CNN
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Charlie Crist, whose profession as a Republican ended with a hug from a Democratic president, could have seen his political destiny sealed by one other Democratic president complimenting his Republican rival.
That’s the sentiment rolling by Democratic circles in Florida after President Joe Biden’s tour of the state’s storm-ravaged Gulf Coast, the place he praised Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Crist’s opponent, for his dealing with of Hurricane Ian. Biden referred to as DeSantis’ response “fairly outstanding” after a congenial joint occasion along with his someday nemesis.
Hurricane Ian’s arrival a month earlier than the election has pushed politics to the again burner as state and native leaders proceed to cope with the fallout of the deadliest storm to hit Florida in generations. It has been a problem for Democratic candidates to show the eye again to the marketing campaign path with a lot give attention to the restoration and so many residents in southwest Florida homeless.
On the time of Biden’s remarks, Crist, the Democratic nominee for governor, and his allies have been ramping up criticism of DeSantis tied to the hurricane – highlighting the previous GOP congressman’s previous votes in opposition to storm help and local weather change laws and elevating questions in regards to the timing of evacuations in Lee County and the shortage of urgency to deal with a crumbling property insurance coverage market. Earlier within the week, Crist and the state Democratic Social gathering promoted a narrative from a neighborhood tv station that includes Floridians who mentioned they have been blocked from delivering storm provides so DeSantis might survey the injury.
Biden “closed the door to that,” one veteran Democratic strategist advised CNN, asking to not be named to talk brazenly in regards to the race.
“The dynamics of the race wanted to shift, and this was a chance for it to shift,” the strategist mentioned. “The President complimenting the governor takes that complete subject off the desk.”
Democrats have been already dealing with an uphill climb in a state trending red previous to Ian making landfall. The Republican voter registration edge in Florida, a latest phenomenon, grew to 270,000 in September, based on the state’s Division of Elections. A recent survey of likely voters conducted by Siena College earlier than the storm gave DeSantis an 8-point benefit over Crist. And DeSantis nonetheless hasn’t totally unleashed his colossal fundraising benefit – $106 million on hand to Crist’s $5 million on the finish of final month.
Within the race for US Senate, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio equally led Rep. Val Demings, an Orlando Democrat, by 7 factors within the Siena ballot. And Rubio, although outraised for many of this cycle, has almost twice as a lot money for the closing weeks as Demings, who spent aggressively over the summer season to introduce herself to voters unfamiliar along with her background as a former Orlando police chief and three-term congresswoman.
Simply as Floridians dwell below fixed menace of hurricanes this time of yr, campaigns right here, too, are sometimes compelled to navigate the politics of storms. The disruption Ian has induced to the electoral calendar, whereas not remotely a priority for these bearing private loss from the destruction, nonetheless stays a fragile take a look at for candidates.
Demings has reengaged with the marketing campaign by specializing in Rubio’s previous votes associated to catastrophe reduction. On Thursday, Demings advised MSNBC that Rubio “ought to pay a value” for skipping a vote on a stopgap invoice to fund the federal government by the tip of the yr that included $18.8 million for the Federal Emergency Administration Company to help states, together with Florida, with pure disasters.
“If there’s any time we must always lay politics apart, it dag gone ought to be throughout a pure catastrophe,” she mentioned.
Rubio’s marketing campaign accused Demings of supporting a Hurricane Ian reduction invoice stuffed with “pork” for initiatives unrelated to the storm. The senator has mentioned he would vote against such a bill.
“We shouldn’t have that in there as a result of it undermines the flexibility to return again and do that sooner or later,” Rubio mentioned.
As Ian arrived, Crist pulled his advertisements off the air in many of the state’s media markets. This week, he redirected his marketing campaign bus to help with the reduction efforts. The one scheduled debate between Crist and DeSantis, slated for subsequent week, is now delayed, and the host station has not introduced a brand new date.
Amid his financing crunch, Crist canceled a fundraiser scheduled for this week in Sanibel Island, one of many barrier island communities that bore the brunt of the storm surge introduced on by Ian. One other fundraiser scheduled with Biden was postponed as effectively.
In the meantime, DeSantis, who continued to air marketing campaign commercials all through the storm, has commanded Florida’s response from floor zero, holding common briefings by which he updates reporters on the state’s restoration efforts. In latest days, these information conferences have been joined by supporters of the governor, who cheer him on as he declares new developments within the push to get Lee and Charlotte counties up and working.
At DeSantis’ joint look with Biden in Fort Myers Seashore on Wednesday, absent was the Republican’s aggressively partisan approach to governing that has fueled his quick rise to 2024 presidential hopeful. As a substitute, he recommended the White Home for its collaboration in serving to Floridians, whereas Biden returned the favor, telling reporters that DeSantis has completed “a very good job” managing the restoration.
“We’ve very totally different political philosophies, however we labored hand in glove,” Biden mentioned. “On issues associated to coping with this disaster, we’ve been utterly lockstep. There’s been no distinction.”
Democrats anticipated Biden and DeSantis to play good throughout their transient time collectively, however the compliments the President supplied the governor caught some abruptly.
Sean Shaw, a former state consultant who stays lively with the state occasion, mentioned his telephone was stuffed with textual content messages from Democrats noting how unhealthy Biden’s remarks could be for Crist.
“However I imply, what else is Biden gonna say?” Shaw mentioned in a textual content message to CNN.
Crist has seen his political fortunes upended by presidential visits earlier than. As a Republican governor in 2009, Crist drew criticism from his occasion for hugging President Barack Obama at a Florida occasion to promote the White Home’s monetary restoration plan. The fallout from that second kickstarted Crist’s eventual exit from the GOP.
Now, because the Democratic candidate for governor, Crist has emphasised his hug with Obama to interact with Black voters and he has embraced Biden like few in his occasion have. The day after profitable the Democratic major for governor of Florida, Crist referred to as Biden a “nice man” and “the very best I’ve ever met” and he welcomed the President to affix him on the marketing campaign path.
“Thank god for Joe Biden,” Crist mentioned within the interview. It’s a line featured – twice – in a Republican advert airing in opposition to Crist.
Reggie Cardozo, who beforehand served as Obama’s political director in Florida, mentioned he believes there may be nonetheless a chance for Crist to make a case in opposition to DeSantis regardless of Biden’s remarks.
“The White Home wished this to be as apolitical as attainable. So I’m not shocked that there was a kumbaya second. Appropriately,” Cardozo mentioned. “Crist can credit score the governor for doing his finest to verify the restoration goes easily whereas ensuring individuals don’t overlook this can be a man who voted in opposition to this and believes that.”
Democrats would additionally prefer to shift the dialog again to points on which they consider they’ve the higher hand, together with the future of abortion access in the state and the hovering price of dwelling in Florida. In an look Thursday evening on MSNBC, Crist tried to hyperlink DeSantis’ about-face on hurricane help to the Republican push to restriction abortion.
“It certain could be good to be sort of constant about what you consider versus what you assume is an emergency scenario,” Crist mentioned. “He simply appears to be inconsistent on so many issues. He talks about freedom, for instance. But he desires to assault a girl’s proper to decide on. I imply, it’s constant all the best way.”
