There was a time, going back two weeks ago (oh my, were we ever that young?!) when political pundits and analysts were lending their perspectives and rendering their careers in making election predictions. 

This was back when pollster Ann Selzer was declaring Kamala Harris as holding a 3 percentage point advantage in Iowa and was on a momentum streak that looked to sway the election her way. She, and the energetic pundits who touted her outlier result, saw shame as she was only off by 16% as Trump took the state handily.

Others were offering their wise prognosticating, including a few seers who speculated that the state of Florida could be flipped. Such was the enthusiasm and positive thinking that some believed Harris could see the Republican stronghold, that it is no longer considered to be a swing state, altered to a blue paradise.

The Florida Republican Party has come out with a post that is a head-turner for political wonks. The Sunshine State GOP has lent its endorsement to, of all things, a Democrat!

Nikki Fried has our total and complete endorsement to lead the @FlaDems for another 4 years. She is the only one that can successfully bring the Democrat Party into complete extinction in the Sunshine State. We wish her all the best.

— Florida GOP (@FloridaGOP) November 15, 2024

Call it what you will; epic trolling, spiking the football, taunting the afflicted…any and all may apply. Nikki Fried is someone who has long operated with a dense cloud of delusion. When she served in the state capitol as the Agriculture commissioner she would boast how Democrats were growing in nature when she was - literally - the only elected party member in a power role in the state legislature. She even touted being the only elected Dem in Tallahassee in her social media bio.

She then took that hubris and ran for the governor’s mansion, where she could not even win her party’s primary, losing to Charlie Crist, who went on to be curb-stomped in the election by Ron DeSantis, losing by 20 points. The Florida Democrats then wisely selected her to be the state’s party leader.

Since she took the position Fried was a regular source of head-scratching activity. She boasted about Democrats flipping some state seats, in Jacksonville and Orange County – which are Democrat regions. She adopted the Florida panther as the party mascot, which was apt in ways she did not consider as it is a deeply endangered species with dwindling numbers and difficult to find in this region.  

Just thinking back to those electoral pundits who stated Florida was in play and could possibly flip blue this election. pic.twitter.com/uOtaCPNw6G

— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) November 16, 2024

The result of November 5th’s election? Florida turned from red to maroon. Trump carried the state by 13 points. Democrats took all of six counties – SIX! Miami-Dade - which has been historically blue forever, it seems, went to Trump by 11 percent! And all of that media push to sway Hispanics away as a result of a comedian telling a joke at the Madison Square Garden rally? 

While most metropolitan centers are traditionally blue across the country, in Florida you see the Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville regions all going for the Republicans. Two central Florida counties that are Puerto Rican enclaves - Osceola and Hillsborough - went red. Additionally, two amendment items on the ballot that Democrats favored heavily - abortion becoming codified (Amendment 4) and the legalization of marijuana (Amendment 3) - were voted down. The Amendment 3 issue was a personal hit to Fried, as she has direct ties to the marijuana industry in the state.

That is a garbage result, as far as the Democratic Party in Florida is concerned. For this reason, the state Republican Party leadership enthusiastically pushed for Nikki Fried to continue for another four years.

MAGA tov to failed @FlaDems Chair Nikki Fried and her record breaking voter turnout deficit! When do you resign? #BecauseFlorida #BecauseMiami pic.twitter.com/jTeOJpaFNG

— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) November 6, 2024