美国国家公共电台 NPR--South Florida gives Republicans a playbook for the 2024 election

South Florida gives Republicans a playbook for the 2024 election

Transcript¹

Republicans did not see the red wave they were betting on during last year's midterms, so now they're setting their sights on expanding success stories that did break through, such as the big gains they made in South Florida.

The largely conservative Latino community in Miami-Dade County turned red last year for the first time in two decades.

Who are they? The Latino community in South Florida is largely conservative, and includes immigrants from Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela and other Latin American countries.

What's the big deal? South Florida marks a community where politics seemingly never sleeps. And it's also where the political ground game for 2024 is already underway.

Kevin Cooper, vice² chairman of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County says he's gotten calls from Republican Election Committees and other GOP groups in Texas and beyond hoping to replicate³ the South Florida model.

Florida International University politics professor Eduardo Gamarra says an early, relentless⁴ ground game by Republicans helped flip⁵ the Miami-Dade region red. Gamarra says Democrats⁶ set up their ground game too late and treated Latino voters there like a monolith, potentially costing them a generation of voters.

Former Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell says depressed⁷ voter turnout, culture war issues and Republican disinformation played a key role last year. She also concedes her party has abandoned the state.

Voters like Martha Casamayor, a 73-year-old Cuban American, says President Joe Biden, his administration and Democrats have betrayed voters like her. Casamayor says they haven't applied⁸ enough pressure on the Cuban communist regime and issued proposals to expand trade with the country.

Want to learn more? Listen to the NPR Politics podcast episode on how Latino GOP voters have embraced the culture war.

What are people saying?

Casamayor on Democrats:

(Biden) stabbed Cuban Americans in the back ... The Biden administration has betrayed the Cuban Americans ... He has betrayed the Cuban Americans who voted for him.

Cooper on hearing from different Republican Election Committees, or REC, asking about the Miami-Dade County model:

We take that message across across the county and soon will take it across the country as we explain to different RECs and different parties how to build their operations.

Mucarsel-Powell on why Democrats shouldn't give up on Florida:

If you care about the environment, you need to care about Florida. If you care about minority groups, if you care about Latinos, you need to care about Florida. And we've been abandoned.

Gamarra on Republican successes in South Florida:

Republicans understand better the idea of the Latino American dream and Democrats still, for the most part, approach Latinos as part of the civil rights struggle in the United States.

So, what now?

It will be a key area to watch in the run up to the 2024 presidential election.

Republicans are working to hold onto and expand on their midterm wins in South Florida, while Democrats are looking at a long road back to try to rebuild their Florida operations.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

4 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

5 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

8 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。