Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
BREAKING — President Donald Trump on Thursday evening called off the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville. “To have a big convention, it’s not the right time,” Trump said. “I told my team it’s time to cancel the Jacksonville component. I’ll still do a convention speech, in a different form. But we won’t do a big crowded convention, per se.”
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A new Quinnipiac University Poll delivered gloomy news to the Governor’s mansion: Gov. Ron DeSantis is now underwater among Florida voters.
The Q Poll found the Republican Governor still had the confidence of 41% of the electorate, while 52% had soured on him. That’s a 31% shift from three months ago when he had a positive approval rating of 53%-33%.
The drop was mainly among Democrats and independents — voters from his own party still back him by an 82%-12% margin. Still, that’s a 6% drop from the last Quinnipiac Poll.
DeSantis’ falling stock is chained to his handling of the pandemic. Not long ago, Florida was viewed as having averted disaster. Now, headlines — and daily case numbers — routinely place it as an epicenter in the pandemic’s resurgence.
Florida feels the same, and by and large, they view the decisions from the Governor’s mansion in a negative light.
Nearly two-thirds say reopening schools is unsafe; an almost identical number feel the RNC coming to Jax next month would have been a disaster in the making; and nearly four in five voters said they supported a statewide mask mandate, a measure DeSantis has derided as unenforceable.
On his disaster management effort alone, DeSantis flunked. Just 38% approve compared to 57% who find him lacking. In April he was plus-9% on the same question.
As goes DeSantis, so goes Trump.
POTUS did trail presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden three months ago, but only by 4% — a tossup considering the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. Today, the former VP’s lead is 51%-38%.
“The president doesn’t escape the shifting moods and concerns of voters in Florida. His sagging numbers are a gut punch from one of the key states he keenly hopes to win,” said Tim Malloy, Quinnipiac a. University Polling analyst.
Coronavirus Numbers
Positive cases:
— 385,091 FL residents (+10,171 since Wednesday)
— 4,777 Non-FL residents (+78 since Wednesday)
Origin:
— 3,253 Travel related
— 99,948 Contact with a confirmed case
— 3,200 Both
— 278,690 Under investigation
Hospitalizations:
— 22,644 in FL
Deaths:
— 5,632 in FL
Unemployment numbers
As of Wednesday:
Total claims: 3,264,601
— Confirmed unique claims: 3,060,998
— Claim verification queue: 308,510
— Claims processed: 2,752,488
— Claims paid: 1,786,547 (+15,306 since Tuesday)
Total paid out: $11.25 billion (+$190 million since Tuesday)
Evening Reads
“Joe Biden leads Donald Trump 13 points in latest poll of Florida” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“U.S. coronavirus cases surpass four million” via Jon Kamp, Allison Prank and Jennifer Calfas of The Wall Street Journal
“‘We’re talking about more than half a million people missing from the U.S. population’” via Joe Pinsker of The Atlantic
“How a 60-year-old drug became our best hope for saving people with COVID-19” via Sara Reardon of FiveThirtyEight
“White House, GOP kill payroll tax cut but flounder on broader coronavirus bill” via Erica Werner, Seung Min Kim and Jeff Stein of The Washington Post
“House passes bipartisan public lands bill; next stop President’s desk” via Allison Stevens and Jacob Fischer of the Florida Phoenix
“On MLB Opening Day, Ron DeSantis wants faster testing statewide” via Renzo Downey of Florida Politics
“Florida’s economy won’t recover from COVID-19 for more than a year, report says” via David Lyons of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“COVID-19 inmate toll nears 1,000 at North Florida prison” via Ana Ceballos of News Service of Florida
“Jacksonville prosecutors drop charges against 15 protesters” via Drew Dixon of Florida Politics
“Alex Penelas vows to reverse Black flight in Miami-Dade” via Spencer Fordin of Florida Politics
“Deb Barra proposes corruption unit in Orlando’s State Attorney Office” via Scott Powers of Florida Politics
“UF launches Racial Justice Research Fund to support scholarship on the Black experience” via Drew Wilson of Florida Politics
Quote of the Day
“If I only had 500 people in Florida testing, I could find a way to turn it around within 24 hours, no question. But we have so many people, so the question is how do you do that.” — Gov. Ron DeSantis, on speeding up testing results.
