The Point: Democrats may have *too* much of a good thing in Florida in 2022

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May 19, 2021 | by Chris Cillizza, Lauren Dezenski and Sonnet Swire

Democrats may have *too* much of a good thing in Florida in 2022

The oldest rule of politics goes like this: You can't beat someone with no one. As in, no matter how weak a candidate one party fields, the other party must find a credible alternative if it wants to unseat the incumbent.

A useful addendum to that political rule might go like this: You can't beat someone with too many other someones.

Put another way: Mae West might not be right -- at least in political terms -- when she famously said that "too much of a good thing can be wonderful."

Witness what's happening at the moment in Florida, where both Sen. Marco Rubio (R) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are running for reelection in 2022.

The news earlier this week that Rep. Val Demings (D) is planning to run for the Senate means that the party will have not one but two well-regarded candidates in that primary race, since Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D) has been actively campaigning for the nomination since February.

In the governor's race, Rep. Charlie Crist (D), who served a term as governor (as a Republican) from 2007 to 2011, announced a challenge to DeSantis earlier this month. And state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D), released a campaign-style video last Wednesday savaging DeSantis and promoting a big announcement on June 1.

Primaries, of course, aren't necessarily a bad thing. They can introduce candidates to voters statewide, and hone message and skills on the stump.

The potential problem for Florida Democrats is that the state's primary is extremely late -- August 23, 2022. Which gives the eventual Democratic nominees for senator and governor just 77 days between winning the primary and trying to knock off Rubio and DeSantis, respectively.

And it's not just that that's a small window time-wise. It's that whoever wins the Democratic nomination will have raised and spent millions (and millions) to do it. And likely have almost $0 in the bank, meaning that they will have to raise massive sums very quickly to be competitive against the two GOP incumbents, who will be very well financed.

That is, of course, possible -- especially in the case of whichever Democrat winds up facing off against DeSantis, who many view as a potential 2024 presidential candidate if he wins.

But in both races, it's far from the ideal scenario for Democrats, who are desperately trying to prove Florida really is a swing state before the next presidential election.

The Point: Florida may well be the single most important state for Democrats in the 2022 election. The party would love to resolve its primary problems but there's no obvious path to doing that just yet.

-- Chris

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I am compelled to say again that what we're seeing happen is not an audit. It is a fundraising stunt."

-- Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on the Maricopa County election audit, conducted by Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based consulting firm. Hobbs, a Democrat, has been a vocal critic and even was given a security detail because of the death threats.

TEXAS TAKES ON MASKS (AGAIN)

One Texas leader is working to ensure the Covid-19 face masks come off -- and stay off.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order this week banning local governments and school districts from requiring masks. Local governments must abolish their mask mandates by this Friday and schools must do so by June 4, according to the executive order, although certain state and government facilities are exempt. The CDC still recommends masks and social distancing for unvaccinated individuals.

Local governments that continue to enforce mask mandates after this week could be fined up to $1,000, the news release noted.

Texas' new precedent sets the scene for deepening divisions between so-called red and blue states (and cities) as the nation begins to relax restrictions in the waning months of the Covid-19 pandemic.

-- Sonnet

TOP TWEETS

1. Amazing book news

2. Miss you in the saddest fashion

3. Inquisitive kindergartners, FTW!

4. Cicadas on the Senate floor

5. Sen. Ron Wyden retweeting the zoo, a continuation

LAUREN'S GOOD READS

Mitch McConnell just basically doomed the bipartisan January 6 commission. The Washington Post has more. And on CNN, Manu Raju dissects the GOP's new opposition to an investigation. Hint: It has to do with the midterms.

ProPublica followed the money and found a bunch of PPP loan cash went to "fake farms in absurd places." Click!

Remember how rocky Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' relationship was during the Democratic primary? Edward-Isaac Dovere does.

On CNN, the stunning reason Philadelphia is dimming its skyline.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

"Something Comforting," from Porter Robinson's new album, "Nurture," is Lauren's springtime soundtrack and truly lives up to its name.

IS THE TRUTH OUT THERE?

Former President Barack Obama offered some interesting intel about UFOs in a recent interview on "The Late Late Show."

"What is true, and I'm actually being serious here, is that there are, there's footage and records of objects in the skies that we don't know exactly what they are. We can't explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so, you know, I think that people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is."

This comes ahead of a report due to Congress next month on "unidentified aerial phenomena" from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the secretary of defense.

Chris has more on Obama's info and the potential UFO details to come.

ONE BIG THING

The number of states -- not counting Washington, DC -- that have now fully vaccinated at least half of adults, CDC data shows.

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