State government in Florida has been dominated by the GOP for more years than I can remember. You would think, as a result, that Republican candidates would emphasize the glories of living under Republican rule. Instead, you get this:
- Adam Putnam, the Florida establishment candidate for governor, is running commercials in which he portrays himself as a humble fifth generation farmer supporting regular working people against the claims of a liberal elite that thinks everyone should go to college. In reality: Putnam went to the University of Florida; he is apparently worth about $30 million, which clearly was inherited; he has been a politician for a large part of his adult life; and the liberal elites he so despises are nowhere to be found in Tallahassee. Any objections he might have to the way the state has been run need to be directed at Republicans.
- Rick Scott, the current governor, is running for the U.S. Senate. His commercials call on the electorate to elect a businessman to drain the swamp in Washington. Of course: Scott has been a politician, not a businessman, for many years; the D.C. swamp is completely controlled by Republicans; and Trump was elected partly on the basis of his business background, which hasn’t exactly helped him drain the swamp.
What does one take from this? The angry right-wing populist narrative is such an important element in GOP thinking, it has to be emphasized even when it doesn’t make any sense.