Democrats in Florida fear that President Joe Biden may have sealed re-election for GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis with his praise following Hurricane Ian.
"Charlie Crist, whose career as a Republican ended with a hug from a Democratic president, may have seen his political fate sealed by another Democratic president complimenting his Republican rival," CNN reported. "That’s the sentiment rolling through Democratic circles in Florida after President Joe Biden’s tour of the state’s storm-ravaged Gulf Coast, where he praised Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Crist’s opponent, for his handling of Hurricane Ian."
Biden has said the Republican has "done a good job" and said his response to the storm was "pretty remarkable."
"It has been a challenge for Democratic candidates to turn the attention back to the campaign trail with so much focus on the recovery and so many residents in southwest Florida homeless," CNN reported. "At the time of Biden’s remarks, Crist, the Democratic nominee for governor, and his allies were ramping up criticism of DeSantis tied to the hurricane – highlighting the former GOP congressman’s past votes against storm aid and climate change legislation and raising questions about the timing of evacuations in Lee County and the lack of urgency to address a crumbling property insurance market. Earlier in the week, Crist and the state Democratic Party promoted a story from a local television station featuring Floridians who said they were blocked from delivering storm supplies so DeSantis could survey the damage."
A veteran Democratic strategist says Biden "closed the door" to those lines of criticism with his praise of DeSantis.
“The dynamics of the race needed to shift, and this was an opportunity for it to shift,” the strategist said. “The President complimenting the governor takes that whole issue off the table.”
Read the full report.
