The New Politics of the New Year – “The Sunday Political Brunch” January 1, 2023

Sunday, January 01, 2023

Mark Curtis, MINDSETTER™

 

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis PHOTO: Public Domain

It’s my second week in South Florida, and the political landscape is always fascinating here. It certainly has implications for the 2024 elections. Florida, like elsewhere, was affected by a huge transportation debacle over the holidays. That kind of event can spread into the world of politics and public policy. Let’s “brunch” on that this week.

 

“Southwest Airlines Meltdown” – One of the biggest national pre-and-post-Christmas stories was the complete meltdown at Southwest Airlines. There were some bad delays and cancellations on December 23 through 25, but the biggest mess was post-Christmas. According to various reports, 2,500 of 3,000 canceled flights in each of the three days after Christmas were Southwest flights. That’s 83 percent of all canceled flights nationwide, and 63 percent of Southwest flights. Yes, severe weather played a big part in it, but other airlines only averaged a two-percent cancellation rate.

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“Watch for Congressional Hearings” – U.S. House Members were still in session on Friday, December 23, and many Senators were still in town after the final budget vote Thursday. I’d love to know how many of our 535 Members of Congress were ensnared in the flight delays. Look, the Transportation Committees in both chambers have authority over the airline industry. We are already hearing tales of poor hiring practices at an under-staffed Southwest, and mismanagement by the higher-ups. A tweet from the U.S. Department of Transportation indicated an investigation is coming. “USDOT is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays and reports of lack of prompt customer service. The Department will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan.” As I’ve predicted, politics will drift into this mess.

 

“From my Vantage Point” – I flew into Fort Lauderdale Saturday night after a three-hour delayed initial flight, and a six-hour connecting flight wait in Charlotte. I was on American Airlines, which seemed to manage 90 percent of the situation well. The big hiccup was American employees telling passengers in Charleston, West Virginia their plane (which at this tiny airport, was in plain view to all), was being de-iced, when it clearly wasn’t. I’m sorry, it’s a cardinal sin of any business to fib to your customers. It’s just not acceptable. Anyway, when I finally got to Fort Lauderdale, the airport was jammed but moving along, with the exception of Southwest, which was in gridlock. President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday, there might be some financial compensation due to Southwest passengers. I’ll bet free flight vouchers are coming.

 

“DeSantis Democrats” – The flight snafus aside, it’s simply great to be in South Florida, where I have a bird’s-eye view of state politics again. I was a radio and TV reporter in Florida for nine years, and then another six years as a Washington, DC, correspondent for a Florida TV station. There was a fascinating article in last week’s “Washington Examiner.” The headline was, “'DeSantis Democrats': Why blue voters are switching to red in Florida.” The story notes how DeSantis won in particularly big Democratic strongholds such as Miami-Dade County. And it echoed a similar tone from 1980 when so-called “Reagan Democrats,” angered by high-inflationary times, helped to launch Republican Ronald Reagan into the White House over Democrat President Jimmy Carter. Of course, DeSantis still has to take on fellow Floridian Donald Trump.

 

“Border Disorder” – Florida is a border state by water. It has seen more than its share of immigration problems over the years, including deadly drug trafficking and heart-wrenching human trafficking. So, it’s a huge political issue. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Title-42 issued by the Trump White House could stand, but subject to future court challenges. Title-42 says that the U.S. could turn back those who crossed the Southern Border without permission starting in March 2020, as a way to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

 

“The Real Problem” – The Biden Administration promised to lift Title-42 last week, saying it had illegal border crossings under control, which it clearly doesn’t (just watch the daily border news feeds). The real problem here is not COVID-19, but the smuggling of the lethal heroin substitute, fentanyl, across the border. Now, I’m based in West Virgina the state with the highest per capita overdose death rate in the nation, and by extension, the highest fentanyl death rate. Much of it comes in from China, through Central America and Mexico, into the arms of Americans. It’s horrible and I see the results daily. And to the average person, it seems little is being done to stop the illegal border crossings, and all that come with it.

 

“What Says the High Court?” -- Interestingly enough, Trump-appointed Justice Neal Gorsuch joined Democratic appointees Justices Kagen, Sotomayor, and Brown in dissenting. Gorsuch wrote, "The emergency on which those orders were premised has long since lapsed."  He added, "But the current border crisis is not a COVID crisis… And courts should not be in the business of perpetuating administrative edicts designed for one emergency (COVID) only because elected officials have failed to address a different emergency (fentanyl). We are a court of law, not policymakers of last resort." Ouch! Again, the other five Republican appointees prevailed, but this is clearly not over.

 

“Congressman-elect’s Padded Resume” – Okay, it’s a non-Florida story but it’s the weirdest political story of the week. Since Election Day, it has come out that Representative-elect George Santos (R) New York, had done a little “resume padding.” He claimed undergraduate and graduate degrees but has neither. He claimed he was employed by Goldman Sachs and Citigroup but may have only worked for them as an outside contractor. My question is, why do people pad resumes in the digital age when it is so easy to check? “My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos said. Santos added he’ll serve his term, but I bet leadership tells him he’s toast and won’t swear him in. On the other hand, when you have a narrow 222-213 majority, there’s pressure to keep everyone in. Stay tuned! This could be a real test of whether Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R) California has enough votes to be elected Speaker of the House on Tuesday.

Mark Curtis, Ed.D., is Chief Political Reporter for the seven Nexstar Media TV stations serving West Virginia, its five neighboring states and the entire Washington, DC media market. He is also a MINDSETTER™ contributing political writer and analyst for www.GoLocalProv.com and its affiliates.


 

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