President Biden held a rally in Miami Gardens Tuesday to show support for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist and Senate hopeful Val Demings. The appearance aimed to change the current signs of a Republican win on November 8.
Polls from RealClearPolitics.com show incumbent Governor Ron DeSantis leading Crist, 52.1 to 42.2 percent.
When taking the stage, Crist raised the same points he made during the Governor’s debate on October 24 against DeSantis, the main one being abortion laws. “Ron’s abortion ban does not even include exceptions for rape or incest?” Crist said. “That is barbaric.”
He promised an executive order on his first day in office to ensure “a woman’s right to choose.”
Crist spoke of utility prices, property insurance, and political division in Florida. Among many attacks on DeSantis, he said his administration was about intimidation and not supporting democracy.
“Floridians don’t scare easily Ron,” he said. “And we will vote and we will defeat you next Tuesday.”
In the Senate race, Rubio has an average 8 percentage point lead according to RealClearPolitics.com. The average poll shows Demings with 43.2 percent of votes while Rubio stays ahead with 50.2 percent.
That drastic gap between the candidates influenced much of Demings’ speech as she enthusiastically rallied the crowd when calling out the incumbent and pushed voters to defend “the American dream” with constitutional rights.
“Marco Rubio does not show up for work, and based on what I know, when you don’t show up for work you lose your job”, Demings said. “Rubio wants to take us back to a time when women were treated as second-class citizens.”
Soon after, President Joe Biden swept the stage while engulfed in the roar of Democratic supporters.
The President has a 49 percent approval rate in Florida, but an astounding 47 percent disapproval rate in Southeast Florida, which is the most Democratic area in the state according to FloridaPolitics.com.
Yet, instead of mainly focusing on the endorsements for Crist and Demings, Biden shifted his speech to talk about his plans and accomplishments for the economy, Medicare, and Social Security in an attempt to inspire the Democratic vote.
Biden criticized Republicans’ threat to these programs. “Their extremism is unlimited to social programs and the economy”, he said. “They’re coming after your right to vote and who gets to count the vote…democracy is on the ballot this year.”
The commander-in-chief closed the rally with a call for every party member across the ballot to come together and vote for the Democratic nominees in Florida.
He insisted everything is at stake in the span of the next seven days and is optimistic for America’s future like never before.
“We just have to remember who we are, we’re the United States of America, and there’s nothing beyond our capacity,” Biden said. “So get out to vote and win.”
Kenya Cardonne and Moises Pinell worked on the video story. Rachel Costa and Alexandra Howard authored the article.
