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.