Democrats had been bracing for a catastrophe in Florida on Nov. 8, with all of the dire implications that will pose for the 2024 presidential election. Their worst fears proved effectively justified, as even the previously blue bastion of Miami-Dade County, dwelling to Miami and closely populated with Hispanic voters, flipped purple as a part of a Republican blowout.
“In Florida, it’s catastrophic,” David Plouffe, ex-campaign supervisor for former President Barack Obama, bluntly said on Democrat-aligned MSNBC. He was particularly referring to the “erosion” of Hispanic Democratic voters. “Clearly, we noticed larger urgency in ’20 within the presidential race,” he continued. “Let’s keep in mind, Barack Obama gained in 2012, mainly tied the Cuban vote, bought over 77% of Hispanic votes. The Obama coalition in Florida is gone. Now we have to rebuild it now.”
Sunshine State Whupping
As anticipated, incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis was overwhelmingly re-elected, topping Democrat challenger Charlie Crist by a 59.4% to 40% margin. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) additionally cruised to victory over Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) by a equally decisive 57.7% to 41.3% rely.
The triumph vastly buttresses DeSantis’ presidential hopes for 2024, or 2028 if he decides to not mount a major problem to former President Donald Trump, who is anticipated to announce his ’24 candidacy as quickly as Nov. 15. “Now we have rewritten the political map. Thanks for honoring us with a win for the ages,” DeSantis declared in his victory speech. The governor’s reference to Miami-Dade County was not misplaced on Democrats, who see its loss as an alarming omen for the long run. “We’re going to face up for the reality, we’re going to face up for the core rules that made this nation nice. And our state is the state the place woke goes to die,” DeSantis had declared three days earlier than the vote.
Democrats discovered the politics of racial division couldn’t assist them on Nov. 8. “My first 12 months, we banned sanctuary cities, and information media thought that will be not accredited down [in Miami]. And but Hispanic voters in Florida had the best approval score for our coverage to ban sanctuary cities,” DeSantis advised Fox Information previous to the election.
Progressives in Miami-Dade County appeared deeply shaken by the event. Radical Miami Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago penned a response column mourning the ramifications. “Solely the American flag and the official motto of the state of Florida — ‘In God We Belief’ — will probably be allowed in lecture rooms and on faculty district grounds,” she wrote. “Say goodbye to the proudly fluttering flags of the Americas throughout Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations. No black, yellow and blue Bahamian flags to mark Black South Florida’s historic roots, both.”
Santiago couldn’t fathom the notion that, removed from being a nightmarish situation for Hispanic People, this may be exactly what lots of them had been voting for.
Turning the Florida Key for 2024 Dominance
If Democrats can now not depend on a monolithic minority voting bloc in important Florida areas equivalent to Miami-Dade and neighboring Broward and Palm Seashore counties, political observers say their skill to compete in future elections all however evaporates. “These are counties that carry statewide Democrats 12 months after 12 months. They’re city liberal pockets in a state with loads of deep purple rural counties to counteract them,” Peter Schorsch at Florida Politics famous. “With out these strongholds, Democrats stand nearly no probability of competing on a statewide poll. And with elevated GOP turnout, it leaves native Democrats likewise in peril.”
Blue city swatches protruding like plane carriers amid a purple sea of rural cities and counties have been a staple of current electoral maps throughout the nation in an more and more divided United States. They’ve typically proved sufficient for Democrats to win.
On Nov. 8, Ron DeSantis sunk these blue plane carriers within the Sunshine State. If Democrats can’t salvage and restore them to buoyancy two years from now, the once-bitterly contested battleground state of Florida will probably be a purple haven. And Democrats will probably be dealt a extreme handicap in any future presidential race.