The charge of "divisiveness" is breathtakingly stupid. The WHOLE POINT of a an election campaign is to let citizens choose which of two different courses they want the country to follow. If the courses were the same, there wouldn't be much point in having a campaign (or an election for that matter). So it turns out that Balz is just an older version of the Stanford Brownshirts: He can't stand it that someone has a different idea about where the country should go. Note that Balz and similar halfwits are the fellows constantly complaining that conservatives are "threatening democracy" -- even as they're aghast that the life's blood of democracy, different ideas competing for the electorate's support -- create, oh dear!, DIVISIVENESS.
Still, it's useful. I found out over years as a courtroom lawyer that when your opponent criticizes a question rather than answering it, he's telling you he doesn't really have an answer -- and thus that you should keep hammering away at it. The same is true here: Every time Balz criticizes DeSantis for being "divisive" about an issue, we learn that that's a good issue for DeSantis to keep emphasizing. Your opponent almost always has a good idea about where you're hurting him, so when he squawks that you're talking about X, talk about X twice as much.
Yes and the only Democrat to win consistently and any mandate was Bill Nelson, who would be vilified by today's Democratic (waco left) Party. My point was (as I am sure you know) was that on the state level the republicans have dominated with and without DeSantis over the last 24-25 years. It is a hell of a lot easier to get your conservative agenda enacted at the State level when you party controls the executive branch, the legislative branch with all the power of appointments that goes with it and probably the judicial branch. It is a much different ball game on a national level. There is only one Republican in this race with at least a 50/50 track record on a national scale and DeSantis is not the one. DeSantis will be led around by the noose by the RINOs (dare I say Bushies).
My statement -- the one you challenged -- was that until DeSantis became governor, Florida voted nearly as Democratic as Republican. You claimed I wasn't big on facts.
But now I've listed facts demonstrating that nearly all of Florida's 14 statewide races from 2004 until DeSantis became governor were either close or won by a Democrat. You have no response to my statement -- the one you said wasn't factual -- except to note that Bill Nelson, who consistently voted with his party in the Senate, was the only Democrat to win with a mandate.
This response in no way overcomes the evidence that Florida has voted nearly as Democratic as Republican. And by the way, DeSantis is the only Republican who has matched, or even come anywhere close to, Nelson's mandate.
While your statistics are impeccable, I am always inclined to pay more attention to legislative and U.S. House races, as the candidates are less well known and the races therefore serve as a better indication of partisan support, and the number of statewide races is actually small enough to prevent circumstances from averaging out. John McCain and Mitt Romney ran inept campaigns, and Rubio's 2010 showing was affected by the division in the Republican party between Crist and Rubio. Trump was a weak candidate. So the narrow statewide margins are partly an accident.
I give more weight to the fact that Republicans have held majorities in the Florida House delegation since 1990, some of them by landslides. They have held the legislature for decades. Some of this was due to clustering of Democrats, but I give it more weight than the statewide elections. I conclude Florida has had a small but consistent Republican majority since 1992.
You can't really dismiss what 14 statewide elections show, and it's not only Republicans who have run less than stellar campaigns in some of these races. The parties pour massive amounts of resources in these races and voters pay very close attention to them. The results mean plenty.
However, I agree that considering these elections and the smaller races, which also mean plenty, Republicans have had a small edge in Florida. That's consistent with my statement that the state was almost as Democratic as Republican until DeSantis became governor.
But now, under DeSantis, Republicans have overwhelming control of the state legislature, holding more than twice as many seats as the Dems in both chamber.
Trump received 46% of the vote in 2016 and 47% in 2020. He underperformed Mitt Romney both times, and underperformed even W's lower showing in 2000. Trump only won in 2016 because 77,000 Democrats in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania assumed he couldn't win and thought they could afford to vote for Jill Stein. The guy's a loser.
I realize you Bushies are not big on facts, but your statement "And how divisive, really, is a governor who was just reelected with almost 60 percent of the vote in a state that, until his emergence, was nearly as Democratic as Republican?" Better check your numbers I believe they paint a far different picture. See
https://ballotpedia.org/Party_control_of_Florida_state_government. It looks to me like the Republican party has been in almost complete control of the government of Florida for 24-25 years out of the last 30-32 years. Hardly a purple state. You are making the same mistake all of the Hot Air bloggers are making (maybe it is not a mistake) equating running a state in which your party has complete control of and running a country where you have an unfriendly legislature, a court system that on the whole despises you (see the DC Circuit and 9th Circuit), a legislature that hates you and sees you as a disrupter of their lucrative con man game, an Un American Press Corps that constantly lies to the public about you and your programs, and to top it all off a Justice Dept that is anti american and acts as a criminal strike force for the hard, hard left. But hey, what do I know I didn't go to Stanford so I had to learn to work for a living,
At least DeSantis is not trying to divide children from their parents by indoctrinating them into a demented demonic sex grooming cult like some well-funded educational institution minions of the Leftist Oligarchs. Defund all public education and raise the voting age to 25.
The charge of "divisiveness" is breathtakingly stupid. The WHOLE POINT of a an election campaign is to let citizens choose which of two different courses they want the country to follow. If the courses were the same, there wouldn't be much point in having a campaign (or an election for that matter). So it turns out that Balz is just an older version of the Stanford Brownshirts: He can't stand it that someone has a different idea about where the country should go. Note that Balz and similar halfwits are the fellows constantly complaining that conservatives are "threatening democracy" -- even as they're aghast that the life's blood of democracy, different ideas competing for the electorate's support -- create, oh dear!, DIVISIVENESS.
