Their ability to differentiate Orange from Citrus, Bay and Lake from Gulf, Union from Dixie, and Madison from Jefferson and Washington has made them political experts.

And their ability to decide between Bush and Gore (and, in a few cases, between Gore and Buchanan) has made them the object of both national affection and hatred.

They're Harvard's Florida voters.

As Florida continues to count and recount and even hand-recount its presidential ballots, Harvard students from the Sunshine State have become instant pundits, ballot analysts, and defenders of their state's dignity.

But most of all they are just enjoying the attention.

"I'd rather have it happen in Florida than somewhere else," Palm Beach county resident Alex M. Rampell '03 says. "It makes me proud to be a Floridian. Because when it comes down to it, it's my county that's going to decide the President for the entire country."

In an election where a hundred million votes were cast, Harvard's Florida students say they were struck by just how meaningful their individual decisions were.

"It's very weird for me to think that my vote really matters," says Floridian Clay B. Tousey '02.. "Three hundred is a nice round number, and if it weren't for [me], it would be 299."