Val's Swan Song?

Sure looks like it.

U.S. Representative Val Demings, once considered to be Joe Biden's vice presidential running mate, is accomplished, well-spoken, and, let me just come out and say it, physically attractive.  She's also right on all the issues - particularly on allowing Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices, which her opponent, incumbent Republican Senator Marco Rubio opposes.  And this is a state with a large senior population. 

So why is she losing the Florida U.S. Senate race to Rubio?

It wouldn't have anything to do with Rubio running ads depicting her as an "angry black woman" when it comes to supporting a progressive social agenda, would it?

Actually, no - it has to do with more than just that.  Florida is an increasingly Republican state, and it's dominated by Hispanic Americans of Cuban descent like Rubio and of Venezuelan descent who shrink at the sound of any idea that sounds remotely socialist or even progressive or contemporary.  Rubio has also been able to sidestep the abortion issue by touting the crime issue and making Demings, a former Orlando police chief,  defend the police against those who want to defund the police - something no former police chief should have to waste any breath doing. The candidate who sets the agenda for what gets talked about controls the campaign, and for the U.S. Senate campaign in Florida, that's Marco Rubio. 

Look, I'd vote for Val if I lived in Florida (thank God I don't!), but the sentiment against her is running strong.  Sure, she's stepped up to the plate in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian to get help for Orlando, her hometown, which flooded big time as a result of the storm, but what politician in Florida isn't taking action?   Add the fact the Biden is about is popular in Florida right now as a house without central air, and, well, you have yourself a problem.

So I'm going to come out and say it: I think Val Demings is going to lose this election.  And unless President Biden appoints her Secretary of Homeland Security once Alejandro Mayorkas is forced out of office (a likely scenario in 2023) and Demings is appointed to replace him, Demings' political career will be dead on the heap of all of the other once-promising political careers of up-and-coming Florida Democrats.

The state's Democratic Party itself may not be far behind.

O'Malley Still Campaigning

Martin O'Malley is out of office but is not out of politics.  

He's thinking of running for President again? 

No.  But, while he didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, he did attend a Democratic county committee fundraiser a couple of weeks ago.

O'Malley and his wife Katie were guest speakers at a barbecue fundraiser in Cecil County, Maryland, in the northeastern corner of the state, along with U.S. Representative Anthony Brown, the Democratic nominee for Maryland Attorney General (not Katie!) to help local Democrats such as Phyllis Kilby, who is running to represent the Fourth District of . . . the Cecil County Council.

I kid you not.  All politics may be local, but the O'Malleys are going really local!

It seems to me that the O'Malleys are getting back to their roots, speaking at local political events that would only get coverage in weekly community papers (or Patch.com sites, as the case may be).  I have advocated for Martin O'Malley to make a comeback, but not on such a small stage.

Speaking of stages, Martin O'Malley doubled as the entertainment for the cookout.

This picture suggests a dismaying similarity to those since-forgotten singer-songwriters from the late eighties and early nineties who had a couple of hits and played Radio City Music Hall but are now relegated to playing suburban "coffeehouses" or "concert halls" that are actually rented church rectories where folks serve you Hydrox cookies (Hydrox, not Oreo) and apple juice.  And the refreshments are free with the price of admission.

Not exactly the look of a guy who might run for President again in 2024 or 2028, but then again, Paul McCartney would serendipitously play local pubs and university campuses all over Britain with Wings before working his way to American arenas in 1976.

Watch this guy.  And, watch this space.