Still, it's useful. I found out over years as a courtroom lawyer that when your opponent criticizes a question rather than answering it, he's telling you he doesn't really have an answer -- and thus that you should keep hammering away at it. The same is true here: Every time Balz criticizes DeSantis for being "divisive" about an issue, we learn that that's a good issue for DeSantis to keep emphasizing. Your opponent almost always has a good idea about where you're hurting him, so when he squawks that you're talking about X, talk about X twice as much.
Yes and the only Democrat to win consistently and any mandate was Bill Nelson, who would be vilified by today's Democratic (waco left) Party. My point was (as I am sure you know) was that on the state level the republicans have dominated with and without DeSantis over the last 24-25 years. It is a hell of a lot easier to get your conservative agenda enacted at the State level when you party controls the executive branch, the legislative branch with all the power of appointments that goes with it and probably the judicial branch. It is a much different ball game on a national level. There is only one Republican in this race with at least a 50/50 track record on a national scale and DeSantis is not the one. DeSantis will be led around by the noose by the RINOs (dare I say Bushies).
My statement -- the one you challenged -- was that until DeSantis became governor, Florida voted nearly as Democratic as Republican. You claimed I wasn't big on facts.
But now I've listed facts demonstrating that nearly all of Florida's 14 statewide races from 2004 until DeSantis became governor were either close or won by a Democrat. You have no response to my statement -- the one you said wasn't factual -- except to note that Bill Nelson, who consistently voted with his party in the Senate, was the only Democrat to win with a mandate.
This response in no way overcomes the evidence that Florida has voted nearly as Democratic as Republican. And by the way, DeSantis is the only Republican who has matched, or even come anywhere close to, Nelson's mandate.
While your statistics are impeccable, I am always inclined to pay more attention to legislative and U.S. House races, as the candidates are less well known and the races therefore serve as a better indication of partisan support, and the number of statewide races is actually small enough to prevent circumstances from averaging out. John McCain and Mitt Romney ran inept campaigns, and Rubio's 2010 showing was affected by the division in the Republican party between Crist and Rubio. Trump was a weak candidate. So the narrow statewide margins are partly an accident.
I give more weight to the fact that Republicans have held majorities in the Florida House delegation since 1990, some of them by landslides. They have held the legislature for decades. Some of this was due to clustering of Democrats, but I give it more weight than the statewide elections. I conclude Florida has had a small but consistent Republican majority since 1992.
You can't really dismiss what 14 statewide elections show, and it's not only Republicans who have run less than stellar campaigns in some of these races. The parties pour massive amounts of resources in these races and voters pay very close attention to them. The results mean plenty.
However, I agree that considering these elections and the smaller races, which also mean plenty, Republicans have had a small edge in Florida. That's consistent with my statement that the state was almost as Democratic as Republican until DeSantis became governor.
But now, under DeSantis, Republicans have overwhelming control of the state legislature, holding more than twice as many seats as the Dems in both chamber.
Trump received 46% of the vote in 2016 and 47% in 2020. He underperformed Mitt Romney both times, and underperformed even W's lower showing in 2000. Trump only won in 2016 because 77,000 Democrats in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania assumed he couldn't win and thought they could afford to vote for Jill Stein. The guy's a loser.
I realize you Bushies are not big on facts, but your statement "And how divisive, really, is a governor who was just reelected with almost 60 percent of the vote in a state that, until his emergence, was nearly as Democratic as Republican?" Better check your numbers I believe they paint a far different picture. See
https://ballotpedia.org/Party_control_of_Florida_state_government. It looks to me like the Republican party has been in almost complete control of the government of Florida for 24-25 years out of the last 30-32 years. Hardly a purple state. You are making the same mistake all of the Hot Air bloggers are making (maybe it is not a mistake) equating running a state in which your party has complete control of and running a country where you have an unfriendly legislature, a court system that on the whole despises you (see the DC Circuit and 9th Circuit), a legislature that hates you and sees you as a disrupter of their lucrative con man game, an Un American Press Corps that constantly lies to the public about you and your programs, and to top it all off a Justice Dept that is anti american and acts as a criminal strike force for the hard, hard left. But hey, what do I know I didn't go to Stanford so I had to learn to work for a living,
Florida presidential results pre-DeSantis taking office as governor:
2016 -- Trump +1
2012 -- Obama +1
2008 -- Obama +3
2004 -- Bush +5
Florida gubernatorial results pre-DeSantis taking office as governor
2018 -- DeSantis +0.5
2014 -- Scott +1
2010 -- Scott +1
2006 -- Crist (R) +7
Florida Senate results pre-DeSantis taking office as governor
2018 -- Scott +0.1
2016 -- Rubio +8
2012 -- Nelson (D) +13
2010 -- Rubio defeats two liberal candidates with 49 percent of the vote
2006 -- Nelson (D) +21
2004 -- Martinez (R) +1
At least DeSantis is not trying to divide children from their parents by indoctrinating them into a demented demonic sex grooming cult like some well-funded educational institution minions of the Leftist Oligarchs. Defund all public education and raise the voting age to 25.