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One comment
Margu ustin
July 23, 2020 at 9:56 pm
If de santis so late into virus disaster still asking how do we do that. He needs to resign now. He should have figused it out in early March like other governors who acted quickly then made mandate masks and now in good shape.he let an insane buffoon dictate deadly mentally ill irrational actions to him that continue to make florida an out of control apocalypse ongoing to infinity BECAUSE HE’S DOING NOTHING TO CLOSE OR RESTRICT ALL THE RUSHED OPEN PHASES HE DID WAY TOO EARLY THAT WILL ONLY END IN FLORIDA DESTRUCTION BECAUSE ITS OUT OF CONTROL TOTALLY INTO INFINITY WITHOUT STATE LEVEL MANDATES.
MASK MANDATE HE SHRUGGED OFF WAY TOO LONG SAYING CAN’T BE ENFORCED.WELL MANY STATES DID EARLY DIDNT ENFORCE IT EITHER …BUT MILLIONS WORE MASKS MONTHS NOW AND THOSE STATES LOW CASES NOW OPEN ECONOMY. VIRUS WILL CLOSE BUSINESSES ANYWAY WHAT IS HE WAITING FOR TO CLOSE RESTAURANTS PARKS ETC ETC BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY WAITING CLOSES BUSINESSES ANYWAY BUT CREATES FULL HOSPITALS AND THOUSANDS DEAD ON AND ON. 9000 10000 WAY TOO LONG TO NOT CLOSE DOWN.IT WILL BE NOT INCREASED TRIPLE DEATHS UP UP NOW AT 180 DAILY.2 WEEKS AGO AT 130 DAILY AND IN MAY 113 A WEEK!!
Listening to a stupid irrational trump is causing this. Florida hates de santis and trump now.worst state BECAUSE MOST OTHER SURGING STATES HAVE PULLBACKS AND MANDATE MASKS. DE SANTIS IS ASSUMING PEOPLE WON’T WEAR THEM MILLIONS WILL IF STATE LAW. NOT SUGGESTED BUT LAW.THAT TELLS MAJORITY NEEDED AND THEY WILL.IDIOTS LOUD PROTESTERS ARE LOUD MINORITY.
IT NEEDS TO BE LAW STATE WIDE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THERE’S NOTHING IN PLACE GOOD ENOUGH TO SLOW SPREAD AT ALL AND WHAT’S CAUSING IT IS ALL STILL OPEN GOING WORSE TO INFINITY.
TRUMP IS STUPID AND ARROGANT AND DE SANTIS IS CUNNING CORRUPT AND ASSUMES WRONGLY THAT COSTING LIVES WITH NO MASK MANDATE.TO MANY LOCAL LEADERS ARENT DOING AND IT NEEDS CLOUT AND SERIOUSNESS OF GOVERNOR TO MAKE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE COMPLY.
IT’S DEADLY AND WEARING A MASK WITH MANDATE SIMPLE LAW BUT PROVEN OVER AND OVER TO TRULY SLOW DOWN VIRUS. WAITING WILL ONLY MAKE IT WORSE AND WORSE THEN WAY TOO LATE HIS ATTITUDE IS WAIT WAIT AND WHEN DOES SOMETHING WAY TOO LATE.
22 MILLION PEOPLE WITH 3 MILLION TESTED IS A JOKE OF DEATH , FULL HOSPITALS ,SOON CLOSED ECONOMY BY virus anyway. What in he** is he thinking????
Nonsense students will fall behind if don’t go school.parents will have dead kids and catch it and die themselves.
School doesn’t matter anymore in Florida’s deadly condition.it’s life or death condition.
De santis sounds stupid talking ABOUT EDUCATION NEEDED WHEN WE ARE ALL JUST TRYING TO STAY ALIVE AND KIDS SAFE.SCHOOL RIGHT NOW NATIONWIDE IS UNIMPORTANT.WILL SPREAD VIRUS FASTER AND FADTER. THOSE COUNTRIES OPENED SCHOILS HAD 15 FAST DECLINING DAYS IN A ROW NO MANIPULATED RATES ETC.
