Jacob Ogles
A new ad from The Lincoln Project attacks Gov. Ron DeSantis for failing to stop COVID-19’s spread in schools.
Titled “Pro-Life,” the television ad, which hit Tallahassee airwaves Friday, juxtaposes the Governor’s vocal anti-lockdown politics with the surge in coronavirus infections. Images of empty halls and schools cut in between headlines noting the increasing number of child infections.
A Tampa Bay Times headline reads: “Florida leads the nation in kids hospitalized for COVID.”
An Orlando Sentinel story states: “Central Florida children increasingly being hospitalized for COVID-19; some were eligible for vaccination.”
The Florida Times Union reports: “’Gut-wrenching’: Children making more of Jacksonville’s surge of COVID hospitalizations.”
The Miami Herald spotlights: “Florida’s Children’s hospitals see pediatric COVID cases soar amid dellta variant surge.”
The ad then wraps with DeSantis’ own words at a CPAC convention, boasting not about getting a surge of cases under control, but of his refusal to close schools.
“Florida got it right and the lockdown states got it wrong,” he says to applause.
The ad comes after DeSantis’ national profile has grown and he has become an almost nightly presence on cable news.
The Lincoln Project was formed by long-time GOP political consultants who campaigned successfully against the reelection of former President Donald Trump. Now the group has turned its sights on many of the GOP leaders in the nation following the Mar-a-Lago retiree’s campaign template, said Rick Wilson, a Florida-based consultant and co-founder of The Lincoln Project.
“As the man Fox News has chosen to replace Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis is the perfect example of the modern Republican: He doesn’t believe in local control, he doesn’t believe in science, and he’s indifferent (to) the lives of the people who (he) governs,” Wilson said. “Thousands of Floridians may die unnecessarily, including a tragic number of children and young adults, but hey, at least he’s owning the Libs.”
Wilson wants voters in his home state to know, as DeSantis prepares to run for reelection, that he’s more interested in messaging to the far right than in governing for children, or even allowing local governments to do much to protect them.
“We’re here to make sure the people of Florida, and the people DeSantis will present himself to as he begins his run for President, know what kind of man he really is,” Wilson said.
DeSantis has been increasingly at odds with school boards over mask mandates, forbidding school districts from requiring masks for students. But as schools opened and saw a surge in infections, at least 10 districts have defied him and put in mandates with no general opt-out. Now more than half of Florida students go to school under such a mandate.
16 comments
Alex
August 27, 2021 at 10:52 pm
And the vaccinated Democratic counties are leading the recovery;
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-26/what-s-driving-america-s-economic-output-vaccinated-blue-counties-biden-won?utm_source=facebook&utm_content=markets&cmpid=socialflow-facebook-markets&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_medium=social
David Kisil
August 28, 2021 at 7:02 am
Desantis is toast. Hos political career is all but done. Only the ignorant and dumb will vote for him because they are him. We the people will vote that smarmy punk trump lover and mime out. Just watch. All these smug muthas moving here from their home states because of a governor is more than pathetic. Wait until they get a load of the brutal long 8 month plus summers they will regret moving here not to mention the dummies in this state. I have been here 22 years and seen people come and go in droves. It is a climate you have to slowly adapt to and most people i have met here don’t have the capability of that. Which I can truly understand
JD
August 28, 2021 at 8:42 am
After 30 years living here, That’s an apt description of the ecological, social, and working environment of how people come to Florida and then exit – because the environment is tough. Wait until these same movers lose a job and try to make it on $275 unemployment a week with the current rents or mortgages and how the tunes will change or they’ll leave. Better learn to save and bootstrap now is all I will say to those coming and have more than one good skill. Or be retired with income.
Joe
August 29, 2021 at 7:08 pm
Lol. He is not toast that is asinine. Joe Biden is toast though
David Kisil
August 28, 2021 at 8:50 am
Finally someone with sense here. You know all the troublemakers are out of staters. There is no true Floridian down here. It’s a melting pot so to speak. Thank you for your positive comment to me JD
Lola
August 28, 2021 at 4:47 pm
Hi there,
I have a question.
What is your affiliation with the known pedophile organization Lincoln Project?
