Biden rallies Florida Democrats despite signs of red wave

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — President Joe Biden promised Charlie Crist he would boost Democrats in Florida this year. And Biden showed up a week ahead of the election even as the state appears increasingly out of reach for the party.

Biden’s visit to the state Tuesday, his third trip since becoming president, comes after more than 3 million voters have already cast ballots, with more Republicans voting early than Democrats. Biden’s message — a warning that Republican control of Congress will jeopardize Social Security and Medicare — is tailored to the state, where older voters play a pivotal role in elections. But it’s different than the closing message of Florida Democrats, who have focused primarily on abortion and gun control.

Crist, who is challenging incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis, insisted Biden’s visit isn’t coming too late, contending the “great unknown” in this year’s election is the women’s vote, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court decision to repeal Roe v. Wade.

“Getting out the base is critical, and no one is better than doing that than the president,” Crist said in an interview ahead of the president’s visit that culminated with Crist, Biden and Rep. Val Demings holding up their arms together in front of an full auditorium on the campus of Florida Memorial University.

During all three stops in Florida, Biden took aim at both of Florida’s senators — Rick Scott and Marco Rubio — but may have delivered his most stinging comment for the incumbent governor.

During remarks at a fundraising reception held in a beachside home late Tuesday afternoon, Biden called DeSantis “Trump incarnate.”

“This guy is not. ... He doesn’t fit any of the categories I’ve talked about. The way he deals, the way he denies,” said Biden, according to a pool report of the event.

“The rest of the world is looking at us, Charlie. They’re looking at us,” Biden said. “And so, it's really important for a state the size of Florida and the consequence of Florida — it gets on the right side of history again."

The visit comes as races in key battleground states have tightened in recent weeks, including in Pennsylvania, Nevada and Georgia. Former President Barack Obama will campaign for Democrats in Las Vegas Tuesday while both men will rally the party in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Polls show Biden persistently underwater in Florida, which had grown more Republican in recent years. DeSantis, in both his campaign and official appearances, routinely faults Biden over inflation, gas prices and immigration. In his campaign stops, the governor — a potential 2024 challenger to Biden — spends considerably more time mentioning the president than he does Crist.

Republicans have a significant financial advantage in the state. DeSantis has more than $94 million unspent while Crist has more than $4 million, though Demings has routinely outraised Rubio.

Fernand Amandi, a Democratic pollster based in south Florida, said Biden’s two previous trips — which came after the Surfside condominium collapse and Hurricane Ian — were “well received” moments where he was able to pledge federal assistance.

“At this point, any help should be welcomed and received by Florida Democrats, particularly when it’s the Democratic president of the United States,” Amandi said.

Biden was scheduled to come to Florida in July but canceled after he tested positive for Covid-19. He was set to visit in late September but that trip was scrapped because Hurricane Ian was bearing down on the state. Biden visited southwest Florida in the aftermath of the deadly storm that left at least 122 dead and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage. During that visit, Biden praised DeSantis for his handling of the storm, undercutting a line of criticism from Crist. Crist has faulted DeSantis for not doing enough to convince people to evacuate ahead of the storm’s landing.

Crist, however, said he and Biden talked after the storm and that the president agreed to help Crist.

“He said, ‘I’ll do anything I can to help you win,” recalled Crist. “I told him, ‘coming back before Election Day would mean the world to me.’ He’s a man of his word.”

Biden on Tuesday assailed Republicans and contend that, if the GOP wins control of Congress, they will erode Social Security and Medicare and repeal recently enacted drug pricing provisions that were included in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The president also went after Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, whose “Rescue America” plan calls for the sunset of all federal programs after five years, a move that, if enacted, would require a vote to keep Social Security and Medicare intact. Many Republicans — including Rubio — have distanced themselves from Scott’s plan.

“A senator from Florida going after Medicare and Social Security?” Biden asked sarcastically during an event held at a South Florida community center.

Scott tried to preempt Biden’s messaging by paying for ads in south Florida blasting Biden over taxes and calling on the president to “resign” from office.

DeSantis took a shot at Biden’s appearance during a campaign stop in Pensacola.

“I think we all should thank him for coming to Florida,” DeSantis said. “He's reminding every voter in Florida just how poor his policies have been. He's reminding every voter that these Democrats are with Joe Biden 100 percent."

In the run-up to Election Day, Crist has been much more effusive with praise about Biden, comments that provided fodder to the DeSantis campaign, which ran television ads linking Crist and Biden together. The governor’s re-election team also blasted out a fundraising message on Tuesday called them “two peas in a pod.”

During last week’s lone gubernatorial debate, Crist contended that DeSantis criticizes Biden so much because the governor is focusing on a potential 2024 presidential run instead of his own reelection. DeSantis sidestepped questions about his 2024 ambitions during the debate, quipping instead that “the only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”

Crist repeated his criticism of DeSantis at the rally with Biden by telling the crowd: “Ron DeSantis only cares about the White House. He doesn’t give a damn about your house.”

Demings, who is in a somewhat closer race than Crist, has a handful of times in the past year broken with Biden, including over the administration’s overtures to Venezuela, which could alienate some Hispanic voters in South Florida. She had planned to skip the September rally, which her campaign blamed on scheduling conflicts.

During her remarks at the rally, Demings stuck to her recurring criticisms of Rubio, most of it focused on his opposition to abortion. “Marco Rubio wants to take us back to a time when women were treated like second class citizens…I don’t know about you I’m not going.”

Elizabeth Gregory, a spokesperson for Rubio’s campaign, faulted Demings for “welcoming the failing leader of her party” to Florida and that “Americans are worse off than they were two years ago, and they have the Biden administration and Democrat-controlled Washington to blame.”