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The old expression often credited to Tip O’Neill, that “all politics is local,” poorly describes this Florida election.
It’s a nationwide fight for control of a narrowly divided Congress in which the central theme for voters is the unpopularity of President Trump. Nowhere is that more obvious than in Florida.
A Congress narrowly controlled by his party has failed abjectly in its constitutional duty as the first branch of government — to govern for the nation’s benefit, not the president’s — and to demand that he uphold the laws.
It is proper that Congress is of many minds on contentious issues such as taxes, Medicare or foreign policy. What voters deserve from every member — conservative, moderate, liberal or progressive — is unwavering integrity and faithfulness to the Constitution. Every candidate’s loyalty should be to you, the constituent, and to our nation’s governing document.
In the U.S. Senate race, Republican Ashley Moody was appointed last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace Marco Rubio, who became Trump’s secretary of state. This is a special election, for the two years left in Rubio’s six-year term.
Moody, 51, twice elected as an ineffective state attorney general, has two primary opponents, but neither is viable. Trump’s endorsement of her cleared the field of potential challengers, so Moody is assured to be the GOP nominee.
To call Moody’s campaign low-key is an understatement. Facing a serious fight in November, she conserves her money. Through June, her filings show $10.8 million raised and nearly $8.4 million on hand. Pollsters view this seat as safely Republican, and Moody is playing it safe.
You won’t find an issues platform on her campaign homepage. It features her endorsements, most prominently by Trump, and her statement: “I am excited to have a president who puts the interests of Americans first and I am proud to stand in support of President Trump’s agenda.”
Voters should act accordingly and see this race as a referendum on Trump, whose most recent approval rating was 34%.
Democratic voters have two options on Aug. 18. Their decision should come down to who they believe is more likely to beat Moody in November.
Angie Nixon, 42, of Jacksonville, a declared Democratic Socialist, is a state representative, the state House’s most outspoken liberal, and a fierce critic of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ policies. She was arrested in May after a five-hour sit-in outside the governor’s office to protest a lack of attention to affordability issues.
Popular among progressives and little known statewide, Nixon’s campaign finances are weak, with $118,576 in the bank June 30.
Her opponent, Alex Vindman, 51, of Davie, is a retired Army lieutenant colonel who was awarded the Purple Heart after his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004.
Vindman is widely known nationally, as his fundraising shows, for having blown the whistle on Trump’s attempt to extort a political favor from Ukraine in exchange for delivering aid Congress had authorized.
That got him fired from the National Security Council staff, where Vindman, born in Russia and brought to the U.S. as a toddler, was director of European affairs. Trump also fired his identical twin brother, Eugene, also a lieutenant colonel, a former legal aide at the NSC, and now a Democratic congressman seeking re-election in Virginia.
With $7.3 million cash on hand, Vindman is better primed for a race against Moody and clearly the more moderate of the two. Nixon’s platform is idealism writ large, with promises of Medicare for all being expanded to include eye and dental care — no premiums, copays or deductibles.
One issue clearly dividing them is Nixon’s uncompromising opposition to more aid to Israel. Vindman’s position is more nuanced. Without saying how he would have voted on a failed House motion to end aid, Vindman said that nobody should get a “free pass,” and that he’s committed to the two-state solution that Israel’s present government opposes.
“Our system is rigged and Ashley Moody was hand-picked by the political elites who rigged it,” his website says. “She screwed Florida homeowners by caving to the big insurance companies, supported this administration that gutted disaster help for communities trying to rebuild, and had over a million dollars in her corporate stock traded last year while she had access to insider information only Congress gets.”
It also notes that he stood up to “a corrupt and illegal abuse of power by a president intent on undermining an election.”
It’s hard to imagine a political outcome that would annoy Trump more than Vindman in the U.S. Senate — particularly if Democrats regain control.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, send an email to letters@sun-sentinel.com.
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