Dem
51
GOP
49
Mayor Francis Suarez (R-Miami) didn't exactly have many victories during this campaign cycle. He didn't top any state-of-the-race polls (or even crack the Top 5 in any of them), he didn't triumph in any of the various conservative conference straw polls, and he certainly didn't win the debate because he wasn't there. Yesterday, however, Suarez notched the first win of his campaign. That's right, he won the competition to be the first candidate to drop out.
Exactly what the point of Suarez' campaign was, we still do not know. He obviously wasn't going to be president; surely even he knew that. Presumably the goal was to get some name recognition, so that he can make a future play for the U.S. Senate, or governor, or a Cabinet post, or something like that. But he got in way too late, operated with far too few resources, and left far too early to actually burnish his brand. Now he's a political Icarus, a guy who flew too close to the sun too fast, and who came crashing down. Is an embarrassingly bad presidential campaign a plus on someone's political résumé? We certainly don't think so. And if you don't believe us, perhaps you could ask "Senator" Tim Ryan or "Governor" Beto O'Rourke.
Who will be the next to go? We assume one of the folks who could not make the debate stage, namely Perry Johnson, Larry Elder or Will Hurd. That said, we are not clear that those men are actually out on the road, campaigning. It's easy to stay in if that just means "continue to sit on your living room couch." Certainly, the bottom tier of debate participants—Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND) and Asa Hutchinson—actually are putting in the work. They may get tired of it, particularly if and when it becomes clear they aren't going to make the second debate stage.
Of course, the only question that really matters is when the two Florida candidates will throw in the towel. For one of them, we would guess that date will be something like March 6, 2024. For the other, well, he might not ever throw in the towel, no matter what happens next year. Or, at least, he won't throw in the towel until the day it's replaced by a shroud. (Z)