Good Thursday morning.
Florida has been the U.S.’s pandemic epicenter for weeks, but more voters than not approve of Gov. Ron DeSantis and say he deserves a second term, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll released Wednesday.
Voters aren’t sold on his overall pandemic strategy, disapproving 51%-46%, and they are even less enthused about how he’s handled public schools, which was disliked 51%-44%. Yet the Q Poll found 47% of voters approved of the DeSantis overall, compared to 45% who disapproved.
The measure was markedly improved from a year ago when the same pollster said he was double digits in the negative.
“Amid a frightening surge in cases, DeSantis weathers withering criticism from critics on his handling of COVID-19. His numbers have actually improved from a year ago. But he’s still not as popular as he was before the pandemic,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said.
Asked straight up whether the Republican incumbent deserved another term, voters said yes by a 3-point margin, 48%-45%.
While the numbers are welcome news for DeSantis’ 2022 team, Quinnipiac University poured water on the Governor’s 2024 aspirations. They asked their sample of 889 self-identified registered voters whether they think DeSantis should run for President in 2024, and the answer was a resounding “no.” Just 35% of Florida voters back the concept.
Not even all Republicans want to see it. While 67% are open to a President DeSantis, a full 24% aren’t in. A full 61% of independent voters are opposed, also, with just 35% backing a DeSantis 2024 run.
As one would expect, Democrats almost uniformly don’t want him to run for President, though 2% of those surveyed from the opposing party support the idea.
The Q Poll also that, as of now, Floridians think U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio should be reelected, 47%-41%. President Joe Biden’s flagging approval rating — he was in the negative 40%-53% — only helps his and DeSantis’ reelection odds.
The poll was conducted Aug. 17-21 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —
—@MarcoRubio: A President that abandons Americans in order to meet a deadline set by a medieval band of terrorists will forever be disgraced
—@DonaldJTrumpJr: The new Governor of New York just announced that an additional 12,000 previously undisclosed COVID-19 deaths occurred under Gov (Andrew) Cuomo. That’s almost four 9/11s under the Dem’s units of measurement. Will there be criminal charges brought now for Cuomo’s deadly nursing home cover-up?
—@GwenGraham: I am in an emergency room in Gainesville for a non-COVID-19-related matter. We are the rare exception. Everyone else appears to have #COVID. So sick. Pleading for care. Pleading to get vaccinated. For God’s sake #GetVaccinated, you don’t want to be here.
Tweet, tweet:
“We’re losing about one to three employees per week … to Covid. 100% are unvaccinated. We haven’t had anyone in the last couple months lose their life that is vaccinated,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby says about mandating vaccines for employees. https://t.co/Hin1qohvpG pic.twitter.com/w2vFELvJpe
— CNN International (@cnni) August 24, 2021
—@AndyMarlette: Former Mayor, @FloridaGOP fundraiser, and @mattgaetz supporter sentenced to 5 years in prison for secretly filming porn of teenage boys in shower … More investigation needed into the Panhandle’s small, incestuous, Gaetz-dominated political class
