Even before the race was officially called for Florida Republicans Ron DeSantis and Marco Rubio, MSNBC began losing it over the strong early results in the Hispanic county of Miami-Dade, which was a reliably solid Democrat county.
The devastation for the MSNBC panel set in early when national political correspondent Steve Kornacki went to the electronic board and showed that Senator Marco Rubio had an early lead in Miami-Dade County. This news received an audible shock from the panelists off-camera:
STEVE KORNACKI: We got something else coming in? Oh, we just got -- I'm told we just got Miami-Dade. This is a big one in Florida. Let’s take a look. Okay. We got -- yeah. So let's put this in some perspective. Miami-Dade County has 2.3 million people.
In 2016, this was a Democratic county by 30 points. Hillary Clinton won this county by 30 points. Miami-Dade is 70 percent Hispanic. It began shifting to the Republicans in 2020. Donald Trump only lost it by seven. And look at this. In the mail-in and early vote, which again, tends to be more Democratic friendly, Marco Rubio, the Republican, is outright leading in Miami-Dade County by seven points over Val Demings, the Democratic challenger.
Later on, when it became apparent that both Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio were headed to a resounding victory, MSNBC host Alex Wagner asked former Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe “what is the lesson you are drawing here in terms of the Hispanic vote? How alarmed should Democrats be?”
Plouffe admitted that “in Florida, it's catastrophic.” He went on to bemoan how “we saw greater erosion in 20[20]. Let's remember, Barack Obama won in 2012, basically tied, the Cuban vote, and got over 77 Hispanic votes. So the Obama coalition in Florida is gone. We have to rebuild it now.”
Looking forward to the 2024 presidential election, Plouffe noted how “this is a massive problem,” and that “from an electoral college chessboard if you’re looking ahead to 2024, if you basically sceede those 29 electoral votes from the very beginning–it gives the Republicans a huge advantage.”
This panic on MSNBC over Hispanics in Florida shifting to the Democrats was made possible by United Healthcare. Their information is linked.
To read the transcript click “expand”:
MSNBC Decision 2022
11/8/2022
7:14:23 p.m. EasternSTEVE KORNACKI: We got something else coming in? Oh, we just got -- I'm told we just got Miami-Dade. This is a big one in Florida. Let’s take a look. Okay. We got -- yeah. So let's put this in some perspective. Miami-Dade County has 2.3 million people.
In 2016, this was a Democratic county by 30 points. Hillary Clinton won this county by 30 points. Miami-Dade is 70 percent Hispanic. It began shifting to the Republicans in 2020. Donald Trump only lost it by seven. And look at this. In the mail-in and early vote, which again, tends to be more Democratic friendly, Marco Rubio, the Republican, is outright leading in Miami-Dade County by seven points over Val Demings, the Democratic challenger.
[...]
ALEX WAGNER: What is the lesson you are drawing here in terms of the Hispanic vote? How alarmed should Democrats be?
DAVID PLOUFFE: In Florida, it's catastrophic. So obviously, we saw greater erosion in 20. Let's remember, Barack Obama won in 2012, basically tied, the Cuban vote, and got over 77 Hispanic votes. So the Obama coalition in Florida is gone. We have to rebuild it now. The question will be in Arizona and Nevada, huge Hispanic vote in North Carolina and Virginia. What do we see there? I would be surprised to see anywhere near the erosion we’re seeing in Florida. I think just contained to Florida.
Maybe along some of the border in south Texas, where we saw some problems, and in west Texas in 2020, but this is a massive problem. From an electoral college chessboard if you’re looking ahead to 2024, if you basically seede those 29 electoral votes from the very beginning–it gives the Republicans a huge advantage.
