Great piece.

Florida has more of an identity than you think. I used to believe that the U.S. didn’t have an identity either — everybody’s from somewhere else, the U.S. is the land where old country culture comes to die, etc. — but when you leave the U.S. for another country, like the American athletes are doing in Brazil, the culture that binds Americans together is obvious. It’s the same with Florida.

I was born in Tampa, left long ago, and have returned a few times. My father was from Ohio. My mother had lived in Florida all her life. There are similarities between Tampa and the Midwest, but the feel of the two areas is completely different. I also think the concerns of the voters are different. Tampa never had a large manufacturing economy, like the rust belt, for example. There is a big difference between losing cigar-rolling and losing an auto industry. Tampa-St. Pete today strikes me as largely a service economy.

Also, the gun culture is strong in Florida. The gun culture might be strong everywhere in the U.S., but in the Midwest you have a lot of people who keep a rifle in the back of their pickup truck to hunt deer whereas in Florida you have more people with a .357 magnum and a sign on the front door reading, “Never mind the dog, beware of owner.” Those voters are rabid about the second amendment in different ways and to different degrees.

Along with your “north to go south” line, you might add “lower Alabama,” which is how many people describe the Florida panhandle. It is at least a loose fit geographically and culturally.

I look forward to reading the rest of this series. Well done! Best.