US: Kamala Harris campaign made this suggestion
US: In an attempt to pull off an unexpected win in Florida and secure the state’s 30 electoral votes for the November presidential contest, Vice President Kamala Harris’ team is not giving up.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff informed supporters that Harris’ team is “going to see what we can do” in the Sunshine State, where Democrats were defeated by former President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, at a fundraiser in New York City on Wednesday.
Emhoff said at the Brooklyn event, “The map is wide-open, and we need the money to compete in seven and possibly eight states,” according to a report from ABC News reporter Will McDuffie.
Emhoff said, “I was just in Florida at the Villages and it was wild,” alluding to his weekend campaign appearance in Alachua County. “It was way more people than we thought, and there was a lot of excitement, and we’re going to see what we can do down in Florida.”
Under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, Republicans have come to consider Florida as a trustworthy state in recent times. Since 1952, Democrats have only prevailed in five Florida presidential contests; in 2008 and 2012, former President Barack Obama won the state.
But Democrats have taken it a level higher now that topics like abortion are on the Florida ballot this year. Earlier this month, Democratic National Committee Chairman Jamie Harrison told reporters, “I keep saying folks, they’re going to be surprised on election night about what happens in the state, that you can’t give up on Florida.” Harrison added that the party believes it “has a shot” at winning Florida and its 30 electoral votes.
But surveys suggest Harris has a difficult struggle ahead of him. Based on the average polling results from FiveThirtyEight, Harris is behind Trump by 3.6 percentage points (49.3 percent to 45.6%). Despite winning the White House, President Joe Biden was defeated by President Trump in Florida by 3.3 percentage points in 2020.
The former president has an even greater advantage according to RealClearPolling, which has Trump ahead by 6 percentage points (49 to 43 percent). According to pollster Nate Silver’s election estimate, as of this Wednesday, Trump has an 85.2 percent probability of winning Florida.
But there are indications that Republicans may falter. Trump’s advantage in a poll conducted from August 7 to August 11 by USA Today, Suffolk University, and WSVN-TV was determined to be barely 5 percentage points (47 percent to 42 percent), which is his narrowest margin in a month. Evan Power, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, subsequently referred to the survey as “extremely alarming.”
Power said in an August fundraising email, “Fellow Conservative, it is our job to ensure Florida, Donald Trump’s home state, is LANDSLIDE for him in November.”
In addition, Trump is losing support among Florida women, a crucial voting constituency that the former president has had difficulty mobilizing throughout the country before to November. In a study conducted last month by the Florida Atlantic University Political Communication and Public Opinion Research Lab, Harris led Trump by ten points among Florida’s female voters.
The GOP’s director of regional communications, Rachel Reisner, downplayed any worries that Florida would turn blue in the fall, telling Newsweek last month that “Florida is Trump country.”
“In November, Florida voters will send a clear and resounding message: President Donald J. Trump is the only leader with a proven track record of making our nation prosperous and affordable,” Reisner said. “The movement to Make America Great Again is alive and growing, and it starts here in Florida.”
