At least according to his Twitter account, Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, who when last heard from was suggesting Republicans were “toothless” yokels, believes it’s insulting to Floridians that the liberal media is attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis for standing up for parents and election integrity and standing against anti-white wokeism and late-term abortions.
On Tuesday, for example, Crist, his party’s front-runner for the gubernatorial nomination, tweeted, “If you’re sick of Ron DeSantis putting Florida in the national headlines because of his anti-democratic controversies, I have a suggestion: vote him out!”
Apparently, though, Crist and those like him are losing steam with this argument, at least according to a Saint Leo University poll taken earlier this month.
The survey found that DeSantis’ approval rating is 58.8 percent. That was up 2.4 points from six months earlier.
On the flip side, DeSantis’ disapproval rating fell at a faster rate.
Saint Leo reported that 36.8 percent dislike what the governor is doing. Six months ago, that ratio was 40.6 – revealing a decrease of 3.8 points in the negative side of the ledger.
In a statement, Frank Orlando, director of the Saint Leo University Polling Institute, noted, “Governor DeSantis is benefitting from a strong economy and a lack of COVID cases in the state over the past few months. While he gets lots of national attention for provoking the ire of liberals on things like masking, it doesn’t seem to hurt him in Florida, and in fact continues to raise his national profile.”
When Saint Leo looked at the governor’s race, the pollster compared DeSantis to his three main rivals.
DeSantis at the time would defeat Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo by 19 points, and state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried by 23.6 points.
To his credit, Crist came closest to the incumbent. The poll showed he would lose to DeSantis by just 16.4 points.
Even CNN noticed last week that DeSantis is pulling away from the pack.
Last August, the network pointed out, the incumbent and Crist were in a “dead heat.”
And that Saint Leo poll came out as DeSantis was signing the Parental Rights in Education bill – which was supported by 52 percent of Florida Democrats.
“As long as the governor’s approval ratings remain in the upper 50s, it’s hard to see him losing in 2022, which promises to be a strong year for Republicans nationwide,” Orlando said.
“Due to increased name ID, it’s important to look at the percentage of respondents supporting the incumbent. Being close to 50 percent in all three of the races means that he is in (a) relatively powerful position moving forward, but we should expect tightening once the Dems pick their nominee.”
The problem for Crist or any of the other Democrats is simple: What can they run on?
To criticize DeSantis paints them, among other things, as in favor of COVID-19 lockdowns and mask mandates; in favor of kindergarten teachers instructing students in gender ideology; in favor of teaching students the jaded, racialist history of the “1619 Project”; in favor of abortion when babies are nearing viabilty; in favor of looser restrictions on voting; and in favor finding room and provisions for illegal immigrants.
Crist may think it’s an embarrassment that The New York Times disapproves of DeSantis’ agenda. But closer to home, those who matter most, Floridians, clearly seem to approve.
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