We recently had a presidential primary in Florida. Well, that’s not strictly true. The Republicans just had a presidential primary.
The newspapers played it up big. Before the vote there were stories about how it was going to yield insight into the way in which Republicans viewed Donald Trump. Is his luster fading? Or is he more in charge of his party than ever?
After the election even more news was devoted to it. It seemed clear that Trump was very much in command, despite all his legal troubles and petulant behaviors. He received over 81% of the vote.
On the other hand, his opponents, all of whom had already exited the race, received a total under 19%. Nikki Haley got roughly 13.9%, whipping, I’m pleased to say, Ron DeSantis who received a tad over 3%. Talking head analyses of these opposition votes ranged from a significant threat to Trump in the general election to no problem at all for Trump because Republican voters always come together for the nominee.
What I believe is the major point of all this is that the Republican party received a lot of interest from the media over a period of several days.
And the Democratic party and its assured nominee received little to none.
Why is that?
The Democratic party of Florida made the decision not to hold a primary this year. I guess they figured they had their nominee and there was no point. Or maybe they thought that Biden does have many weaknesses and a big protest vote would do harm.
What a mistake! For several reasons.
Of course, there is the missed opportunity to get the party’s and Biden’s names out there. Democrats are in real trouble in Florida and there is some merit to the idea that any publicity is “good” publicity. Look at Trump.
Furthermore, there are at least two others seeking the Democratic nomination. Of course, they have no chance. But we Democrats claim to be morally superior and upholders of democratic principles. Now we’re saying to those other candidates, “You can’t have your opportunity in Florida.” How does that look?
Finally, there is no doubt that Biden has real troubles within his own party. In Michigan his actions regarding the Israeli-Hamas war angered enough so there was an “uncommitted” vote from 13% of his own party. Was there fear of a similar thing happening in Florida? But even if it did, wouldn’t it be better to find out what people are thinking, where in the state Biden’s weaknesses are most pronounced, and determine how one can deal with them before the election? Instead, nothing along that line was learned. Interestingly, other candidates in that Michigan primary received together 5.7%. Not a lot, but not trivial either. Yet they never got their say in Florida.
Unfortunately, I fear this is just the latest in a long history of the Democratic party’s slow demise in Florida. I think one mistake was in selecting Nikki Fried to lead it through the upcoming election. I favored another candidate. Fried had been elected in 2018 to the office of Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. She won by the barest of margins, 50.04 % to 49.96%. But she was the only Democrat to win a statewide office in a long time, so she deserves credit. Unfortunately, she also, on a personal basis, was involved in the medical marijuana industry and in that capacity worked with Matt Gaetz, one of the most repulsive members of the Republican far right. So maybe I’m assuming guilt by association, but it does give me pause. In seeking reelection, she lost by a whopping 19%, hardly the winning reputation to bring to party leadership.
It may very well be that Fried is doing a good job, but I don’t see it. She seems reactive, responding to Republican actions and words with typical weak responses about how bad the Republicans are. I hear promises about seeking the votes of young people (who one poll indicated are turning Republican) and Latinos (with the same shift). I hope such efforts to reach these groups do indeed exist and are succeeding.
I also hope I’m wrong in my assessment and that the Democrats are making wise decisions.
I just wish I could see it.
The newspapers played it up big. Before the vote there were stories about how it was going to yield insight into the way in which Republicans viewed Donald Trump. Is his luster fading? Or is he more in charge of his party than ever?
After the election even more news was devoted to it. It seemed clear that Trump was very much in command, despite all his legal troubles and petulant behaviors. He received over 81% of the vote.
On the other hand, his opponents, all of whom had already exited the race, received a total under 19%. Nikki Haley got roughly 13.9%, whipping, I’m pleased to say, Ron DeSantis who received a tad over 3%. Talking head analyses of these opposition votes ranged from a significant threat to Trump in the general election to no problem at all for Trump because Republican voters always come together for the nominee.
What I believe is the major point of all this is that the Republican party received a lot of interest from the media over a period of several days.
And the Democratic party and its assured nominee received little to none.
Why is that?
The Democratic party of Florida made the decision not to hold a primary this year. I guess they figured they had their nominee and there was no point. Or maybe they thought that Biden does have many weaknesses and a big protest vote would do harm.
What a mistake! For several reasons.
Of course, there is the missed opportunity to get the party’s and Biden’s names out there. Democrats are in real trouble in Florida and there is some merit to the idea that any publicity is “good” publicity. Look at Trump.
Furthermore, there are at least two others seeking the Democratic nomination. Of course, they have no chance. But we Democrats claim to be morally superior and upholders of democratic principles. Now we’re saying to those other candidates, “You can’t have your opportunity in Florida.” How does that look?
Finally, there is no doubt that Biden has real troubles within his own party. In Michigan his actions regarding the Israeli-Hamas war angered enough so there was an “uncommitted” vote from 13% of his own party. Was there fear of a similar thing happening in Florida? But even if it did, wouldn’t it be better to find out what people are thinking, where in the state Biden’s weaknesses are most pronounced, and determine how one can deal with them before the election? Instead, nothing along that line was learned. Interestingly, other candidates in that Michigan primary received together 5.7%. Not a lot, but not trivial either. Yet they never got their say in Florida.
Unfortunately, I fear this is just the latest in a long history of the Democratic party’s slow demise in Florida. I think one mistake was in selecting Nikki Fried to lead it through the upcoming election. I favored another candidate. Fried had been elected in 2018 to the office of Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. She won by the barest of margins, 50.04 % to 49.96%. But she was the only Democrat to win a statewide office in a long time, so she deserves credit. Unfortunately, she also, on a personal basis, was involved in the medical marijuana industry and in that capacity worked with Matt Gaetz, one of the most repulsive members of the Republican far right. So maybe I’m assuming guilt by association, but it does give me pause. In seeking reelection, she lost by a whopping 19%, hardly the winning reputation to bring to party leadership.
It may very well be that Fried is doing a good job, but I don’t see it. She seems reactive, responding to Republican actions and words with typical weak responses about how bad the Republicans are. I hear promises about seeking the votes of young people (who one poll indicated are turning Republican) and Latinos (with the same shift). I hope such efforts to reach these groups do indeed exist and are succeeding.
I also hope I’m wrong in my assessment and that the Democrats are making wise decisions.
I just wish I could see it.
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