With the general election campaign ready to begin in earnest in Pinellas County's CD13 race following tomorrow night's GOP primary, Alex Sink is amping up her public campaign appearances. Saturday she held a "Day of Action" action event with volunteers and supporters canvassing in Safety Harbor, and today she's holding a "beach-cleanup day" at Indian Rocks Beach.
Although the race has been depicted as a "bellwether" election because of the district's even balance between registered Democrats and Republicans, Politico is calling Sink "the unambiguous favorite" in the general election contest, scheduled for March 11.
From the Politico story, penned by Alex Isenstadt:
Republicans admit they are increasingly alarmed about the prospect of losing the St. Petersburg-area district. Democrats, after enduring a heartbreaking loss in a 2013 South Carolina special election they thought was theirs, are carefully managing expectations but can smell victory.
The story goes on to report that there are more third-party groups who have indicated that they will commit financial resources to Sink than to Jolly, but not all Democrats are feeling sanguine (nor should they) that will stay that way thru March.
There's also this interesting excerpt:
But at a time when the national environment favors Republicans, many Democrats aren’t convinced Sink is a sure thing. In mid-December, a national Democratic group commissioned a poll that projected the pool of special election voters would be mostly white, Republican and older — a potentially ominous sign for the party.
A question that skeptics have about Sink is her abilities on the campaign trail, after her much noted troubles on the stump while running for governor in 2010. Our take is that she's a much better candidate now, but then again the pressure hasn't really started yet. Speaking for the conventional wisdom on Sink is the last quote of the story provided by GOP lobbyist Mac Stipanovich, who says, “She’s anti-charisma. She’s not a very good campaigner.”
There's also the Affordable Care Act and the "carpetbagging" charges that she'll have to contend with.
