Ron DeSantis Not a Threat

[erpowers]

I may be wrong, but I do not see Ron DeSantis as a threat to the Democratic Party, even after his Florida win. I think the real lesson of DeSantis' win in Florida is that Democrats need to make sure to run Democrats against Republicans and not the likes of Charlie Crist. I may be wrong, but it seems DeSantis had a much harder time running against a strong progressive than Charlie Crist. Maybe the people of Florida really like DeSantis, but it is also possible that a strong Democrat would have performed better against DeSantis. It seems Charlie Crist was a bad candidate, at least for the governor's race. Charlie Crist had already lost the Florida governor's race to Rick Scott in 2014. So what do others at DU think?

[Walleye]

1. I don't really see how DeSantis has nationwide appeal. He's a prick and has no charisma

[Meadowoak]

2. Floriduh is a lost cause for the Democrats.

[Claustrum]

3. I used to think like you.

But his win in FL seem to suggest he has appeals toward independent/Libertarian types. You don't get a 20 points win in FL without reaching some democrats or independent voters.

His record for sure is very right wing but it is working in FL right now. I don't know how it will work outside of FL.

[LenaBaby61]

17. I don't know how it will work outside of FL.

You see that even in Kentucky, reich-winged males really need to stay away from forcing women into birthing' babies or forcing little 10 year old girls to have their dad's babies" and "let's jail women if they dare have an abortion even if raped and impregnated."

Deathsantis is ONLY for floriduh, thank God.

[JohnSJ]

4. Which "strong progressive" Democratic do you think could do that in Florida?

[erpowers]

8. Harder Time Beating Andrew Gillum

I know Andrew Gillum could not run in this election, but DeSantis had a harder time beating Andrew Gillum in 2018 than he had in beating Charlie Crist. I am just wondering if the problem was more Charlie Crist than the Democratic Party as a whole.

[JohnSJ]

9. Voter suppression

[moonscape]

13. He wasn't an incumbent then,

and apparently he spent a lot of effort on ground game and Latinos preparing for this sing.

[dsp3000]

21. 2018 was also a banner Democratic year. i dunno if it will ever come that close in the near future.

[krawhitham]

5. Was Val Demings a "Real" Democrat? Because she got crushed too

[erpowers]

12. Real Democrat

Yes, Val Demings is a real Democrat. I am just wondering if the problem was more Charlie Crist than the Democratic Party as a whole. I realize Demings lost big also, but I still wonder if governor's race might have been closer if Crist had not been the nominee. I realize the issue could be Florida, but Marco Rubio seemed to be a stronger candidate in that he was a two term Senator who has been winning races by large margins for years. It was not the same for Ron DeSantis.

[Darwins_Retriever]

23. Deming should have run for Governor

Probably would have lost, but it would have given her a boost and run for Governor again. The Dem Party needs to build in Florida. Naming prominent Democrats in Florida is tough. Maybe a prosecutor can go after the rich and famous, and TFG. Or a Hispanic that builds a prominent advocacy group, serves the needs of not only Hispanics, but also all those in need of help. Be a voice, a loud voice. Fight the Republican dominated government. Maybe a female human rights advocate that is fighting against abortion bans, pushing for solutions to poverty and health issues.

[BannonsLiver]

6. Florida is a right wing state

Jesus could have run as a Dem and he would have lost. Is Crist totally uninteresting? Yes. Would another candidate have done any better? Probably not.

[lindysalsagal]

7. It's the evangelical and latino votes that secure Deathsantis. That's only in florida.

He has no national appeal. But if he can steal the GQP nomination from TFG, then he's a useful fall guy.

[PortTack]

10. This! If he steals the nomination from tfg, it wil be so ugly..much worse than the GA runoff in '21

Much worse. He will tell his cult to stay home. There will be no end to it.

[themaguffin]

11. Rubio did just as well. It's not the candidate so much as it is... Florida itself.

[lark]

14. R's poured billions into ads for deathsentence/rubio during the last month..

His ads were very varied and ran from puff pieces on the family man to really hate filled ads that made Demings look scary. Dems never fought except on abortion. Medicare and Social Security and Democracy and Covid deaths should have been screamed to the rooftops by Dems, but was not even mentioned. Dems fucked up the messaging, BAD.

