Thursday, March 28, 2024

DeSantis’ appearance with Biden after Hurricane Ian has shifted Florida’s races




CNN
 — 

Charlie Crist, whose profession as a Republican ended with a hug from a Democratic president, could have seen his political destiny sealed by one other Democratic president complimenting his Republican rival.

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That’s the sentiment rolling via Democratic circles in Florida after President Joe Biden’s tour of the state’s storm-ravaged Gulf Coast, the place he praised Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Crist’s opponent, for his dealing with of Hurricane Ian. Biden known as DeSantis’ response “pretty remarkable” after a congenial joint occasion with his someday nemesis.

Hurricane Ian’s arrival a month earlier than the election has pushed politics to the again burner as state and native leaders proceed to deal with the fallout of the deadliest storm to hit Florida in generations. It has been a problem for Democratic candidates to show the eye again to the marketing campaign path with a lot give attention to the restoration and so many residents in southwest Florida homeless.

At the time of Biden’s remarks, Crist, the Democratic nominee for governor, and his allies have been ramping up criticism of DeSantis tied to the hurricane – highlighting the previous GOP congressman’s previous votes towards storm assist and local weather change laws and elevating questions in regards to the timing of evacuations in Lee County and the dearth of urgency to deal with a crumbling property insurance coverage market. Earlier within the week, Crist and the state Democratic Party promoted a narrative from a neighborhood tv station that includes Floridians who stated they have been blocked from delivering storm provides so DeSantis may survey the harm.

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Biden “closed the door to that,” one veteran Democratic strategist instructed CNN, asking to not be named to talk overtly in regards to the race.

“The dynamics of the race needed to shift, and this was an opportunity for it to shift,” the strategist stated. “The President complimenting the governor takes that whole issue off the table.”

Democrats have been already dealing with an uphill climb in a state trending purple previous to Ian making landfall. The Republican voter registration edge in Florida, a latest phenomenon, grew to 270,000 in September, based on the state’s Division of Elections. A recent survey of likely voters conducted by Siena College earlier than the storm gave DeSantis an 8-point benefit over Crist. And DeSantis nonetheless hasn’t absolutely unleashed his colossal fundraising benefit – $106 million readily available to Crist’s $5 million on the finish of final month.

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In the race for US Senate, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio equally led Rep. Val Demings, an Orlando Democrat, by 7 factors within the Siena ballot. And Rubio, although outraised for many of this cycle, has almost twice as a lot money for the closing weeks as Demings, who spent aggressively over the summer time to introduce herself to voters unfamiliar with her background as a former Orlando police chief and three-term congresswoman.

Just as Floridians reside underneath fixed risk of hurricanes this time of 12 months, campaigns right here, too, are sometimes pressured to navigate the politics of storms. The disruption Ian has prompted to the electoral calendar, whereas not remotely a priority for these bearing private loss from the destruction, however stays a fragile take a look at for candidates.

Demings has reengaged with the marketing campaign by specializing in Rubio’s previous votes associated to catastrophe aid. On Thursday, Demings instructed MSNBC that Rubio “should pay a price” for skipping a vote on a stopgap invoice to fund the federal government via the top of the 12 months that included $18.8 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help states, together with Florida, with pure disasters.

“If there’s any time we should lay politics aside, it dag gone should be during a natural disaster,” she stated.

Rubio’s marketing campaign accused Demings of supporting a Hurricane Ian aid invoice stuffed with “pork” for initiatives unrelated to the storm. The senator has stated he would vote towards such a invoice.

“We shouldn’t have that in there because it undermines the ability to come back and do this in the future,” Rubio stated.

As Ian arrived, Crist pulled his adverts off the air in a lot of the state’s media markets. This week, he redirected his marketing campaign bus to help with the aid efforts. The solely scheduled debate between Crist and DeSantis, slated for subsequent week, is now delayed, and the host station has not introduced a brand new date.

Amid his financing crunch, Crist canceled a fundraiser scheduled for this week in Sanibel Island, one of many barrier island communities that bore the brunt of the storm surge introduced on by Ian. Another fundraiser scheduled with Biden was postponed as properly.

Meanwhile, DeSantis, who continued to air marketing campaign commercials all through the storm, has commanded Florida’s response from floor zero, holding common briefings by which he updates reporters on the state’s restoration efforts. In latest days, these news conferences have been joined by supporters of the governor, who cheer him on as he pronounces new developments within the push to get Lee and Charlotte counties up and operating.

At DeSantis’ joint appearance with Biden in Fort Myers Beach on Wednesday, absent was the Republican’s aggressively partisan strategy to governing that has fueled his quick rise to 2024 presidential hopeful. Instead, he recommended the White House for its collaboration in serving to Floridians, whereas Biden returned the favor, telling reporters that DeSantis has completed “a good job” managing the restoration.

“We have very different political philosophies, but we worked hand in glove,” Biden stated. “On things related to dealing with this crisis, we’ve been completely lockstep. There’s been no difference.”

Democrats anticipated Biden and DeSantis to play good throughout their transient time collectively, however the compliments the President provided the governor caught some without warning.

Sean Shaw, a former state consultant who stays lively with the state occasion, stated his telephone was stuffed with textual content messages from Democrats noting how dangerous Biden’s remarks can be for Crist.

“But I mean, what else is Biden gonna say?” Shaw stated in a textual content message to CNN.

Crist has seen his political fortunes upended by presidential visits earlier than. As a Republican governor in 2009, Crist drew criticism from his occasion for hugging President Barack Obama at a Florida occasion to promote the White House’s monetary restoration plan. The fallout from that second kickstarted Crist’s eventual exit from the GOP.

Now, because the Democratic candidate for governor, Crist has emphasised his hug with Obama to have interaction with Black voters and he has embraced Biden like few in his occasion have. The day after successful the Democratic main for governor of Florida, Crist known as Biden a “great man” and “the best I’ve ever met” and he welcomed the President to hitch him on the marketing campaign path.

“Thank god for Joe Biden,” Crist stated within the interview. It’s a line featured – twice – in a Republican advert airing towards Crist.

Reggie Cardozo, who beforehand served as Obama’s political director in Florida, stated he believes there’s nonetheless a chance for Crist to make a case towards DeSantis regardless of Biden’s remarks.

“The White House wanted this to be as apolitical as possible. So I’m not surprised that there was a kumbaya moment. As it should be,” Cardozo stated. “Crist can credit the governor for doing his best to make sure the recovery is going smoothly while making sure people don’t forget this is a man who voted against this and believes that.”

Democrats would additionally wish to shift the dialog again to points on which they consider they’ve the higher hand, together with the way forward for abortion entry within the state and the hovering value of dwelling in Florida. In an appearance Thursday night time on MSNBC, Crist tried to link DeSantis’ about-face on hurricane assist to the Republican push to restriction abortion.

“It sure would be nice to be kind of consistent about what you believe versus what you think is an emergency situation,” Crist stated. “He just seems to be inconsistent on so many things. He talks about freedom, for example. Yet he wants to attack a woman’s right to choose. I mean, it’s consistent all the way.”



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