Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Florida Democrats don’t have the registration edge they did just a few years ago, but they may be able to close the gap if they convince enough no-party voters to vote blue next month.
To that end, the party has launched a digital ad campaign hammering Republicans on many issues rankling rank-and-file Florida voters, namely ongoing turbulence in the property insurance market.
The new ad, dubbed “Gone Too Far,” features former U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd Jr. sticking to a script likely to play well with the countless Sunshine State homeowners who’ve been doing spit takes with every change to the T&I line on their mortgage statements.
“Republicans in Tallahassee wrote insurance companies a $3 billion blank check and allowed them to jack up prices. Today, Floridians pay up to four times more for property insurance while hurricane season is getting longer and more severe,” Boyd says before slamming the DeFuture Era focus on culture war legislation.
“Republican politicians have gone too far. Their job is to protect our interests, not theirs. Vote to protect freedom in Florida on Nov. 5,” he says over the closing frames, urging Floridians to “VOTE DEMOCRAT” on Election Day.
FDP Chair Nikki Fried said the ad will run throughout the final leg of the campaign season. The target demographic is Florida’s 3.6 million no-party voters.
“NPAs are the fastest growing electorate in the state, and we’re talking to them directly,” Fried said. “Voters are rejecting extremism, and this ad speaks to the new and unlikely coalition of voters we need to win in November.”
The news release announcing the ad posited NPAs could upend the state’s redward shift this decade — Fried herself was the last Democrat elected statewide, and she won by the thinnest of margins. The two cycles since have seen Republicans’ advantage grow and, in the eyes of most onlookers, calcify.
Still, polling does show Harris with a 14-point edge over Trump among no-party voters in Florida. Should they turn out en masse, Florida could — emphasis on could — regain some of the swing-state swagger it’s lost in the Trump era.
Evening Reads
—“Kamala Harris showed FOX News what a national security leader looks like.” via Joel Rubin of The Briefing Book
—”The 22 must-see lines from Harris’ Fox News interview” via Chris Cillizza of So What
—”Harris and Democrats lose their reluctance to call Donald Trump a fascist” via Jonathan Weisman of The New York Times
—”Harris arrived for a Fox interview. She got a debate.” via Michael M. Grynbaum of The New York Times
—“The Democrats’ pro-union strategy has been a bust” via Eric Levitz of Vox
—“Trump will hold another town hall in Pennsylvania this weekend after Monday’s Montco musical tangent” via Aliya Schneider of the Philadelphia Inquirer
—”Massive influx of shadowy get-out-the-vote spending floods swing states” via Michael Scherer of The Washington Post
—“Wisconsin decided the 2020 Election. How will it vote in 2024?” via Nathaniel Rakich and Cooper Burton of FiveThirtyEight
—“Can Americans agree on anything? We put 12 strangers in a group chat to find out.” via Rachel Wolfe of The Wall Street Journal
—”Is weed bad for you? Marijuana’s health impacts still aren’t known” via Lisa Jarvis of Bloomberg
Quote of the Day
“The chance of me virtue signaling for people in the media is zero. So do not count on that. I don’t subscribe to your religion.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis, somehow managing to virtue signal about not virtue signaling.
Put it on the Tab
Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
If Gov. Ron DeSantis can keep claiming climate change talk is mere “virtue signaling,” he’d probably change his tune if you served him a Coors Light where the Hypercolor-esque mountains don’t have a blue hue.
When you drink a 375 of Voddy on the sidewalk in broad daylight, they call it alcoholism. If you do it somewhere under a sunshade at a fancy café, they call it a Three Martini Lunch. The only difference is employment — and we’re happy to report that Florida’s unemployment numbers are looking a good deal better than they did earlier this month.
Even if there were a 99% ABV spirit, we wouldn’t wish it on our worst enemy, let alone the heroic lineworkers at Duke who’ve restored power to 99% of ratepayers. Meanwhile, a 99-proof bottle of Smooth Ambler is a solid call for the liquor cabinet.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Seminoles look to stay perfect … against Duke
What sort of world are we living in? Florida State desperately needs a win as they go on the road as an underdog to Duke (Friday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
The Seminoles (1-5) are off to the program’s worst start since 1975. After consecutive losses to SMU and Clemson, the Noles had a bye week to prepare for Duke (5-1). The schedule doesn’t get any easier. After the Blue Devils, FSU is scheduled to face #6 Miami next Saturday.
What has gone wrong in Tallahassee?
The issues are plentiful, but perhaps no area has underperformed more than the rushing defense. The Seminoles have allowed opponents to run for an average of 182 yards per game, which ranks 109th in the nation.
Then there is the offense. As bad as the rushing defense has been, the rushing offense is even worse. Of the 133 FBS football programs, the Seminoles are dead last, averaging 58 yards per game.
And FSU will be without starting quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. Brock Glenn started the last game against Clemson.
Duke has never beaten Florida State in football. In 22 meetings, the Seminoles have swept 11 games in Tallahassee and 11 in Durham. Is Friday the day the streak ends?
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
