At times, as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have fought each other in the presidential race, the battle between incumbent U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy has seemed like a quiet undercard.
It hasn't helped that national Democrats have been withdrawing their advertising support for Murphy to funnel money to Senate races in other states that seem more promising. Or that Florida plays just as important a role in the race for the White House as it does in the jockeying for control of the Senate --- if not more so.
With the presidential candidates and their surrogates still zipping around Florida this week, it wasn't possible for the Senate race to emerge completely from the shadows. But it got some air time thanks to a debate on Wednesday that was broadcast statewide --- one that probably had more than a few Florida voters scratching their heads and wondering what a "peshmerga" was.
As for the shadow of the presidential race: Attorney General Pam Bondi found herself pondering the suitability of Trump as a role model despite crude comments about women captured on a 2005 videotape and allegations that the businessman-turned-politician sexually assaulted multiple women.
Meanwhile, state regulators pondered a proposed increase in electric rates that could cost consumers more than $800 million over three years. With the presidential and Senate races consuming so much oxygen, though, little attention was paid to that.
YOU SAY 'PESHMERGA' ...
Every candidate comes to a debate with a message he or she wants to drive. For Murphy at Wednesday's showdown with Rubio, that message was all about one man: Trump. It got to the point that Rubio called out Murphy's focus on the unpopular GOP candidate, whom Rubio has warily endorsed.
"Basically, the answer to every question tonight by Congressman Murphy is 'Donald Trump,' " Rubio quipped after Murphy pivoted from a question about police brutality to invoke the GOP presidential candidate.
Murphy, a congressman from Jupiter, gave as good as he got in parts of the debate, held at Bailey Hall on the campus of Broward College.
"If you voted as much as you lied, you might actually be a decent senator," Murphy said in one exchange.
But he might have made a misstep on foreign policy, when he suggested that Kurdish militiamen known as peshmerga were active in the Syrian civil war, which helped breathe new life into the self-proclaimed Islamic State, a terrorist organization that the United States is attacking. Murphy also suggested that Trump didn't know much about the conflict.
Rubio, sensing an opening, pounced.
"Can I just say, because he criticized someone for not knowing the facts about the region: Congressman, there are no peshmerga in Syria," Rubio responded "The peshmerga are Iraqi."
"And they are helping us fight," Murphy said.
"In Iraq, not in Syria," Rubio shot back.
Some of Murphy's surrogates came to his defense after the debate, but for those who were watching it live, the damage might have already been done. In any case, it was hard to see evidence of a knockout blow for Murphy, who entered the showdown as an underdog.
Rubio was up four points in a poll released by Florida Atlantic University on the day of the debate. That put the senator a few points ahead of Trump, who was losing to Clinton in the battle for the state's 29 electoral votes. Murphy's strongest shot at winning now might be to grab Clinton's coattails and hold on.
BATTLEGROUND FLORIDA
With it probably a must-win for Trump, Florida is a key battleground state in the Nov. 8 presidential election. After all, if Clinton can claim the state, it would likely be the death knell for Trump's unlikely campaign.
That has led to both sides waging an all-out war for Florida, which means visiting even those corners of the state that might seem unlikely spots. And so Trump headed to Tallahassee on Tuesday, to campaign in a Democratic stronghold in the middle of solidly Republican North Florida.
There was no lack of people at the Tallahassee Automobile Museum, though, and the businessman urged his supporters to get out and cast their ballots so that his administration could "drain the swamp" in Washington, D.C.
"Our country is rigged, it's crooked and it's broken. ... The criminal conduct of Hillary Clinton threatens the foundations of our democracy; it really does," Trump said. "But we're going to turn it around. A new day begins for America and it starts on Nov. 8. Get out and vote."
House before the rally, Bondi found herself facing questions about whether Trump was a good role model. The attorney general was the first statewide official to support Trump during his campaign, and reporters talked to her Tuesday about the continuing revelations about Trump's treatment of women.
Although Bondi has condemned Trump's lewd remarks about women recorded by an "Access Hollywood" TV crew in 2005, Bondi said she believes Trump will be a good role model for the nation.
"I know Donald Trump. I have seen him evolve in the last 14 months," Bondi said. "I think he will be an excellent role model. I know he has raised wonderful kids."
The Clinton campaign made its presence felt in the Florida capital as well. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Clinton's running mate, swung by Florida State University on Friday.
Kaine said a Clinton administration needs a Congress it can work with. He also decried Trump as running an "insult driven campaign," acting as an apparent “defense attorney” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and disparaging women, veterans, people with disabilities, parents of a dead service member, immigrants and Muslims.
"You want to have somebody who knows that Trumpism is something we should reject," Kaine said.
AARP TAKES ON FPL
Away from the spotlight of the presidential campaign, Florida Power & Light was fighting off a challenge from the senior-advocacy group AARP, as the utility attempts to get the Public Service Commission to approve $811 million in rate increases over three years.
AARP said the hike in base electric rates would be a boon to stockholders, though the increases would be lower than what the utility originally sought. FPL argued that the proposal --- included in a settlement with a state consumer advocate and two groups that challenged the original request --- would provide customers with predictable rates and would help expand the company's use of solar energy.
The settlement would allow FPL to annually receive up to an 11.6 return on equity, a measure of profit. Michael Brosch, who is president of the consulting firm Utilitech, Inc. and who spoke on behalf of AARP, said FPL hasn't made financial forecasts for the years after 2018 to back the need for increases. Instead, he said FPL customers should get a single rate reduction in 2017, with the company having to come back in subsequent years for any further rate changes as costs become more certain.
"There is simply no way to accurately determine the company's actual financial needs for four years into the future," Brosch said.
FPL initially requested that base rates increase $1.3 billion over three years, before agreeing to the lower amount. The state Office of Public Counsel, which represents consumers in utility issues, the Florida Retail Federation and the South Florida Hospital & Health Association agreed to the rate settlement. The retail and health-care groups often are involved in utility cases.
"The proposed agreement would allow us to build on our track record and support investments that would further improve service reliability, allow us to restore power even faster, and make our system cleaner and more efficient," FPL spokeswoman Alys Daly said.
The Public Service Commission would have to approve the settlement, and a decision is expected by December.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Sen. Marco Rubio and Congressman Patrick Murphy held a high-stakes debate in the battle to decide whether Rubio will be re-elected for a second six-year term.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I'd love that. I'd love that. Mr. Tough Guy. He's Mr. Tough Guy. You know when he's Mr. Tough Guy? When he's standing behind a microphone by himself. ... Some things in life you could really love doing."---Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, responding to Vice President Joe Biden's recent remarks that he would like to take Trump "behind the gym."
