More from my contribution to this week’s Human Events magazine:
FLORIDA
Video leak turns debate from Medicare and entitlement to taxes and foreign policy
What began as a battle over who could best uphold Medicare and tackle entitlement issues in the Sunshine State has now turned full steam into a debate rooted in taxes and foreign policy.
The shift began after a leaked video from a May fundraiser for Republican candidate Mitt Romney in Boca Raton, just 50 miles north of Miami, in which he said a significant portion of the American public — 47 percent — does not pay federal income taxes.
Seemingly at the ready, progressive and establishment press were quick to deride Romney’s comments, charging him with secret contempt for working people and with employing racial overtones.
The editorial board of the Tampa Bay Times, the biggest newspaper in the southeastern U.S., chided Romney’s “callous” remarks and charged him with inciting “class warfare.”
Poll Watch: The latest Purple Insights poll shows Romney carrying a slim one point lead in the Sunshine State, edging ahead with 48 percent support to President Obama’s 47 percent.
The battle for Florida’s Jewish voters was buoyed by a recent television ad featuring the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warning of “Iran getting close to the nuclear bomb.”
The million-dollar ad buy, by Secure America Now, suggests tacit leadership on the issue by Obama, and it will play heavily in Miami, Fort Myers and West Palm Beach.
The level of attention on the presidential race, meanwhile, has allowed Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson to hold a steady lead over his Republican challenger, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack. Though Nelson has supported all proposals by President Obama, he has shied away from large appearances with his party, even turning down the DNC to campaign in his home state and extend his lead over Mack.
— Yaël Ossowski
Read more: Human Events