Why Bush and Rubio Can’t Count on Florida
One of the biggest political stories of the coming 2016 presidential election happened in Florida last week via an explosion that didn’t happen.
President Obama notified Congress that he intended to take Cuba off a list of state sponsors of terrorism, another step toward normalizing relations with the island nation. One or two decades ago, such an act would have unleashed storms of protest in Miami, with bipartisan outrage among Florida’s elected leaders.
The response last week? Almost nothing. No marches on federal buildings. No mass demonstration on Calle Ocho.
What was one of the most reliable voting blocs for Republican candidates in Florida is no longer unified on what once had been an organizing principle—Cuban regime change. A Florida International University study last year shows that a majority of Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County are in favor of ending the embargo, with the younger generations overwhelmingly supportive.
