Huh?
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who will be in Miami Friday, is just the latest member of President Joe Biden’s inner circle to make the rounds here. Others who’ve dropped in recently include Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Veteran Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough and Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Asked whether they were trying to send a message, the Democratic National Committee told Playbook it considered Florida to be “ground zero” for the MAGA “extreme agenda” and would use “every opportunity” to highlight policies it found problematic. DNC spokesperson Rhyan Lake singled out Florida’s abortion ban and the high cost of housing and health care.
According to the Florida Democratic Party, Harris visited Florida 10 times since she was elected. FDP Chair Nikki Fried praised the Biden administration for showing up.
Emhoff’s visit will focus on how men can help defend abortion rights, McClatchy’s Michael Wilner was first to report. Buttigieg was in Miami last week highlighting Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law and FLOTUS on Oct. 16 pushed for cancer treatments in South Florida.
Yet while national Dems descend on the Sunshine State, it’s hard to ignore how much outsized influence Florida Republicans have nationally. Former President Donald Trump is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for president, and Gov. Ron DeSantis is still in second place, even from a distance. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz ousted the House speaker and Florida is still one of the top places for Republicans and Democrats alike to come and raise money.
At the state level, Republicans also still vastly outnumber Democrats in voter registration numbers, 5.1 million to Democrats’ 4.5 million.
“The DNC is so out of touch that they believe attacking the No. 1 state when it comes to domestic migration is a winning strategy,” said Christian Ziegler, chair of the Republican Party of Florida, highlighting one of the areas DeSantis has hit the White House…..