As students protest Israel, has the Florida Democratic Party drifted to the right?

LAKE BUENA VISTA — Less than two weeks after the president promised to compete in Florida this year, the mood at the Florida Democratic Party’s annual leadership conference was festive — if a little tense.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who has called some of the recent campus protests of Israel “antisemitic, unconscionable and dangerous,” was slated to be the keynote speaker at the party’s Saturday evening gala. It was an explosive pick by party leadership at a time of bitter division over how to message around the ongoing war in Gaza.

Attendees at the Disney Contemporary Resort began to mutter about the choice. The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida called on the party to cancel Fetterman’s appearance.

When the senator finally took the stage, a woman stood up from a nearby table and yelled repeatedly about the need to “free Palestine.” Fetterman, unable to proceed with his remarks, stood holding a Biden-Harris 2024 reelection sign while security and law enforcement escorted the woman out of the room.

The tensions over Israel and Palestine highlighted how politics have shifted around Florida Democrats. As recently as 2018, the party nominated an outspoken progressive in Andrew Gillum to be its standard bearer in the governor’s race. In 2020, after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the party released a statement endorsing the nationwide protests against “racist violence.”

Since then, the party has hemorrhaged registered voters and legislative influence in Tallahassee. In 2022, the party nominated Charlie Crist, a former Republican, to be its gubernatorial candidate for the second time. He suffered a historic 19-point defeat to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

With a November election looming, Democrats are treading carefully when it comes to the progressive issue of the day: American support for Israel’s war on Hamas. Some of the state’s most prominent Democrats, including Florida Democratic Party chairperson Nikki Fried and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, are Jewish and staunch backers of Israel.

At the same time, President Joe Biden is relying on an outpouring of support from young people in November — like he did in his 2020 victory over Donald Trump. While Florida Democrats work to turn out the vote on college campuses, protesters on some of those same campuses have taken to quads in recent days with chants of “Biden, Biden, you can’t hide. You’re supporting genocide.”

In a statement following the brief Saturday night protest, Fried seemed to acknowledge that the party has a balance to strike in 2024. She said that Floridians should have a right to protest, and that college students should have a right to feel safe on campus.

“If we are going to call for peace, let’s do it peacefully. If we are going to disagree, let’s do it respectfully,” Fried said. “If we are going to use our voices, let’s make sure we’re also listening — that’s what it means to be a Democrat and that is what this moment demands.”

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The Florida Democratic Party’s challenge extends up and down the ballot.

Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is perhaps the most prominent figure in a crowded Democratic U.S. Senate race. She was the only Senate candidate to speak at Saturday’s gala. If she can beat four opponents in August, she hopes to unseat U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

Mucarsel-Powell is an example of how Democrats are getting pressure from the right on Israel as well. In campaign news releases, Scott has repeatedly criticized Mucarsel-Powell for not condemning the college protests strongly enough. On Saturday, Mucarsel-Powell told reporters she supports Israel’s right to defend itself and said civilian lives must be protected.

She also downplayed the divisions within the party.

“The Democratic Party has all sorts of shades. It’s always been like that,” Mucarsel-Powell said. “We need to respect each other. They want to divide us because they’re scared, because when we’re united, we win.”

Other party observers pushed back on the idea that the Democratic Party has drifted from the left in recent years.

Anna Eskamani, one of the party’s most progressive state representatives, pointed toward the recent messaging on abortion rights. In the years before the Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade, abortion was an issue that some Democrats avoided, Eskamani said. But this year, even moderate Democrats are campaigning on protecting abortion access.

Polls show both abortion and Israel-Palestine rate relatively low among voters’ priorities. It’s possible that these issues will do little to move the needle electorally. But they might show whether the party is singing from the same songbook.

On Saturday, hours before the gala, various Democratic groups set up tables promoting their corners of the party. Eventgoers could visit the Black caucus table or the Biden campaign’s space or chat up members of the environmental caucus or the LGBTQ+ caucus.

But when a reporter visited the Democratic Progressive Caucus’ table late in the afternoon, it was empty.