Looking to gin up turnout among Democratic voters, U.S. Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell turned to a party megastar Friday to energize activists, generate media attention and help raise campaign funds.
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff of California didn’t disappoint some 90 Democratic activists who crammed into a Delray Beach campaign office at midday.
He offered fulsome praise for Mucarsel-Powell, criticism of U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. — and warned that democracy is threatened by the possible election of former President Donald Trump.
Schiff on Trump
Schiff focused mostly on the contest between Mucarsel-Powell, a former congresswoman, and Scott, the current senator and former governor.
But he has a unique perspective on Trump.
“I can’t remember a time when there was such a dramatic choice on the ballot,” Schiff said. “We are going to have to answer our kids and grandkids one day about what we did in this perilous moment when we are faced with such a choice,” he said.
“If you’re like me, you find it astonishing that it’s even close. How can this twice impeached, four times indicted, and 30 some-odd times convicted felon be competitive? I mean, this is a guy who was literally sitting in the Oval Office behind the (president’s) Resolute desk and signing hush-money payments to a porn star. She was apparently the only contractor who actually got paid,” Schiff said, alluding to Trump’s reputation of not paying the bills of people who worked for him.
The congressman became nationally known as someone who attempted to hold Trump accountable during his presidency. He was the lead impeachment manager in the first impeachment trial of Trump and was a member of the special committee that investigated and publicly detailed what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to block the certification of Joe Biden’s election as president.
Republicans so dislike Schiff that when they took over control of the House after the 2022 midterm elections they removed him from the Intelligence Committee, even though he’d previously been the committee chair.
Schiff’s actions made him a frequent target, and he still is. On Sunday when Trump said on Fox that he’d consider using the National Guard or other parts of the military to go after his critics if he returns to office, he cited Schiff as someone he had in mind. “But the thing that’s tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside, like Adam Schiff, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff … who’s a total sleazebag, is going to become a senator. But I call him the enemy from within,” Trump said.
Threatening to go after critics demonstrates Trump’s unfitness for the presidency, Schiff said.
“It just shows you how little commitment he has to democracy or institutions, how he’s willing to abuse the powers of office should he ever gain office again. It’s why we need such powerful champions of democracy, like Debbie in the U.S. Senate. But I’m really excited about her campaign. I think she’s going to win this race,” Schiff said.
Is he concerned, and should the public be concerned about Trump’s talk of using the military to go after his enemies?
“When any would-be dictator tells you what they want to do, you need to take them seriously,” he said, before again pivoting to talk about Mucarsel-Powell. “I’m here because we need strong voices in the U.S. Senate that will protect our democracy and our institutions, but also who will make sure that seniors have the kind of dignified retirement that they should, that my parents did, and I want that for everyone. Debbie is going to fight for that and we need her voice in the U.S. Senate.”
Senate contest
Mucarsel-Powell was “a phenomenal champion” during the two years she served in Congress, Schiff said. “I got to see Debbie’s intellect, her passion for public service, her effectiveness.”
As for Scott, the crowd didn’t need any priming to express its disapproval.
When U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, brought up Scott — as “the other guy” and not by name — some in the crowd started chanting “snake.”
That’s a reference to a Mucarsel-Powell ad that debuted this week in which a large reptile with Scott’s head slithers around spreading unpopular policies.
Mucarsel-Powell later referred to Scott as “the biggest snake in Florida.”
“The man could care less about the fact that so many people here are struggling,” she said, criticizing his 2022 midterm election policy blueprint as “the preamble for Project 2025, where he proposes eliminating Medicare and Social Security, wants to raise taxes on middle-class families, and wants to eliminate Obamacare.”
At one point, someone in the audience yelled out, “Like your snake ad.”
“Well,” Mucarsel-Powell replied, “someone has to tell the truth.”
Victory possible?
The Democrats said victory is possible if their voters turn out.
“We’re just two and a half weeks out. At this point, there is very little persuasion going on. At this point, it is all about getting your voters to the polls,” Schiff said. “There’s a lot of hope that’s being placed on the state of Florida.” Schiff has some knowledge of the area. His parents lived in South Florida for decades, at Broken Sound in Boca Raton. His father died earlier this year at age 96.
The latest analysis from the nonpartisan Inside Elections newsletter, issued Friday, is less promising for Democrats.
“Democrats felt they were making headway in the Sunshine State before back-to-back hurricanes scrambled the political environment,” Inside Elections said. “Scott’s access to personal resources mean that he can spend as much as he wants in the final few weeks, but for the moment his allies are confident in his position.”
It rated the contest as “likely Republican.”
Campaign visit
Schiff is all-but-guaranteed to win election to the Senate next month from California.
His election is enough of a sure thing that he’s been traveling the country helping other U.S. Senate candidates, something that could earn valuable political chits among his future colleagues.
Politico reported that he’s helping in “at least six out-of-state” U.S. Senate races, but he didn’t confirm that number on Friday.
“I don’t have the count. But I’m focusing on the House races within California as well as my own campaign. But where I have the bandwidth to help others I am, and I’m thrilled to be here helping Debbie in this tough race,” he said.
His visit to Florida was brief. He arrived Friday morning, did the event in Delray Beach, then headed to Miami. He was scheduled to leave Florida on Saturday morning.
Republican perspective
Scott campaign spokesperson Will Hampson in a statement decried a “radical agenda” he said is espoused by Mucarsel-Powell and “Shifty Schiff,” the name Trump uses for him. “It’s no surprise Schiff is taking a vacation to come hang out in Florida and push for socialism here like he’s brought to California. Unfortunately, he’s going to find that Floridians want nothing to do with California Socialism.”
About 20 people supporting Republican candidates were at the venue, a Delray Beach office building that houses the Palm Beach County Democratic Party, well before the start of the event.
“I’m here to protest against the Democrats,” said Rocco Talarico, who said is retired from law enforcement, lives in the Town of Palm Beach, and is the South Florida vice president of Born to Ride for 45, a pro-Trump motorcycle club. He said he was “tired of what’s happening in this country: open borders, high prices on everything.”
Some others were less focused on issues.
Two men wearing Trump Make America Great Again caps held a banner that directed a two-word obscene phrase at Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. In place of the letter “u” in the first four-letter word on the banner, it instead had the image of a middle finger. In smaller type at the bottom, it directed the same sentiment toward anyone who votes for her.
After the event, their numbers had dwindled to about a dozen, and they were closer to the Mucarsel-Powel campaign bus. Several began shouting comments such as “baby killers” and “Debbie’s a communist” as she and Schiff appeared.
Schiff waved at the protesters before boarding the bus.
Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and can be found @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Facebook and Mastodon.