[LenaBaby61]

15. Agree. He'll peter out there so to speak in floriduh, and won't be able to do much nationwide.

Hands off uteruses and woman's bodies almost nation-wide, and young people won't lie down and take his woke shit.

DeathSantis will only ever BE the big, fat, racist, thigh-high boot-wearing, covid-murdering governor of floriduh, the catholic, rednecks and racist cubans in floriduh. He and his wife, Lady McBeth might as well get used to it

THE END.

[OneBro]

16. I don't yet know what to think.

1. How was Crist’s campaign?
2. Was there help from the DNC?
3. How were our “get out the vote” efforts, and when did they start?

I did not closely follow Florida because I have enough angst and misery in my life, but I thought DeSantis killed enough of his likely voters to cover his margin of victory in the prior election.

Pundits make me want to puke, whether they are gloating about random predictions or spewing hind-sight based advice. This means my news radio will be off for a while.

I wonder why so many democrats don’t vote, and the ONLY way to find out is to ask them, starting NOW, and using that information to inform what should be ongoing get-out-the-vote efforts.

I wonder what unanswered dirty tricks republicans employed this time.

I’m a fan of AOC-Demmings-Buttigieg-type Democrats who are informed fighters. Imperfect, sure, but when either of them is at the mic, EVERYBODY in the room is gonna get called on their bullshit. Dunno how Crist fits in that mix, but I think resources would be well spent to study what, exactly, led to so many Florida democrats to stay home.

In other words, punditry aside, what the actual fuck actually happened in Florida?

[diehardblue]

18. The state has been gerrymandered. That is how they won everything.

[Darwins_Retriever]

19. The Democrats do not have anybody that can compete in Florida

Crist was a poor choice, as was Demings. Crist is worn out his welcome and Demings had no appeal outside of Orange County. Democrats need to build a couple state leaders, preferably Latino or Latina. Democrats are losing the Latin population. Rick Scott knows how to work Florida's Latinos. After the hurricane that hit Puerto Rico, Scott was there helping, listening, and delivering things that were probably paid for from his Medicare fraud. Florida democrats (especially Nelson) did nothing.

[BradAllison]

20. As Chris Hayes pointed out, he appeals to white trash Florida....

....and Hispanics who want to be white.

But Christ was a bad choice. Time to retire.

[CTyankee]

22. He's no fool. I've been telling DU folks this for a while.

Worked his way through Yale, went on to Harvard Law School. He is not stupid and he is dangerous, IMO.

[Baitball Blogger]

24. The Florida Dems don't have the gravitas to push forth a diverse candidate for governor.

Wish someone from outside would move into the State now and begin the residency process.

[GAdem2016]

25. Personally, I think it's age demographics; Florida voters are older

Average age is 42 years. Compare to Georgia, which is 37. 21% of the Florida population is over age 65 compared to 15% in Georgia.

I don't have a cross tab of age x race/ethnicity, but my guess is that the over 65 population in Floriday skews heavily white.

I understand the element related to Latinos in FL but I think the main driver of Republican dominance in Florida is age dominance. I also heard this morning that the leaning of Latinos to Rs is among older Latinos and not at all among younger Latinos.

[Joinfortmill]

26. Totally agree.

[WarGamer]

27. So you think that maybe... Val Demings for Governor might have beat him?

[sarisataka]

28. I recall the last time

We dismissed a Republican candidate for President as "not a threat"

[Ms. Toad]

29. Let me introduce you to Donald Trump -

Who was also deemed not a threat to Democrats in 2016 - so much so that some Democrats crossed party lines to vote for him in the primary, hoping he would be the candidate in the general election, and others voted for a third party candidate in the general election to teach "president" Clinton a lesson.

It is NEVER a good idea to treat extremists as not a threat.

[videohead5]

30. I heard on MSNBC

That the Democrats have a horrible infrastructure in Florida. Basically, they said there is not one. Also, a bunch of Democrats did not vote.

[BannonsLiver]

31. I feel like there's a chance this post may not age well.

You should also recognize that the media will normalize DeSantis in comparison to Trump.

[TxGuitar]

32. Neither was Trump.

But DeSantis doesn't really have the 'star power' (for lack of a better term) that Trump did.

[Hekate]

33. He is.