TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In the second of two Florida stops on Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence made his pitch to voters in Tallahassee.
The race in Florida is still razor thin. Republicans have begun to narrow Democrats lead on vote by mail returns and early voting turnout, but still trail by almost 400,000 ballots returned.
For almost four hours straight, rain put a damper on Pence’s campaign stop, but it didn’t make much of an impact on turnout, with about 500 in attendance.
Just before Air Force Two touched down, the rain cleared, and Pence make his appreciation for those who stuck it out known.
“Even when it’s raining you can tell the panhandle is Trump country,” Pence said.
Pence hammered down on contrasts between the Joe Biden and Trump campaigns.
One issue discussed was health care.
“We’ve been lowering the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government," Pence said. "We’ve lowered the cost of prescription drugs. We passed ‘Right to Try’. Medicare Premium Advantage Plans have been reduced by 34%.”
Another was criminal justice.
“We’re going to back the blue," Pence said. "We’re not going to defund the police. Not now. Not ever.”
He urged his supporters to show the same resolve on election day as they did through the storm.
“So men and women of Florida, you’ve got to do what you did before," he said. "Go tell the story and drive a victory.”
And He even gave the hours and location of a Tallahassee early vote site.
“301 South Monroe Street," he said. "Right in the heart of Tallahassee. They are open eight to four.”
Pence said 2020 put the country through a series of trials, but now it has a choice to make.
And they’ll make that choice in ten short days.
Ahead of Pence’s Tallahassee stop, Biden supporters held their own event.
Local leaders, business owners, retirees and healthcare workers joined in to voice their support for the Biden-Harris ticket.
They said there’s little Pence could say during his speech that would negate what they characterize as a failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They have failed the American people at a time when we needed their leadership most," said Curtis Richardson, Tallahassee City Comissioner. "He served as Chairman of the coronavirus team for the White House and has failed to come up with a plan for addressing this pandemic and thousands of Americans have lost their lives as a result.”
Biden supporters also criticized the Trump administration for its efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and for canceling Social Security payroll contributions for Federal workers during the pandemic.