To the extent that Democrats haven’t fully conceded Florida going into the November election, the latest polling out of the state may represent a breaking point.
Suffolk University/USA Today has released, what I consider to be the first credible, independent survey of races taking place there. The results were fire and brimstone in favor of Democrats. Gov. Ron DeSantis is a dominant leader over all his possible opponents. Nikki Fried recently tried to accuse him of not condemning white supremacy.
Senator Marco Rubio has defeated Rep. Val Demmings on the Senate side. She was seen as a strong candidate at her announcement.
49-41 Rubio over Demings
49-43 DeSantis over Crist; 51-40 DeSantis over FriedBiden approval: 39% https://t.co/Zmn2GgW5Ia
— Justin (@Justin_TTF) February 1, 2022
For all the consternation from the national press over DeSantis’ tenure, he continues to draw broad support in a state that is not known for giving it. In 2018, DeSantis beat Andrew Gillum less than half of a point. Now, he’s consistently beating Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried in hypothetical matchups by what are blowout numbers in a political context.
Rubio’s performance is perhaps most impressive, though. Demmings has always been painted as a “serious” Democrat with a mind towards fairness. Yet, she’s not even competitive at this point. That begs the question of why she’s even running? For a long and successful career in Congress, she was likely to hold a leadership role. But if she loses to Rubio, and it’s almost certain she does, that all goes away. Maybe she was too confident and her supporters were wrong to encourage her.
His approval rating in the Sunshine State is just 39%. If that number holds — and there’s no reason to believe it will rise substantially over the next nine months — he will drag a lot of Democrats down just as Barack Obama did in 2010.
This poll yields an odd result. Clinton is actually better than the incumbent president in a hypothetical primary matchup of Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton. That is a testament to how much derision there is around Biden’s presidency, even among Democrats. Clinton wouldn’t try to become the primary for Biden. Biden must step aside to make her run. Still, it’s interesting to note.
The clock is ticking and Democrats continue to struggle. This is far worse than any one expected it to be six months ago. DeSantis was always a favorite, but he’s not supposed to be this big of a favorite, and Demmings flopping so far is a legitimate surprise. If you belong to the left, it might be a good idea to avoid watching election night coverage. November awaits.
About Post Author
