You can’t beat him. That’s what many Florida Democrats think about Ron DeSantis…a year from 2022 elections. It’s not really shocking though. The man has been an MVP candidate in owning the liberal media for over a year. He didn’t listen to the media when it came to COVID protocols. He knew better. He read the medical literature, which is why his vaccine rollout was better than say New York’s botched operation. He also vaccinated his state’s elderly and vulnerable first. Ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo killed his with his nursing home order. He also groped a bunch of women which led to him resigning in disgrace and then being formally charged for one incident. When it comes to red states and blue states, DeSantis owned all. And Democrats in the Sunshine State know it. Politico had a piece in it describing them as “anxious” (via Politico):
Gov. Ron DeSantis appears unstoppable.
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It’s a situation that has alarmed Democrats, who fear that Florida’s days as a battleground state are over and that national donors will write off their candidates.
“Right now Democrats are engaged in Powerball politics. They could get lucky, but it’s more likely to happen because of circumstances outside their control rather than their ability to change the political environment in Florida,” said Fernand Amandi, a Miami-based Democratic political consultant and pollster who helped Barack Obama win the state in 2008 and 2012.
This is not the place Democrats expected to be three years ago when DeSantis beat then-Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by just under 34,000 votes. It signals that Democrats have much ground to cover before 2024 if they have any hopes of retaking Florida’s 30 electoral votes after former President Donald Trump won the state in 2016 and then by a larger gap in 2020.
A lot has changed since DeSantis was first elected. During the pandemic, DeSantis veered to the right as he touted an anti-lockdown, anti-mandate Covid stance. He pushed for laws and policies that targeted social media giants and racial justice protesters, and fought against the teaching of “critical race theory” in schools. His policies raised his profile nationally and have turned DeSantis into the leading 2024 presidential contender if Trump doesn’t run.
In a state that’s turning red, it’s working. Recent surveys shared with POLITICO show half of registered voters think the state is headed in the right direction, compared with only 25 percent who think the country is headed in the right direction.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a progressive Democrat from Orlando who considered challenging DeSantis, also acknowledges Democrats’ grim position.
“The election’s not happening tomorrow, there is still time for the tide to turn,” Eskamani said. “But obviously it needs to be an all-hands-on-deck situation right now.”
DeSantis can take the heat. He slaps back. He fights. And he wins. He’s also a good retail politician and most attacks against him are so over-the-top, they usually fizzle out on their own. Unless DeSantis screws up royally over the next year, then maybe Democrats have a shot. As of now, it’s not looking good for Democrats especially in a state that’s more diverse yet more Republican than it was in 2000.
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