Florida: Vindman down, Nixon up
We’ve got another DSA member winning a Democrat primary, this time in Florida for the US Senate. The outcome was considered an upset:
Progressive state Rep. Angie Nixon scored a major upset over former National Security Council aide Alex Vindman in the Florida Democratic Senate primary, NBC News projects, setting up a general election race against Republican Sen. Ashley Moody.
Vindman, a retired lieutenant colonel and Iraq War veteran who rose to prominence as a witness during President Donald Trump’s 2019 impeachment hearings, was viewed as a heavy favorite against Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, heading into Tuesday’s contest.
Vindman isn’t exactly a fountain of charisma, but a DSA member is an odd choice for a basically red state such as Florida. And how is it the polls were so wrong – again? Most of the other polls have overestimated the DSA candidates’ leads, but in this race polls seem to have done the opposite.
Odd, but perhaps all the polls are way off because the number of “undecideds” has been large in each race. For example, a July poll said this:
A recent poll released in July by Democratic Party sponsor Change Research showed Vindman leading Nixon in the Aug. 18 primary election 34% to 24%, with 41% of primary voters still undecided.
That’s a huge number of undecided people.
Another problem for Vindman was that he hadn’t lived in Florida long. And Nixon voiced the right (that is, the current leftist) stance on Israel:
Nixon is an advocate for cutting U.S. aid to Israel, a controversial position in a state with the country’s third-largest Jewish population. Her stance put her at odds with members of her own party at times and was in contrast to Vindman, a Jewish immigrant born in Soviet Ukraine.
Hopefully, it’ll be moot in November because hopefully, GOP candidate Ashley Moody will win. But I take nothing for granted. The seat they’re all vying for is Rubio’s, by the way. He vacated it when he was appointed SOS by Trump, and Moody was chosen by DeSantis to take his place until the 2026 election, which will be to fill in the remaining two years.
Did you know Vindman is a Ranger? Spotlight ranger. I’ll bet he probably cries when his feewings get hurt and that his tears taste like butter.
As neo mentions, Vindman was very involved some nat. security flap and the impeachment of Trump. I wonder if some Republican voters crossed over and voted against Vindman. Is that possible in FL? Dumb move, if they did.
And how is it the polls were so wrong – again?
Ya know… I’m changing the subject slightly, but this flap over polls in the Hong primary really bugs me. So some new polling company comes out with polls that say the Hong was far ahead of her opponents and the media snaps the story up blasts it out everywhere. Then Hong loses, and this company says, this poll was fake and it was a test. A test to see how lazy and corrupt the media is. And everyone focuses on how lazy and corrupt the media is.
Wait a minute! Polls influence elections. That’s WHY these stories have significance. People like to be associated with winners. And many simple minded folks will be nudged towards voting for a winner.
So this company declares AFTER the primary is over, that their poll results that they successfully promulgated were intentionally bogus??? Not acceptable. This really and genuinely should be a crime. I know it is not.
Agreed, T-J– I know too many people who don’t have much in the way of political beliefs and they love being associated with the winner. Those folks are ripe to be influenced by the polls, real and bogus (if there is a difference).
But don’t forget the money. If a poll shows a certain candidate well ahead of the field, how many people will decide to withhold future contributions if it looks like they are investing in a loser? Or maybe decide the leader in the poll doesn’t need their money and withhold a contribution. And the won-loss result is based on the money raised.
I don’t know how one would attach criminality, though. They could just plead incompetence and be in the clear. And we all know that criminalizing incompetence would be in direct opposition to any plan to reduce prison populations.
TommyJay and Neo-
No, there are no crossover votes in Florida as we have closed primaries, thank goodness. So Democrats decided they didn’t like the weasel either. (It boggles the mind that some states have open primaries. No matter what the good intentions are, there’s way too much room for political mischief.)
Re Vindman and Trump – In Trump’s first term, Vindman as a part of the National Security Council as the “Ukraine expert”, listened on a call between Trump and Zelensky and reported it as “improper.” That led to a House inquiry and to the first impeachment.
Neo – Since 2020, Florida has added 1.5 million Republican voters so we are now officially a Red state. Moody has done a good job and I can’t see this DSA member with any traction at all.