DEMS/ELECTION/GOP/POLLS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Trump delivered an urgent warning to his staunchest supporters in Florida Wednesday [10-31-18] night at a pulsating political rally: Don’t let Ron DeSantis lose the governor’s race next week. Not with Mr. Trump’s 2020 re-election plans potentially hinging on the country’s biggest presidential battleground state…That Mr. DeSantis is the Republican nominee for governor is a testament to Mr. Trump’s strong endorsement and popularity with conservatives. That Mr. Trump’s support has not been enough to make Mr. DeSantis the favorite on Tuesday [11-6-18] — in one of the most high-profile and symbolically important races in the country — is evidence not only of the president’s shaky footing with independents, but also of Mr. DeSantis’s shortcomings as a candidate, political strategists from both parties say. Mr. Trump has expended more political capital on Mr. DeSantis than on most other candidates this year, so the president would inevitably own a loss. Neither party is counting out Mr. DeSantis, but he is slightly trailing Andrew Gillum, the Democratic mayor of Tallahassee, in most public polls; the president has scheduled another rally on Saturday in Pensacola.”
–Patricia Mazzei and Stephanie Saul, “Ron DeSantis, a Trump Ally, Struggles in Florida as Racial Flare-Ups Come to Fore,” The New York Times online, November 1, 2018