPDATE: Joe Lieberman returns to Boca tomorrow to hold town hall meeting on behalf of McCain-Palin. 3:30 at Chabad of Boca Raton.

Need evidence that Barack Obama has been working harder than John McCain to stir up energy and excitement in the Sunshine State? Consider the emissaries that the campaigns have dispatched for Florida campaign events over the last couple of weeks.McCain-Palin surrogates in Florida: Lt. Col. Orson Swindle, former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer and retired Air Force Col. Tom Moe participated in a three day veterans bus tour for McCain two weeks ago.

Obama-Biden surrogates (partial list): Bill Clinton; Michelle Obama and Jill Biden; former New York Mayor Ed Koch; actor Forest Whitaker; actor Cynthia Nixon; retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration; former White House antiterrorism adviser Richard Clarke; Miami Heat basketball player Alonzo Mourning; NBA Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing; actor Tyler Perry; Bronx borough president Adolfo Carrion; Grammy winner Olga Tanon.

Today and Monday Jay-Z and Wyclef Jean will hold "Last Chance for Change" concerts in Miami for Obama to push people to register to vote by Monday's deadline, while the McCain campaign sends its biggest gun — Sarah Palin — for a two-day campaign swing starting in Clearwater Monday. Joe Biden returns to FL Wed.