FL-25

Paul Ryan's political raison d'être has been clear since he was first elected to Congress-- slashing the New Deal and subsequent social insurance policies to ribbons. That's what he got from reading Ayn Rand's books when he was just a little right-wing nut in high school.

You might not know it from looking at him-- with the $60,000 weave, all the plastic surgery and the cosmetics-- but Wednesday old man Trump turned 70. It was also the first anniversary of his descent down the escalator at Trump Tower in NYC to make his ugly, racist speech against Hispanic-Americans, a speech which has wrecked the Republican brand (again) among the fastest-growing voter demagraphic in the country.

As of the March 31 FEC reporting deadline Debbie Wasserman Schultz had already spent $1,300,451 to retain her south Florida congressional seat. Ensconced in a deep blue district whose original very gerrymandered boundaries she drew herself when she was in the state Senate, she's never had an electoral challenge and doesn't know how to run a modern campaign.

Largely at the urging of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DCCC has studiously ignored FL-25 as a pick-up target. There's been a very hands-off policy in a congressional district that stretches from west and northwest Miami-- Fountainebleau, Doral and Sweetwater-- Hialeah and Miami Lakes, west through Collier County and the Naples suburbs and up into Hendry County. 71% of the residents are Hispanic-- just under 40% of whom are Cuban-Americans; there is also a huge Venezuelan population centered on Doral.

Largely at the urging of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DCCC has studiously ignored FL-25 as a pick-up target. There's been a very hands-off policy in a congressional district that stretches from west and northwest Miami-- Fountainebleau, Doral and Sweetwater-- Hialeah and Miami Lakes, west through Collier County and the Naples suburbs and up into Hendry County. 71% of the residents are Hispanic-- just under 40% of whom are Cuban-Americans; there is also a huge Venezuelan population centered on Doral.

The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll dug into how independent voters view the two parties. It's just a snapshot in time but 23% of independent voters saw the Democratic Party positively and 37% saw them negatively. Pretty horrible. But it was far worse for the Republicans. Only 8% of independent voters have a positive view of the GOP, while a staggering 52% see the Republicans negatively.