Democrats might just win Florida's crucial electoral votes if theykeep campaigning hard for a national catastrophe insurance fund, anidea opposed by Republicans. Democratic candidate Barack Obama madehis pitch for a cat fund in an op-ed today in the St. PetersburgTimes.

I talked about the differences between the two parties on disasterinsurance in my Sept.4 blog. But in my editorial in this coming Monday's NationalUnderwriter, I also noted that Democrats need to get the word outon this critical issue if they hope to take the state on Nov.4.

It appears Sen. Obama is doing just that. In his op-ed article,he said that “Floridians know as well as anyone that the currentproperty insurance market isn't working,” noting that “in somecases, property insurance rates have spiked by as much as 600percent.”

He went on to warn that the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund,which provides reinsurance to insurance companies in the case of anatural disaster, is “dangerously overexposed.”

“But disaster insurance isn't just an issue facing Floridians.It's an issue facing Americans across the country,” he added,arguing that Hurricane Katrina “cost each American taxpayer morethan $800 in part because we lacked an efficient national solution.Natural disasters are a national problem.”

As a solution, Obama is pushing for passage of the Homeowners'Defense Act, which, he contends, “would stabilize skyrocketinginsurance rates and provide a common-sense federal backstop in theevent of a major natural disaster.”

In its platform, the Republican Party last week called for avague national catastrophe insurance “policy”–no doubt meaning anapproach, not actual coverage of any sort, at least not withgovernment backing. Their candidate, Sen. John McCain, hasrepeatedly said he rejects any national solution.

“Sen. McCain's opposition to the national Cat fund shows that hejust doesn't understand how to offer relief to Florida homeowners,”Obama argues in his op-ed. “Earlier this year, he boasted about hisopposition, saying that an 'insurance policy is there, and it'scalled FEMA,' even though underwriting and paying insurance claimsaren't part of FEMA's mission. Later, he claimed he was opposed tothe bill because he was 'not in favor of spending $200-billion ayear simply for the state of Florida,' even though the nonpartisanCongressional Budget Office estimated the full cost as a fractionof that and the fund would benefit any state facing a catastrophicloss.”

Obama added that “most recently, [McCain] suggested insteadcreating a regional compact in which only the Gulf states pooltheir risk. But that gets the fundamental principle completelybackward–the idea is to spread the risk, not concentrate it.”

Indeed. (To read the entire op-ed, click here.)

“Katrina showed us the consequences of an administration thatdoesn't understand disaster relief, and we can't afford four moreyears of the same,” Obama concluded, adding that “when a risk is solarge that the insurance market and individual states can'treasonably bear it, it's the role of the federal government to stepin, as we've done to insure against acts of terrorism.”

The battle for Florida is on, and insurance is right in themiddle of it! Might this issue shift the state into the Democraticcolumn?

What do you folks think?