Elections in the US: what happened in Florida? Democrats still don't understand what they did wrong

11/05/2020 18:01

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 11/05/2020 7:36 PM

Perhaps only in Florida was there a loss by less than 4 percentage points considered a beating in the United States elections.

In a state famous for

margins of difference

, the scale of former Vice President Joe Biden's defeat against President Donald Trump was humiliating for Democrats and left many searching for answers as to

where the deal

with the voters, again.

The Democrats focused on two clear explanations: Biden

with Latino voters in the state, he performed

particularly with Cuban voters in South Florida.

They also criticized the party's decision to block face-to-face organizing during the worst moment of the pandemic, a decision that left them at a disadvantage in reaching out to voters.

"Clearly, Biden couldn't get the idea from the Florida electorate and create the kind of enthusiasm for them to come out and vote for Biden, as Trump did with his fan base in the state," said Fernand Amandi, a Democratic pollster based in Miami

“It is an unacceptable record of futility.

What makes it so irritating is that the problems that need solving are very obvious.

But they are not solved ”.

Amandi focused on the difficulties of Biden's campaign in connecting with Hispanic voters in the state.

Trump and the Republicans pummeled Biden for months with flawed claims, suggesting he was a "socialist" and would foster the left wing of the Democratic Party.

These attacks gave him

and

, who associate the labels with authoritarian and corrupt Latin American leaders.

Biden's weakness was most evident in his underperforming in

which has the highest concentration of Hispanic voters in the state, particularly Cuban-Americans.

Biden won the county, the most populous in the state, by just 7 percentage points - compared to

Democrat Hillary Clinton's

margin of victory

four years ago against Trump.

AP VoteCast, a poll of Florida's electorate, showed Trump garnered

statewide, while South American voters were evenly split between Biden and Trump.

The poll showed that Puerto Rican voters endorsed Biden in a ratio of about 2 to 1.

The relatively poor performance in South Florida hurt other Democrats, as Republicans swept two congressional incumbents from the Miami area, Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

"When we looked at the Miami-Dade area in particular, there was a

talking about socialism and in some cases, even the word communism," said Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor who served three offices. Statewide.

Cubans celebrate Trump's victory in Little Havana.

Photo: AP

"I think it obviously had an impact," Crist said.

“When they attack you, you

.

I'm not sure how much we defended ourselves on our side ”.

Trump had the upper hand in his adopted status and used it to make inroads into the Hispanic community, which counts

in Florida.

Biden got off to a late start.

Not only did he have to secure his party's nomination, he was sidelined from a more aggressive campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic - for a time, Florida was

as the epicenter of the outbreak.

Although Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, finally visited the key battlefield state, much of the campaign was carried out virtually out of concerns about the pandemic.

When the Republicans went door to door again, the Democrats stayed on the sidelines.

But the problems predate the pandemic, said State Sen. Annette Taddeo, who has long criticized her party's approach to the campaign.

"You need a constant presence and you can't take it for granted that minority communities are okay," he said.

"You can't come two months before an election and think about getting these communities excited."

Florida Republican Gov.

for example, credits Trump's campaign with generating buzz, even in the midst of a pandemic.

"He had a really significant victory in the state of Florida," said DeSantis, a key Trump ally.

“I think their success, in their case, thanks to these great events… they generated energy,” he said.

Some Democrats also credit Republicans for

and reducing the voter registration advantage that Democrats have long had.

But Democrats also turned around Republicans in absentee ballot requests, a key Republican strength in previous election cycles that helped drive turnout.

While more Democrats voted by mail before Tuesday's election, Republicans also made a quick turn for more members of their party to vote in person during the early voting period.

Though Democrats long outnumber Republicans, they have shown little.

In 2016, Clinton narrowly lost to Trump.

Two years ago, Democratic candidate for Governor Andrew Gillum, who would have been Florida's first black governor, narrowly lost to DeSantis.

United States Senator Bill Nelson also narrowly missed his re-election bid.

Currently, Democrats hold only one state office: that of Commissioner of Agriculture, held by Nikki Fried, who is said to be considering running for higher office.

But his success could hinge on what Democrats learn from his latest defeats.

For Taddeo, the Democratic state senator, it means going back to basics.

"It's a math thing," he said.

"We need to register voters all the time."

Bobby Caina Calvan and Brendan Farrington, AP

Look also

Elections in the United States: Donald Trump denounces fraud in key “all the states” that Joe Biden won

Elections in the United States: the differences narrow to the extreme in the key states and the fight moves to the counties