With 2016 around the corner, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) will be hosting the Sunshine Summit in Orlando from Nov. 12-Nov. 14 and the stakes will be high. The presidential hopefuls will take most of the spotlight but there’s another important race already taking shape as Rubio has said he will not run for a second Senate term. Florida Republicans Ron DeSantis, David Jolly, Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Todd Wilcox are already off and running and they will be at the Sunshine Summit trying to win support for their Senate bids.
Continuing over the next week, Sunshine State News will look at the presidential hopefuls who will be on stage at the Sunshine Summit and what is at stake as they take their messages to Republicans across Florida.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Carly Fiorina approaches next week’s Sunshine Summit in an odd spot. None of the other Republican presidential hopefuls have done as well in the first debates as Fiorina but that can only help her so much.
Fiorina shone in the first undercard debate, easily outclassing Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham and other third tier candidates. In the second debate, Fiorina more than held her own, especially in a dustup against Donald Trump. Those performances helped move Fiorina’s poll numbers up.
But, while she did well in last week’s debate, Fiorina wasn’t the story after the third debate. Now Fiorina’s numbers are slumping down again, showing she needs more than just strong debate performances to become a serious contender for the Republican nomination. Reports that Fiorina is back on the lecture circuit haven’t helped her as she tries to portray herself as a top contender for the White House.
Fiorina will have a chance to improve her standing when she hits the Sunshine Summit next week. She’s scheduled to be the last of the presidential candidates to take the stage, speaking late in the afternoon of Sat. Nov. 14.
Besides showcasing her own credentials and staking out conservative ground on the issues, Fiorina will have the opportunity to play what might be the best card in her hand. Unlike many of her rivals for the Republican nomination, Fiorina has generally kept her fire focused against Hillary Clinton.
Contrasting her record in the private sector with Clinton’s years in government and politics, Fiorina has scored points with Republicans but, while GOP voters like her, she remains a second or third choice for many of them. Still, Fiorina has often been put on the defensive over her time at Hewlett-Packard but she has handled the questions well enough. But her attacks against politicians in Washington, D.C. can often fall flat since, as Trump has pointed out, Fiorina ran for the Senate in 2010 and was blown out by Barbara Boxer despite it being a great year for Republicans.
Fiorina has the opportunity to close the Sunshine Summit by going after Clinton and highlighting her own credentials. More importantly, Fiorina can build more framework for her campaign to ensure her numbers don’t go south once memories of her performance in the latest debate starts to fade.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
