NBC’s Caputo: Florida Dems Don’t ‘Give Charlie Crist Much of a Chance’ — ‘Basically the Powerball Election’

Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight,” NBC News’ Marc Caputo weighed in on Florida Democrat Charlie Crist winning his party’s gubernatorial nomination to face off against incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

Caputo said he spoke with over 20 Democratic consultants, activists, and lawmakers, and “none of them give Charlie Crist much of a chance” against DeSantis.

“[I] ‘ll tell you what Democrats make of the odds — both consultants, grassroots activists, lawmakers and former lawmakers, all Democrats, some Crist supporters, some Fried supporters — I spoke to more than 20 for the article we just moved; none of them give Charlie Crist much of a chance,” Caputo advised. “In fact, a Crist adviser said to me that this is basically the Powerball election.”

“You miss all the shots you don’t take, right?” he added. “So, Charlie Crist has taken a shot. Now, this is his second go-round for governor as a Democrat. It’s the second time that he has defeated a woman in the primary. In this case, it was Nikki Fried, who is the only statewide elected Democrat. Now, if things go as Democrats fear … and if Charlie Crist loses to DeSantis, as the polling indicates, and the other cabinet members who are all Democrats, who are little known and underfunded who are running against incumbent Republicans — if they lose, then no statewide elected Democrat will hold a seat in Florida for the first time since reconstruction. It gives you a good idea of how terrible the Democratic Party’s fortunes are here.”

Caputo went on to say that national Democrats weren’t “keen” on playing in Florida because of how much of a lead and cash on hand DeSantis held. He noted President Joe Biden’s poll numbers weren’t helping.

“In addition to DeSantis leading in the polls, he’s sitting on at least $140 million cash on hand in the bank,” he stated. “As a war chest, we’ve never seen that before here or in any state for anyone running for governor. In addition to that, national Democrats, understandably so, aren’t so keen about playing in Florida. They’re not really interested. And President Biden’s poll numbers aren’t doing much favor for Democrats down-ballot. That will include Charlie Crist.”

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