GAWD DAMN -This Florida shit is going too far -

[In It to Win It]

59. I agree with

To me, it seems the youth vote in Florida seems to be much further to the left than most Democrats, which puts them at odds not only with most of Florida right now, but Democrats as well.

I think Florida Democrats are largely moderate, so they tend to put up relatively moderate candidates (2022 being the classic example of choosing a moderate in Charlie Crist over Nikki Fried). However, the more liberal young voters aren't going to show up for Charlie Crist. That isn't good for Democratic candidates in Florida because there is no room to sacrifice voters. Every single part of the Democratic coalition is needed in Florida. Democratic turnout is not that reliable IMO so therefore you can't afford to turnoff moderates to target more liberal voters and you can't afford to turn off liberal voters to target moderate voters. You need them all to have a sliver of a chance at winning.

It's another reason why I think Democrats as a whole should focus their efforts elsewhere in the nation until those on the left in Florida get their act together.

I think this will never happen without national Democrats. The Florida Democratic Party needs help, outside help. "Outside help" doesn't mean just showing up during the election season, which is what usually happens, and then going back to ignoring Florida afterwards. I'm of the opinion that if we wait for that to happen, Democrats will never win Florida again. Florida Republicans have year-round engagement. Florida Republicans have the support of the larger and broader Republican party. Florida Republicans remain well-funded for longer periods of time while Florida Democrats don't. The broader Republican party remains engaged in Florida while the broader Democratic party doesn't (and hasn't) IMO.

Democrats try to gain a foothold (adding constitutional amendments to re-enfranchise former felons, to end gerymandering, etc), we still end up with the short end of the stick even when we're successful.

I'm not one that thinks Florida is lost for a generation. I think Florida can be winnable again. As I've stated in a previous post, Florida has over 14 million voters. Only about 53% of them actually turned out. Ron DeSantis won Miami-Dade County in 2022, one of the big blue counties Democrats rely on for votes, but there was only around 47% turnout. With over 14 million voters, Ron DeSantis won re-election with 4.6 million votes.

My point in saying all of this is that there is room for growth, but that's only if the party is willing to invest and put in the time. I can't be the only Democrat in Florida that feels like the broader Party has largely abandoned us.