NERVE CENTERS — The eventful week that saw Republicans unite behind Donald Trump and Democrats splinter over Joe Biden just revealed a great deal about where power and influence truly resides in the two major parties. Just as the now-concluded Republican National Convention made clear that Florida is the spiritual capital of the Republican Party, the ongoing mission to convince Biden to withdraw from the race underscores how California occupies a similar role for Democrats. At the convention, the Florida stamp was unmistakable. While the state only sent the third-largest delegation to Milwaukee, it had center-stage seating on the floor and was granted more speaking slots than any other. Tuesday night’s schedule featured Florida’s three most prominent statewide officials — Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, along with Gov. Ron DeSantis. Five House members also received much-coveted speaking slots. Florida’s emergence as the center of the GOP universe isn’t exactly new. But it is a Trump-era development, coinciding with Trump’s change of his primary residence from New York to Palm Beach. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort has become both a nerve center for the far right and the party’s Vatican, a holy place where every ambitious Republican must make a pilgrimage. It’s helped elevate Florida to a space in the party’s imagination once occupied by California during the 1970s and 1980s, and by Texas during the George W. Bush era, when those states not only produced GOP presidents but also served as aspirational political models. Florida’s ascent within the party isn’t simply a function of Trump’s presence. It’s a reflection of the state’s break to the right after years of existing as the nation’s largest swing state, and of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ careful curation of his fast-growing state’s image as a validator of conservative governance. DeSantis has been explicit about fashioning Florida as an antidote to deep blue California, which he refers to as a failed state and “the petri dish for American liberalism and American leftism.” “The California model represents more American decline,” he has said, “The Florida model represents a way for us to reverse American decline and represents a way to have an American revival.” DeSantis, who built an entire (failed) presidential campaign on that idea, continues to project his state’s image in ideological terms: at 24 locations along highways and at two welcome centers, signs now welcome visitors to “The Free State of Florida,” a nod to the governor’s stance on Covid restrictions. The anemic condition of the state Democratic Party and the constellation of big donors, influencers, operatives, Trump family members and other elements of the Trump Political Industrial Complex suggest the state might occupy its position within the party for some years to come, even if the former president is defeated in November. California flexed its muscle within the Democratic Party more subtly this week, befitting its unquestioned alpha state status. With the party looking paralyzed and Biden seemingly poised to run out the clock and claim the Democratic nomination, a growing chorus of voices from the state’s House delegation — the largest bloc in the Democratic Caucus — went public with their calls for Biden to withdraw. California Reps. Mike Levin and Scott Peters were among the first wave of elected Democrats to call for the president to withdraw from the race. Rep. Jared Huffman circulated a draft calling on Democratic National Committee to delay Biden’s nomination before explicitly calling on him to bow out. As of today, one-in-five of the nearly 30 House Democrats who have called for Biden to drop out are from California. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, still a powerful voice within the party, has played a key role in advancing the state of play, weighing in at pivotal points with closely-read comments and then telling Biden last week that she and other Democratic lawmakers worry that he’s dragging down the party. As the party’s seemingly unassailable West Coast fortress, the nation’s ATM in political fundraising and the cornerstone of the Democratic electoral coalition in presidential years, California has shaped the debate over Biden’s future in other critical ways, and undermined his position. After propping him up with a record-breaking fundraising event before his fateful June 27 debate, the party’s Hollywood base has largely deserted him, with actor George Clooney’s New York Times op-ed serving as a damaging blow. Film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, a top Biden campaign adviser, reportedly warned the president Wednesday in a private meeting that major donors were doubtful of his ability to win in November and “have all but stopped writing the kind of big checks that sustain campaigns in the home stretch.” It’s further evidence that, however much of its national luster California has lost in recent years, it remains the Democrats’ essential state, a place whose cultural, political and policymaking influence helps shape and define the party. If Biden loses California’s loyalty, he loses the nomination. California is well positioned either way. A Californian, Vice President Kamala Harris, has the inside track to succeed Biden in the event he bows out. And then there’s Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s waiting in the wings. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at cmahtesian@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment