Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 10.21.22

 Good Friday morning.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Steve Madden’s passing. He was 43.

Steve is missed and so fondly remembered.

Give a hug this morning, tell an off-color story at lunch, and raise a glass to Madden this afternoon.

Make someone else laugh until they cry.

Carrie and Steve’s children Callen and JR are beautiful; they are doing well and growing up just fine.

To Madden …

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On Thursday evening in Orlando, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with Alix Miller, president and CEO of the Florida Trucking Association, as well as several FTA members and drivers who led relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Ian in Southwest Florida.

Drivers at the meeting with Buttigieg were key early responders, delivering fuel, water, food and road-building supplies to the storm-ravaged counties.

One driver in the group was based in Fort Myers; his home was destroyed by the hurricane. Nevertheless, the driver remained in town to work as part of the Florida Department of Transportation team that rebuilt the Sanibel Causeway in record time.

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Other items on my radar:

— The battle between pocketbooks and principles: As voters, particularly Democrats, grapple with how Democratic candidates went from surging in the polls in August and early September to now facing an impending red wave. New York Times columnist Charles Blow sums it up perfectly: “People can’t maintain anger for extended periods.” The bubbling over anger following the U.S. Supreme Court decision created a surge in voter mentality as people grappled with the reality of a post-Roe future. But as Blow describes, what most often sustains voters as they get to the voting booth are not principle-based issues like abortion, which tend to affect certain groups and not others, rather they are economic realities that affect the most amount of people in the most real way. As Democrats nationwide continue to campaign on the abortion issue, this column helps to understand why that outrage doesn’t seem to be resonating as loudly as outrage over gas prices and inflation.

— Why candidates are debating less often this election cycle: A FiveThirtyEight analysis found that the 2022 election cycle has seen fewer debates between candidates for Governor and Senate than previous cycles. Why? The outlet offers a number of possible explanations but notes a big reason might be that the Republican National Committee left the Commission on Presidential Debates this year, claiming bias in the system. While that doesn’t directly affect down-ballot races (particularly in a non-presidential year) it, as FiveThirtyEight points out, sets the tone. The trends show Republicans around the country are declining to debate, “driven by skepticism of and hostility toward the media outlets that often host, moderate and air the debates.” This is a big deal in a Midterm cycle, where voters are less driven to the polls than in presidential years and could get a boost of encouragement from debates. Read more here.

— Joe Biden lags on Americans’ most important issues: Once again, a poll has found Americans’ top concern right now is inflation. A Monmouth University Poll shows most respondents believe President Biden isn’t paying enough attention to their most important concerns. On inflation, a concern that is helping Republican candidates running on the issue, the percentage of voters listing it as their top concern has grown from 37% in September to 46% in the most recent poll. And that increase is attributable to both major parties, with Republicans jumping 19 percentage points from 46% to 65% and Democrats increasing 13 percentage points from 23% to 36%. That’s a big problem for Democratic candidates nationwide, and the poll shows it. While Republicans have just a slight edge in sentiment for which party should control Congress (40% want Republican control and 35% want Democrats in charge), GOP voters are more motivated, with 64% of those preferring a conservative Congress indicating they were extremely motivated to vote compared to just 59% of those who want a Democratic-led Congress.

— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

—@DaveTrotter101: The low turnout rate in Florida so far indicates to me that a lot of people have been holding onto their ballots. There’s a possibility that they might be undecided on the Senate race.

—@Mdixon55: Started late, but @CharlieCrist’s closing argument begins in Jacksonville with @harrisonjaime

Tweet, tweet:

One more crowd shot pic.twitter.com/MvnLlb5ObH

— AG Gancarski (@AGGancarski) October 20, 2022

Tweet, tweet:

This is now the third ad (the first two were for TV) using a question I asked during a 2020 candidate forum for ⁦@TDOnline⁩. I am the gift that keeps on giving. pic.twitter.com/M7XJFqcRry

— Jim Rosica (@JimRosicaFL) October 20, 2022

—@CHeathWFTV: In 2021 the Florida Legislature tried to fix the state’s broken property insurance market. In May of 2022 they went back for a Special Session to try again. Now, @GovRonDeSantis they’ll head back, after the election, to try once more.

Tweet, tweet:

Joseph Ladapo, the surgeon general of Florida, went on QAnon show X22 Report, where he tried to cast doubt on the safety of COVID vaccines. pic.twitter.com/Wy0oSSwGjD

— Alex Kaplan (@AlKapDC) October 20, 2022

—@RealJacobPerry: Great Britain has a king no one wants, a collapsed economy, warm beer, and a Prime Minister who lasted a week. Meanwhile, America has professional pickleball. Thank you, George Washington.

—@davidhogg111: Imagine having a political system where people have the decency to admit when they fucked up — and resign.

Tweet, tweet:

Travis Gienger broke a record set in New York where a grower raised a massive pumpkin weighing 2,554 pounds. https://t.co/mO4UhqtlvG

— CBS Sunday Morning ???? (@CBSSunday) October 18, 2022

— DAYS UNTIL —

The Gubernatorial General Election debate — 3; Florida Chamber Annual Meeting & Future of Florida Forum — 4; Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Passenger’ releases — 4; Jon Meacham’s ‘And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle’ releases — 4; City & State Florida Digital Summit — 6; Early voting begins for General Election — 8; 2022 General Election — 18; ‘The Crown’ Season 5 returns — 19; ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ premieres — 21; ‘Captain Marvel 2′ premieres — 21; FITCon 2022 begins — 27; ‘The Flash’ premieres — 27; The World Cup kicks off in Qatar — 31; The U.S. World Cup Soccer Team begins play — 34; Florida TaxWatch’s Annual Meeting begins — 43; ‘Willow’ premieres on Disney+ — 43; 2022 Florida Chamber Annual Insurance Summit — 45; McCarthy’s ‘Stella Maris’ releases — 46; ‘Avatar 2’ premieres — 56; final Broadway performance of ‘The Music Man’ with Hugh Jackman — 72; Bruce Springsteen launches his 2023 tour in Tampa — 103; ‘Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ premieres — 119; final performance of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ on Broadway — 120; 2023 Legislative Session convenes — 137; ‘John Wick: Chapter 4′ premieres — 155; American Association of Political Consultants Pollies ’23 conference begins — 179; 2023 Session Sine Die — 196; ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ premieres — 196; ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ premieres — 2245; Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ premieres — 273; ‘Dune: Part Two’ premieres — 378; ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Part 2 premieres — 525; ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ premieres — 581; Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games — 644; ‘Thunderbolts’ premieres — 644; ‘Blade’ reboot premieres — 686; ‘Deadpool 3’ premieres — 749; ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot premieres — 847; ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ premieres — 924. ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ premieres — 1,113.

Sunburn is authored and assembled by Peter Schorsch, Phil Ammann, Daniel Dean, Renzo Downey, Jacob Ogles, and Drew Wilson.

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