David Kisil
August 28, 2021 at 4:52 pm
You mean the organization your husband belongs to? Or..
Joe
August 29, 2021 at 7:06 pm
The lincoln project represents the worst of humanity and should be I. Jail for running g cover for their pedo founder. Scum
Tom
August 29, 2021 at 7:20 pm
Yes Joe, Lincoln project is scum!
This donkey is a paid lackey.
The whiz kid Governor is anything but toast. Because you are ignorant and fail understand parental choice is your problem. Whiz kid Governor will whiz on you pal, Nov 22.
Lincoln project is a RHINO org. It’s been proven to be corrupt and self serving. You are a fool.
Whose going to defeat America’s Gov. , Nikki Fraud? Or Crispy critters? Please. PatheticDem poll Quinnipiac Has him up. Sussequhana poll has hi. Up bigjy! Fraud is a joke. Just like you and Lincoln project:. Two hacks, David and Peter H.
JD
August 29, 2021 at 8:26 pm
I’m of the mind that Super Pacs should be disbanded across the board.
The Lincoln project is a Super Pac, and it’s got some serious allegations against it’s leadership that taint any potential message, even if they tried to clean house after the fact.
Likewise there are allegations about in appropriate donation spending that’s being painted as almost a laundering operation.
And many of the SuperPacs have that later issue when you pull back the curtains.
But the biggest gripe is the unlimited donations give it the ability to “out shout” by out spending other candidates.
While the world isn’t fair, a SuperPac ability to outspend doesn’t align with the sensibility of the American people (and mine) of not liking Elites and Elitists in control. You can be good at what you do, or be an elite expert, but only with humility and zero hubris.
So how the Hell did these get passed if they can effectively give the rich elites the ability to control the campaign messages?
I think I would like to see us return to donations limited. Maybe even to only allowing the candidate campaign organization (and there can be only one). And those donations only can come from an individual with a monetary limit on the donation and total candidate aggregate amount.
The serious question is how to not infringe on free speech of organizations and individuals if you remove the “Friend for” type groups in doing so.
Regardless. It will never happen.
Tom
August 30, 2021 at 6:13 am
Super Pacs have a right to represent people and industry.
The inference by you about some sort of suggested, possible “laundering” is unfair. The contributor is a national contributor, he happens to have stock and the government has bought and owns the product. There is no benefit by providing the product for “free” I may add.
To think or suggest you may silence fee speech and contribution to make speech is concerning. Free speech is sacrosanct! Not negotiable.
JD
August 30, 2021 at 7:16 am
I said it was “painted as almost as a laundering operation”.
In this specific case it is the Lincoln Project’s founders controlling the consulting firms where the donation disbursements were applied. It’s been in NYTimes, AP, USAToday, Forbes, etc.
Mostly, I didn’t say I accused them of such, but when the allegations came out about the inappropriate messages to young men by one of the founders the spending also was brought to light.
I find it extremely fair to paint that brush of potential illicit proceedings across any large organization where huge donations can be accessed. History shows all organizations eventually run into something of this ilk.
I am not sure what you are referencing to the “The contributor is a national contributor, he happens to have stock and the government has bought and owns the product.” Can you clarify? I didn’t see anything about a contributor in the article.
Personally, I don’t feel any SuperPac, Pac, or Corporation gives anything away for free without something in return, somewhere. And I am not inferring to kickbacks. It be as simple to get their candidate elected. It can also be simply that their ideas are made the accepted norm (for good or bad). But they give the ability for well funded entities control by a few the ability to “out shout” everyone else and it feels it was by design.
In regards to silencing free speech, I concur on it being non-negotiable, but I do want fairness in the form of campaign reform. My musing was a wondering out loud of how to make it square.
This is how SuperPacs and Pacs create even more barriers to entry, and addingly mudding the waters.
And that barrier of entry thus gives elites and elites disguised as corporations more power to control the political narrative.
My diatribe aside, do you have any suggestions to square the SuperPac / elite issue in that regard if you believe they have a right to exist?
Obviously, this exchange is moot, not to mention we are so far off the rails of the point of this article.
Comments are closed.