If I were choosing between a progressive and a Trump clone for application of the word “unabashed,” I think I would go with the Trump clone.
After all, who’s the one who should be abashed?
If you’re talking about Dotard, the correct term might be “abolished”?
here’s also the race factor. Gillum, if elected, would become the
state’s first black governor. That is a source of inspiration and
motivating factor for some Florida voters, and a turnoff for others who
may harbor racial resentments.
I know this is a horse-race article that’s just laying out the issues. But in the future could we perhaps try a convention that “harbor[ing] racial resentments” against black people is not a morally neutral thing?
Massive GOP cheating incoming…
In other words, the GOP SOP will continue unabated.
An endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (may have) helped push Gillum over the finish line,
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.
That much is certain. And dirty tricks.
“The results are further evidence—if any evidence was needed—that the center in American politics and in Florida politics is continuing to disintegrate at a very rapid pace,” veteran Florida GOP strategist Mac Stipanovich told TPM.
I don’t buy that.
The center is firmly in place; it’s just currently overshadowed by a right-wing insanity that bellows 24/7.
And part of that bellowing is a very fraudulent narrative that it’s a mirror-image of some radical left-wing.
Which, aside from a tiny minority of Steiniacs and Sarandonistas, exists only in the fevered imaginations of lazy pundits – and GOP consultants.
(And as for Gillum consistently trailing in surveys, to paraphrase The Buggles: Caller-ID killed the polling-firm star. I think the “average” American just ignores calls from pollsters. That leaves a smaller, self-selected sample of very unrepresentative lab rats.)
DeSantis seems intent on playing the “Gillum is a socialist” card right out of the gate. I think Gillum needs to play the fascist card. DeSantis supports the Trump agenda, which is a fascist agenda. That makes DeSantis a fascist. Gillum is a gifted speaker and he is more than qualified to articulate why DeSantis is a fascist.
Is “abashed” the opposite of “bashed?”
I’m very apprehensive. All that Florida voters will hear (when Rick Scott is not clogging the airwaves at least) for the next two and one-half months will be how Gillum is a “socialist.” He’s not a socialist–no one is–he’s a social democrat. But he’s going to have to explain, and that’s going to take a lot of wind out of his sails.
Gillum may be the best of the Democratic candidates, but the watchword this year should be “electability,” and I fear that he may be the least electable. If that sounds too Realpolitik, or cynical, too bad.
Excellent post. Just as the media went too far in saying that Ms.Ocasio’s win was trend they will go overboard with this one as well. Mayor Gillum is no more a socialist than President Obama or President Clinton.
You would argue Sanders was just jumping on the bandwagon, in order to invalidate any claim his influence matters? Why?
Before we get stuck on meaningless - and misleading - labels, let’s get at least two things clear here. Number 1, Gillum was a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton, not Bernie Sanders, in 2016. He campaigned for her in Florida and spoke on her behalf at the convention. Number 2, as the Miami local CBS political analyst pointed out, today, Sanders was not popular at all in Florida and got creamed here.
Seeing Gillum’s response to DeSantis’s “monkey” comment this morning actually filled me with a lot of hope. This guy (Gillum) really gets politics. He deflected all talk of racism and instantly pivoted to the high road leaving DeSantis wallowing in his own sewer by himself. Gillum has remarkably quick political reflexes and pitch perfect tone. He’ll probably win Florida and go much further as well.
This was Andrew Gillum’s win and shame on Bernie Sanders for trying to take any of the credit for it. ANY credit–Gillum did this, Sanders was not a factor.
ETA: Cabchi is correct, Sanders was not at all popular in Florida, Gillum is.
NYT’s see it differently:
But the surprise of the night was Mr. Gillum’s victory over Ms. Graham, the daughter of governor-turned-senator Bob Graham. Propelled by an endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders and financing from Tom Steyer, George Soros and Collective PAC, a group dedicated to electing African-Americans, the 39-year-old mayor surged at the end of the campaign to upset Ms. Graham, the establishment pick.
Agreed. DeSantis’ team will be calling for the contents of the FBI interview with Gollum, even though he has not been implicated in any wrongdoing. Tallahassee City Commissioner Scott Maddox, the former chairman of the Florida Democratic Party is suspected of bribery and mail fraud while while Gillum was Tallahassee mayor. Kwame Kilpatrick, former Detroit mayor and convicted felon comes to mind, back about ten years ago. What a tie-in that would be for the Republicans - two former black mayors, one convicted and the other being investigated, even though he’s not. Can see the split screen ads already.
But like Beto O’Rouke, Gollum is a strong candidate. Or so we’ll soon see but for some reason he looks vulnerable to me as well.
Of course the NYT sees it differently, we’s just all here in the swamps in Florida and got no sense unless someone from the Northeast comes down and tells us what we should be thinkin’.
Perhaps there was no surge, just a polling model that underestimated the strength of black voters in a mid-term election and the numbers of new, young voters coming in under the radar of the national pollsters. If there was something happening in the last weeks of the campaign, it was possibly Jeff Greene spending $10 million trashing Gwen Graham, more than she spent on ads, but the NYT has to promote their Bernie narrative–forget what actually happened out in Florida.