The NRA's A+ Republican governor in the "Gunshine State" has suddenly abandoned his hedging last week that "there's a time to talk" about gun reform and magically discovered his voice.
Gov. Rick Scott is currently trying to lay the groundwork for a U.S. Senate bid. Before Friday's announcement, he had been keeping a low profile, quietly canceling an NRA speaking appearance in May and declining to participate in Wednesday's CNN town hall on guns. GOP Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, just re-elected last year, did attend the town hall and has been taking it on the chin ever since even after conceding that he might support certain restrictions on semiautomatic weapons.
But Scott's change of direction is notable, specifically because he initially wanted to talk about mental illness and then pinned the blame on the FBI for failing to act on a tip about the shooter.
In the meantime, the GOP-controlled Florida legislature has about two weeks left to try to insulate themselves from the freight train of disgust that looks to be heading their way in November. Who knows if there will be time? They have been super busy pushing through critical legislation like requiring schools to display "In God We Trust" and officially declaring pornography a public health risk while also voting down an assault weapons ban.
At the same time, student activists across the nation have been staging walkouts and rallies to protest the status quo. They are also crystal clear about what that means in Florida.
In Tallahassee, Stoneman Douglas students who survived the Parkland shooting massacre chanted louder than ever: "Vote them out!"
The pressure isn't likely to die down anytime soon. The #NeverAgain movement is already keeping guns in the headlines longer than in the aftermath of other tragic massacres like those at the Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Festival and even Florida's Pulse Night Club shooting. In fact, national interest appears to be on the rise again as more rallies, protests and walkouts continue to be announced.
Even some major Republican donors have had enough of the GOP’s ironclad allegiance to the NRA. Florida-based real estate developer Al Hoffman Jr., who has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Republicans, is pledging to withhold money from GOP lawmakers who won't support a ban on assault weapons.
Mr. Hoffman announced his ultimatum in an email to half a dozen Republican leaders, including Jeb Bush and Gov. Rick Scott of Florida. He wrote in the email that he would not give money to Mr. Scott, who is considering a campaign for the Senate in 2018, or other Florida Republicans he has backed in the past, including Representative Brian Mast, if they did not support new gun legislation.
“I will not write another check unless they all support a ban on assault weapons,” he wrote. “Enough is enough!”
Hoffman, a veteran and West Point graduate, also said he would be encouraging his fellow Floridians to do the same. Friday morning he discussed with NPR the legislature's failure to pass an assault weapons ban earlier in the week.
They voted that down, but you know what—they're up for election. And I'm going to mail out a plea to every single registered voter in the state of Florida asking them to withhold their money until they can get a pledge from their candidate to support the assault weapons ban.
Make no mistake, when a party starts losing major donors like Hoffman over a political issue, politicians start to think twice about their default position.
Florida just might end up becoming a flash point on guns this November. The state legislature, controlled by Republicans since 1998, has long been a petri dish for some the nation's worst NRA-inspired gun laws, such as Stand Your Ground. But the Parkland student activists just might be able to will change in the so-called “Gunshine State” despite the NRA’s stranglehold on its state lawmakers. Even if only some Republican lawmakers lose their seats over their allegiance to the NRA, that could mark the beginning of a revolution on the issue.
Just look at the rapid evolution of Gov. Scott who, until last week, had been riding an upward trend in support with 58 percent approval ratings during the final quarter of 2017. Politicians don't change course when things are going right for them—unless they see danger ahead.