Beto O'Rourke's voting record is more conservative than the average Democrat's

[Florida Bull]

58. To be fair,

I don’t think Gwen Graham would have beat Ron DeSantis either. Bill Nelson was an incumbent and at least a Moderate, if not Centrist. And, he lost by a very similar number of votes. I like Bill Nelson and Gwen Graham, by the way.

I also do not think many Republican-leaning “swing” voters really care how moderate the Democrat is, they will still vote for their party. Adam Putnam could have run as the Democrat with his same platform, and I am not sure many Republican-leaning voters would have voted for the Democratic nominee. But, fewer Democrats probably would have voted. There would have been less enthusiastism.

The problems for Democrats are voter suppression and low turnout. Katherine Harris purged more Black voters than the official count George W. Bush won by in 2000.

The Republicans in Florida are well-organized and consistently turnout. Political operatives probably make sure to get every vote they can in the nursing homes. There is even a significantly sized city in Florida for retired voters, the Villages. And, there are many retirement communities. And, they will probably always vote Conservative Republican in the general elections, anyway.

Democrats need to become better organized, and vote more consistently.

Other factors in the 2018 losses were the format of the ballot in Broward County, and ballots in the Broward County post office remaining uncounted due to the pro-Trump bomb-maker.

I am not saying Moderate Democrat is a bad strategy. I think it is acceptable, and can win, including in Florida. I just do not believe a solid but not Far-Left Liberal like Andrew Gillum is any worse as a nominee. And, I think he endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016.

I do not see conclusive evidence a solid Liberal is any less likely to win a general election in Florida, than somebody more moderate.