TRUMP HAS DESTROYED AMERICA PUTTING OFF PUTTING OFF CANT EVERYBODY UNDERSTAND DE SANTIS IS STUPIDLY DOING SAME THING PUTTING OFF PUTTING OFF UNTIL TOO LATE.JUST LIKE AMERICA IS OUT OF CONTROL FROM TRUMPS ONGOING DELAYS NONACTIONS WHEN NEEDED OVER AND OVER DE SANTIS DOING SAME SO FLORIDA ENDING UP OUT OF CONTROL LIKE AMERICA.
DEVELOPED COUNTRY IN WORST SHAPE THAN 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES.TRUMP MADE NATIONAL LAW 2 OR 3 MONTHS AGO MASKS LIKE CHINA WE WOULD HAVE NO VIRUS AT ALL.
HE’S STUPID HIS MIND IS CRAZY SPITTING OUT IRRATIONAL DEADLY HUNCHES THAT WAY TOO MANY GOVERNORS LIKE HIM FOLLOWED.NOW LOOK AT RESULTS.
FLORIDA IS BEINE DESTROYED.MANY MANY WEEKS OF INCREASING HOSPITALIZATIONS AND DEATHS SURGING AND IF SO,CALLED LOWER AT 10000 FEW DAYS THEN BACK UP IS DUE TO JUST DATA ENTRY CRAP,IT’S ON PATH TO HELL AND NO WAY TO STOP IT UNLESS HE ACTS NOW STILL SPOUTING NONSENSE IF GOES FROM 150 DEATHS TO 140 HE IS SANDBAG GINGER EVERYBODY BECAUSE GOES BACK UP HIGH.IT’S WAY WAY WAY TOO MANY HOSPITALIZATIONS AND DEATHS AND WITHOUT TAKING ROLL BACK CLOSE MORE WEAR MASKS IT’S THE END OF FLORIDA ECONOMY AND LIVES.
TRUMP IS IN A FANTASY WORLD OF HIS DISTORTED REALITY AND DE SANTIS ISN’T ADMITTING THAT OR FACING TRUTHS BUT CONTINUALLY WORMING HIS WAY OUT OF CLOSING AS HE NEVER EVER DID A REAL,LOCKDOWN AND THAT CAUSED THIS DISASTER TOMSTART GROWING TO CATROSPHIC CONDITION TODSY.
I DON’T KNOW WHO HE THINKS HE’S CATERING TO BUT FLORIDA VOTERS FIND HIM DESPICABLE AND USELESS.FULL OF MEANINGLESS RHETORIC NOW 5 MONTHS. AND ON AND ON.HE’S SUCH A USELESS GOVERNOR.SCHOOL,IS IMPORTANT ETC ETC BULL****,DE SANTIS GET IT FLORIDA PEOPLE DYING TRIPLE DAILY NUMBERS SENIORS SELF QUARANTINGET 5 MONTHS NO END IN SIGHT WHILE DE SANTIS STUPIDLY TALK
KS ABOUT EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT. BULL**** AT LEAST 20 MILLION PEOPLE AND 89 PERCENT POLLED SAY ROLL BACK NOW MANDATE MASKS FROM STATE STOP SHUNTING HIS JOB OFF ON A LOT OF LOCAL LEADERS THAT DONT KNOW, HOW HAVE NO STAFF, NOT ENOUGH CLOUT TO SLOW VIRUS.AND TO MANY JUST TOO STUPID TO UNDERSTAND THEIR IS NO STOPPING RAPID SPREAD TO DESTRUCTION IF ACTION FROM STATE ISTRAIGHT DONE HARD.DONE FADT.RIGHT NOW,NO MORE SPEECHES AD NAUSEUM. PLEASE. ACTION STRONG HARD AND NOW.
PUTTING OFF IT AS IT’S INEVITABLE ANYWAY IS JUST KILLING MORE ECONOMY AND PEPLE.HIS SLOW AND WRONG ACTIONS TAKEN FROM A TRUMP WHO DESTROYED AMERICA IS PURE DEADLY suicide for his career and florida.
Trump is done.he’s not capable day to day to do his job.he sounds acts like is so insane and in a false reality he needs to be comitted to an institution.1 day he says a sentence right.next day he’s destroying America more.pure senile and out of touch with reality.a fake president who gets irrstiinal deadly hunches and presents them to corrupt governors who go out and follow them and are destroying their states on and on.because de santis follows a fake stupid con man.a fake president who is good at conning his deadly thoughts into governors nonactions, wrong actions and destroying their states therefore governors are destroying america,time to stand up ignore politics save your states or its all,over fast now.total destruction while de santis still puthing off needed actions drastic actions now.
