RPOF Newsletter – October 23, 2020

 

A Note from RPOF Chairman Joe Gruters

Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis will be joining President Donald Trump on his campaign stops in Pensacola and the Villages today!

Join Us: Pensacola |  The Villages



October 23, 2020

With less than two weeks to go, the polling gap has closed rapidly in Florida. Multiple polls are now showing that Florida is within the margin of error for either candidate, which gives President Trump the momentum. But it’s a dead heat, making every Republican vote all the more critical to ensuring that Florida remains red.

The Florida GOP’s ground game successes are now well-established in the Florida media. Democrats, recognizing the urgency of their deficit, are struggling to catch up, having only begun tentative door-knocking two weeks ago.

Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics tweeted: “If @RealDonaldTrump wins Florida again, a lot of credit has to go to @JoeGruters and the ground game he has put together. Great story about that blocking and tackling from @MitchPerry18.” 

Read the story here: https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/politics/2020/10/20/canvassing-in-a-swing-state-during-a-pandemic?cid=share_twitter#

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Republican Party of Florida General Counsel Ben Gibson did a great job explaining why voters should vote no on Amendment 3 during WESH 2 TV debate this week: “Most people think it just opens up primaries. It doesn’t…it abolishes party primaries.”

Watch Ben Gibson here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfoaFgAWVFA&feature=youtu.be

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Republicans continue to win Florida on the ground. On Saturday, RPOF Chairman Joe Gruters and Vice Chairman Christian Ziegler will be part of an Early Voting Rally in Sarasota  County. The RPOF is urging all counties to hold these events to crank up early voting.

After that, they will continue the ground attack by walking and door-knocking in counties around the state, as Republicans have been doing for many months now. Part of the message will be encouraging Republicans to vote early.  

NO on A3More media around the state have come out in favor of Amendment 3 to abolish party primaries, making it all the more important for every Republican to vote No on Amendment 3 and to let everyone else know that if it passes it will ultimately limit their choices in a General Election and make Florida look more like California.

Amendment 3 is a gateway for more big PACs and backroom powerbrokers to squeeze out grassroots Republicans. Remember, it is the system California uses — a one-party state rapidly becoming a shell of its former self. No on Amendment  3.



Governor Ron DeSantis Update

Governor DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said during an appearance at Jacksonville Classical Academy this week that schools should not shut down again. DeSantis said the “physical, mental and social well-being of our kids required us to provide them with the option of in-person learning.”

School unions challenged the July reopening order, but an appeals court ruled in favor of Governor DeSantis, whose administration argued that families should be given the option of having their children learn in person or online.

“Going forward, whatever the future may hold, school closures should be off the table,” Governor DeSantis said. “They don’t do anything to mitigate COVID. But they do cause catastrophic damage to the physical, mental, and social well-being of our youth. Let’s not repeat any mistakes of the past.”

Read more here:  https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/desantis-florida-school-closures-should-be-off-the-table

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The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) received a nearly $5 million emergency grant to implement a Crisis Counseling Program to help Floridians respond to the behavioral health impacts resulting from the pandemic.

The grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will provide crisis counseling services through Florida’s network of 2-1-1 crisis helplines, helping people in need of mental or behavioral health counseling and referrals.

“Governor DeSantis and I are grateful for the opportunity to increase access to critical behavioral health services,” First Lady Casey DeSantis said. “Through this program, one-on-one counseling will be readily available to those in crisis, ensuring they have the resources and support they need to address their own specific needs, recover fully, and begin to move forward with purpose.”

Read more here: https://www.flgov.com/2020/10/19/first-lady-casey-desantis-and-department-of-children-and-families-announce-nearly-5-million-emergency-grant-for-crisis-counseling-program/

 

President Donald Trump Update

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President Trump has been keeping his promise to secure our borders and fix America’s broken immigration system, creating a more orderly process and helping American workers.

So far, more than 370 miles of new border wall is complete. At the same time, President Trump’s administration is arresting, prosecuting and deporting violent criminals, stopping the flow of illegal drugs, and closing loopholes that help smugglers and hurt our citizens. Apprehensions for illegal immigration dropped 70% between last May and this August. And during the past fiscal year alone, U.S. law enforcement seized more than 100,000 pounds of cocaine, 83,000 pounds of meth, 2,700 pounds of fentanyl, and more.

“The refugee system — set up to provide refuge for victims of war and persecution who had nowhere else to go, often on an explicitly temporary basis — had long since become a racket,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd writes. “It provided prestigious jobs in Washington for ‘resettlement experts’ and taxpayer money for glorified slumlords, while generating massive fallout for unsuspecting American communities. Today the system has finally been returned to its proper role.”

Read more here: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/border-immigration-trump-brandon-judd

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A record economic recovery is under way and picking up steam. Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust Advisors, wrote in Real Clear Politics: 

“There is nothing normal about the 2020 recession. Massive nationwide shutdowns of ‘non-essential’ businesses caused real GDP to drop at a 31.4% annual rate in the second quarter, the biggest drop since the 1930s. However, as we expected, a V-shaped recovery is being traced out. On October 29th, in ten days, we expect a report that says third quarter real GDP rebounded at a 33.4% annual rate.

“We may make some minor adjustments to this forecast when new reports on business investment, inventories, and international trade are released, but the third quarter will still be one of the largest jumps in output the US has ever experienced.

“That said, the sharp rebound in Q3 is a testament to the underlying strength of the US economy before the shutdowns happened, combined with the seemingly unlimited ingenuity of American people. Twenty years ago, without the technology we have today, there is no way the US could have rebounded as quickly as it did in the third quarter. Moreover, the US entered this government-mandated recession with the highest incomes and lowest poverty rate we have ever recorded.”

Read more here: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/10/20/massive_v-shaped_recovery_testament_to_strength_of_economy_144491.html