Florida is the new California,
Congress' historic — some would say ill-advised — action in the Terri Schiavo case this week symbolizes one of the most important but least appreciated new political trends of the last decade — the emergence of Florida as a national harbinger of political trends and issues.
Indeed, there was a time that if you wanted to get a peak at the political future, you only needed to take a look at California. From community college roll-outs and tax cut rebellions to immigration battles and environmental plans, the Golden State often established important political and policy trends that rippled across the nation.
But over the last 10 years, Florida has finally taken its place alongside California as one of the leading predictors of the political future. No longer a sleepy Southern state, retiree haven or rising Sunbelt state, Florida is now a certified, cutting edge trendsetter when it comes to national policy.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
(via FlaBlog)
Fark has been onto this trend for a while now. Every story has its own tag: Weird, Asinine, Hero, Dumbass, etc. Among them “Florida” is the only one I’ve seen that is a regional descriptive (There might be a France, but if so it’s certainly the only one for a US state.)
I don’t know. I have been told the same thing by a number of people, but if anything, Florida is an example of how NOT to run a state, from Governor’s mansion to the local city councils. Florida has mostly been lucky due to the influx of immigrants, Orlando, and a huge, and near slave running, agriculture industry. It’s an example of everything thats a failure and that goes wrong.