"Florida is in play": Inside the Democratic project to pull off the unthinkable in the Sunshine State

[In It to Win It]

Mother Jones

On a recent Sunday, a couple hundred politically engaged Floridians are sipping sparkling water and nibbling on Biscoff-crusted cheesecake bites at a posh golf club located along the state’s southeast coast. Not Mar-a-Lago. This event is 27 miles away, at the similarly lavish Boca Grove Golf and Tennis Club ($200,000 initiation fee, $45,000 annual dues).

At this point, Hurricane Milton has not formed. Hurricane Helene is still four days from making landfall, and Florida Democratic chair Nikki Fried and Democratic Senate nominee Debbie Mucarsel-Powell are making the case to the Brooks Brothers–loving crowd that more auspicious winds—political ones—are sweeping the state.

Fried invites the large room of club members and guests to envision their living rooms as election results start to trickle in on November 5: “We’re all watching MSNBC, and we’ve got Steve Kornacki on the board…He stops for a second. He puts his finger to his ear and he says, ‘I have a prediction,’” Fried intones in the style of a yoga instructor setting the mood for Savasana. In her fantasy, Kornacki forecasts Florida going blue, “deliver[ing] the presidency to Kamala Harris.”

“I don’t think it’s a secret anymore,” says Mucarsel-Powell, who represented the Miami area in Congress between 2019 and 2021. “Florida is in play.”

Not long ago, these predictions would have been laughable.

[Mad_Machine76]

1. I would love to see MAGATS heads explode if we win Florida

Of course they'll be thousands of recounts but.....

[Lovie777]

2. 10 trillion lawsuits and US SC six RW justices for the final countdown.................

[lastlib]

3. I wonder how the hurricanes are going to affect the voting....

Many residents have left the state, and may not be able to return to their homes for some time. Can they obtain absentee ballots in time? I can envision a lot of scenarios that would drastically affect the voting. Polling places not available due to damage, election workers displaced/unable to work polls, people unable to get absentee ballots--it could be a nightmare. Can anybody talk me down on this?

[Torchlight]

4. That article sucked me and I read through it.

It's a good editorial/informal analysis supported by some objective information (as well as anecdotal). Florida's new state of being a coin-flip is more comforting to me than the more immediate change of Cruz's status from Likely to Leans To in the past ten days.

Every day this month has been bringing better and better indicators for next month's results.

[JT45242]

5. The Dobbs decision puts all statewide races in play

Even in solud red states, state level abortion amendment have won easily. If we don't let the Republicans run from that issue alone every state is in play.

Sadly, the more women that are maimed, become sterile, or die because of crazy abortion bans the more likely that Democrats can win state wide elections. Ironic that their cruelty in writing these laws in ways that doctors are afraid to practice medicine may actually cost them statewide races like president, governor, or senator.