With President Barack Obama in Jacksonville today to give his speech on the economy, Republicans are going on the attack but First Coast Democrats have fallen strangely quiet.
This week the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) jabbed away at Obama on the economy, launching the latest attack Wednesday, claiming the president is looking for a mulligan on the economy.
With Obama speaking at the Jacksonville Port on Thursday, the RPOF also issued a reminder that Obama spoke at Port Miami back in March and insisted Gov. Rick Scott was responsible for the uptick in Floridas economy.
President Obama is visiting yet another Florida port this year, providing more rhetoric on the economy, said RPOF Chairman Lenny Curry, a Jacksonville resident, on Wednesday. We will not allow the president to come to Jacksonville and take credit for Governor Scotts policies and economic successes just like he tried to in Miami nearly four months ago. Floridians know its Governor Rick Scott who provides results with his laser-focused leadership on jobs.
Curry will be holding a media event in Jacksonville on Thursday and will be joined by Republican officials including Duval County GOP Chairman Rick Hartley to take aim at Obama. Elected officials, including Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, and Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach will also be speaking at the event.
Republicans in Washington also welcomed Obama to the First Coast with jeers. During a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday in which he called for defunding Obamas health care law, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., referenced the presidents trip to the First Coast.
Mr. President, as you travel around the country this week, as you come to Jacksonville, Fla., on Thursday, I hope you will also explain to the American people how it is that you can justify cutting hours, cutting benefits, and taking away existing health insurance and existing doctor-patient relationships, Rubio said. Away from millions of working-class and middle-class Americans who are going to be hurt by this law because of your refusal and the refusal of many of your allies to consider suspending this or permanently repealing it and replacing it with something better.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who represents parts of the First Coast, took aim at the president on Wednesday, sending out various posts on social media pointing to jobs lost during Obamas tenure in the White House.
But while Republicans are loudly bashing Obama as he heads to Jacksonville, Democrats in the region have been much more subdued. The Duval County Democrats noted on Twitter back on Friday that Obama would be speaking in Jacksonville but that is all they have done there, preferring to focus on Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Browns budget and the aftermath of a jury finding George Zimmerman not guilty in the death of Trayvon Martin.
With Obama speaking in Jacksonville, some focus will be on Mayor Alvin Brown. In 2011, Brown became the first Democrat to win a Jacksonville mayoral election since Ed Austin was elected back in 1991. Despite Browns success and Obama only losing Duval County by 3 percent to Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, Jacksonville remains something of a Republican stronghold. Brown has been careful not to appear to be too close to Obama. Back in 2012, Brown said he would vote for Obama but refused to publicly endorse him. When Obama held a campaign rally in Jacksonville last June, Brown was conspicuous by his absence.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at 904-521-3722.
