We're on a family trip to Florida at the moment. The timing is interesting with the republican presidential primary just about here. We crossed into the panhandle of Florida on Tuesday of this week from east central Alabama. I fully expected to see lots of yard signs, billboards, and TV ads for the republican presidential primary all over Florida, and I was curious as to which candidate would be having the most support in terms of these kinds of public showings of endorsement.

But I've been very surprised about how few yard signs and ads there have been. I have seen no billboards, although we have driven all the way from there down almost to Ft. Myers on the Gulf Coast. We've seen a lot of Florida, and not just on the interstates but on plenty of highways that went through towns. We've also done some bicycle riding, both on trails and in the town where we are staying.

In the panhandle, there were a scattering of"Newt" yard signs, and maybe one or two Ron Paul signs. We didn't see one Romney sign until we got around the big bend and down onto the peninsula. On the peninsula, as we went south, we saw a few Romney signs - some large ones. But no billboards for any of the candidates.

And for the TV we have watched, the ads, while getting attention on national news outlets, are not flooding the markets we have seen. Instead, they are occasional.

My take on this, for better or worse, is that this means that interest in this primary isn't as high in the public as it is on the national media. I guess we will see in the long run.