Around the South for Oct. 10: TN, VA & FL

 

Tennessee: Corker, Trump feud escalates. President Trump tweeted that US Sen. Bob Corker (R) had “begged” the President to endorse him for reelection. When he refused, Corker “didn’t have the guts” to run for reelection. Corker’s retort, in a tweet, was that the White House had become “an adult day care center.” Corker added, in a New York Times interview, “I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it’s a situation of [senior officials] trying to contain him.” ……. Virginia: Rural Democrats say party is ignoring them. With the Old Dominion settling into a pattern of Blue cities and a Red countryside, Democratic officials in rural counties are complaining that the state party is paying no attention to them, with one county chairman calling the state party’s actions “malevolent neglect,” reports the Washington Post. Indeed, one rural county chair resigned – briefly – in protest ……. Florida: Latinos don’t like Trump. A poll taken by three Latino groups in the Sunshine State found that 64% disapprove of or are hostile to President Trump. And more than one-third of the state’s Latinos say the GOP has become so hostile to Latinos that they can no longer support Republicans. Cristobal Alex, president of Latino Victory Project, one of the poll’s sponsors, said, “Florida had been a Republican Latino stronghold for generations, but attitudes have shifted in the last eight months,” reported Sunshine State News …….