Good Wednesday morning.
In less than a year, Florida voters will make some big decisions, including whether to re-elect Gov. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio or replace them with the eventual Democratic nominees they’ll face on the November ballot.
“Before You Vote” hopes to help voters make a more informed decision with a pair of General Election debates for the statewide races.
The exact dates haven’t been set, but they’ll each be held on a Tuesday night in mid-October — Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 seem the most likely but put it in pencil for now. Palm Beach State College in Lake Worth will serve as the venue.
The debates are expected to be simulcast on statewide public radio, daily newspaper websites, and one of the Big Three network TV stations in each of Florida’s media markets. A national C-SPAN rebroadcast is also expected after each live debate has aired.
“We are honored and excited to be the host site for these important debates in the most respected televised political debate series in Florida’s modern history,” PBSC President Ava Parker said. “In addition to this being a major (educational) tool for our campuses and community, the larger statewide community of voters will also greatly benefit.”
Alongi Media will produce both debates. The global media company was founded by longtime NBC News Executive Producer Phil Alongi Sr. and his son, Phil Alongi II, Executive Producer and alum of PBS and NBC News.
The father-and-son team won more than 100 Emmy Awards for debates and broadcast specials, including a 2016 debate between Rubio and Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy, and a 2018 debate between DeSantis and Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum.
As in those debates, anchor Todd McDermott of West Palm Beach’s WPBF will moderate alongside a select panel of journalists who will be selected at a later date.
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— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —
—@marcorubio: Omicron has overtaken delta as the dominant COVID strain in the U.S. So, a variant that caused severe illness in some people has been replaced by a variant that causes mild to no symptoms in most people.
—@ShevrinJones: Since there’s no direction and it seems like every man/woman are for themselves in Florida with the uptick in #omicron cases, do your due diligence: 1. Get vaccinated/boosted 2. Get tested 3. Wear a mask (Follow @CDCgov rules, not Florida’s) 4. Stay safe
—@mitchellreports: Dr. (Anthony) Fauci on South Africa omicron data, “It looked pretty convincing when you look at the ratio of hospitalizations to infections that it is lower than with delta and the duration of the hospital stay is less and the requirement for oxygen is less.” #AMRstaff
Tweet, tweet:
I’ve worked on infectious disease outbreaks for 30 years. I’ve NEVER seen anything like the speed of Omicron. It’s as infectious as measles spreading in a non-immune population, with a much shorter incubation time therefore much faster doubling time. Hope it’s a lot less severe. pic.twitter.com/EtLfa4JKqd
— Dr. Tom Frieden (@DrTomFrieden) December 21, 2021
—@kylegriffin1: Important note for the unvaccinated who believe in ‘natural immunity’: The first omicron-linked death in the U.S. was recorded in Texas’ Harris County on Monday evening. The man was unvaccinated but had previously been infected.
Tweet, tweet:
“THE VACCINES DON’T WORK BECAUSE YOU STILL GET SICK!” is like saying bulletproof vests don’t work because you’ve still got a gnarly bruise where the round hit, as opposed to an entry wound.
— Richard Jeter (@MilesToGo13) December 21, 2021
—@portarican_RT: I lost a patient today that was fully vaccinated, 91 years old, a veteran, and was apologizing the whole time for being sick. To say my heart is broken is an understatement. #GetVaccinatedNow #COVIDVaccine #omicronVariant
Tweet, tweet:
You can say “we don’t know enough to come to any conclusions about Omicron’s severity”. But people with money on the line are clearly willing to make big bets on a probabilistic basis, as stocks prices for companies that rely on in-person activity have boomed over the past week. pic.twitter.com/IgwuCnH15D
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) December 21, 2021
—@BenjySarlin: So, people said to do [safety practice] about the pandemic [before vaccines/delta/omicron] but now they say [different practice after one or more of these things]? How very curious. [1000 RTs, 3700 likes]
—@wojespn: Adam Silver tells @malika_andrews that the omicron variant constitutes 90% of the league’s cases now. “Beyond dominant,” he said.
—@BillGates: I know it’s frustrating to go into another holiday season with COVID looming over us. But it won’t be like this forever. Someday the pandemic will end, and the better we look after each other, the sooner that time will come.
Tweet, tweet:
absolutely losing it at my parents’ Christmas tree pic.twitter.com/M8dFmei1OJ
— Dr. Anna Hughes (@AnnaGHughes) December 21, 2021
Republished with permission [/vc_message]
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