Trump takes Florida

Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal seemed perplexed. He tweeted, "This makes no sense, unless you're out of cash: Trump campaign spending on Minnesota but pulling out of FLORIDA."

Don't be fooled.

He knows what this means. President Donald John Trump has nailed down Florida and he is moving to add Minnesota to his list of states. The crowds at his rallies and the Trumptillas of boats show the Sunshine State is backing its new snowbird turned homeboy.

Mini Mike's news service, Bloomberg, reported, "President Donald Trump’s campaign has all but pulled its advertising out of Florida, as it stakes its relatively small bank account on the industrial northern states that carried him to victory in 2016.

"Since the beginning of the fall campaign on Labor Day, Trump has cut $24 million from his national ad budget, while former Vice President Joe Biden has added $197 million. Biden has outspent Trump three-to-one over that time."

Money isn't the reason for the shift from Florida to Minnesota. The Real Clear Politics average of polls has him up by 0.4 points in Florida, but down 6 points in Minnesota. Why would President Trump give up on 29 Electoral College Votes in Florida for a slimmer shot at 10 in Minnesota?

Gee, maybe the media's polls are wrong again as they were 4 years ago.

Bloomberg however insists that this is a surrender, reporting, "Trump is now placing his final bet on just four battleground states: Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Polls show he’s down in all those states but Ohio, where it’s effectively even."

The Trafalgar Group poll shows the president is up 0.8 in Pennsylvania, up 2.8 in North Carolina, down 1.3 in Wisconsin, up 0.6 in Michigan, and up 2.3 in Florida. But the Florida poll is 2 weeks old and covers before the last debate.

Despite their polls and bravado, the media is getting skittish.

Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post tweeted, "In recent days, registered Republicans have begun closing the early-vote gap among the total ballots cast in Florida, Iowa, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.⁦"

They waited for the lines to slim down.

New York radio host Mark Simone tweeted, "President Trump is doing 2 hour rallies with 40,000 cheering, adoring supporters, while Joe Biden is screaming into empty parking lots for a few minutes, and the media is trying to convince you that Donald Trump is the one that's struggling."

No words needed. pic.twitter.com/G3y82N7byP

— Go Trump 🇺🇸 (@GKeile) October 27, 2020

It is difficult for me to tell if pollsters have less credibility than the press that re-bleats their polls.

Maybe someone should do a poll.

Oh.

At any rate, The president is confident that Florida is his and he is moving to add Minnesota to his column.

And Nevada.

And Maine.

And New Hampshire.

But have no fear. Biden has Delaware locked down.

UPDATE: Mini Mike's news service only told half the story. It failed to check with the campaign first, and had to correct itself.

The story now begins, "President Donald Trump’s campaign has slashed its advertising budget in Florida, relying on the Republican National Committee to carry the message there as it moves resources to the industrial northern states that carried him to victory in 2016."

No ads were pulled.

Heading north makes sense in that Florida is safe.