Economy is tanking.market going down.unemployment of course headed up up as virus takes over florida.
Speeches ridiculous.action drastic needed in florida and state wide now. Trump is a petulant ego driven child mentality who wouldn’t wear a mask early on to save America BECAUSE HE WASN’T THINKING ABT AMERICANS, AS HE SAID MASKS TO HIM MEANT HIM WEARING A MASK MITE MAKE HIM HIM HIM LOOK WEAK.WHAT PRESIDENT PUTS THAT KIND OF TOTALLY SELF ABSORBED THOUGHT BEFORE THE SAFETY OF AMERICA. TRUMP ALWAYS.ALWAYS ABT HIM NEVER US.DE SANTIS DID AND DOING SAME.ABT DE SANTIS WRONG ASSUMPTIONS.NOT WAKING UP FACING REALITY FAST ACTION NEEDED. Many many many tomorrow’s will go on getting worse unless de santis and these governors don’t for realms shut down totally 4 weeks to save yrs of ongoing no economy no tourists. Because that’s what his ongoing refusals and weak useless restrictions are creating already with no end in sight,how stupid can he get its beyond belief de santis lives out of reality sees nothing that’s the real world in florida happening,he’s not fit to be dog catcher,he assumes so doesn’t mandate masks.he manipulates rates etc so he can keep businesses open WHEN THEY’LL ALL CLOSE ANYWAY VIRUS OTHER CONTAINED IMPOSSIBLE TO SLOW EVEN HE LET GO SO,LONG WITHOUT STRICT 4 WEEKS LOCKDOWN MAJORITY WILL COMPLY.THAT’S ENOUGH TO MAKE IT WORK.TEN IN 5 WEEKS WE START OVER SLOW SLOW.HE DID NO SLOW SMART STEPS.HE DID FAST WRONG STEPS CAUSING THIS DISASTER AS HE OPENED STILL Rising hospitalizations and deaths in may.
Look at may 3 hospitalizations thenow look at today and surging at plateau of huge huge hospitalizations and deaths then higher again.it’s frigging out of control.now no meds or beds enough.what in h**( is he waicing for??
Cuomo fixed a bad situation with hard smart non political work and de santis is causing a bad situation of virus damage statewide ongoing disaster economically and growing deadly deaths to infinity and dead florida fast
.de santis is not listening to majority of voterse who want strict lockdown mandate masks.and most will do it. Sevl weeks of that strict sacrifice 89 percent of people want save just might if we are lucky save Florida’s economy.
Kids dying now.education not important now,people trying just to stay alive in a not great florida a not great america and de santis and trump making it the laughingstock of a government worldwide as they also cry for what trump de santis etc are doing to americas people.
It can be fixed,now.follow a real governor with a heart de santis,cuomo.not continue to be a shady out of touch with Florida’s suffering HEARTLESS SOULLESS GOVERNOR TALKING ABT SCHOOL WILL BE HARD ON KIDS IF THEY DONT GO.BULL** WHAT’S MUCH MUCH HARDER ON KIDS IS HAVING DEAD PARENTS AND GRANDPARENT’S. NOBODY BUT TRUMP WHO ONLY CARES ABT TRUMP WANTS KIDS IN SCHOOL.NOT PARENTS NOT TEACHERS.I
DE SANTIS IS FOLLOWING INSANE TRUMP AGAIN WHO HAS NO REALITY OF THE WORLD NEVER DID AND WILL NOW KILL KIDS AND PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS THAT’S WHAT WILL TRAUMATIZED KIDS DE SANTIS.NOT STAYING HOME FROM SCHOOL TO BE SAFE IN FLORIDAS CATROSPHIC CONDITION AND UNCONTROLLED VIRUS AND MILLIONS NOT TESTED SPREADING HUGELY.STILL TO INFINITY BECAUSE NOTHING RIGHT BEING DONE GET TO 0 CASES.OTHER COUNTRIES DID, DO GOD’S WORK AND SHUT DOWN WEAR MASKS 4 OR 5 WEEKS OR YOU WILL GO TO HELL
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