Washington Notebook: Florida voters give Trump slight thumbs-up

WASHINGTON – National polls consistently show that more Americans disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing than give him a thumbs-up.

But a new survey of Floridians likely to vote in the 2018 midterm elections finds that the president remains above water in the Sunshine State, with 45 percent having a favorable view and 41 percent giving him a thumbs-down.

More: Grading the President: Donald Trump’s 100 days report card

The poll was released last week by Firehouse Strategies, a Washington-based public affairs consultant firm started by former campaign staffers of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

They hired the data firm Optimus to gauge voter views on Trump’s job performance in four states he won narrowly in November: Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The poll found that 44 percent of those asked across the four states have a favorable view of Trump, compared with 42 percent who don’t.

Ohio voters joined Florida voters in giving Trump a net positive view, and Wisconsin voters gave him a thumbs-down. Pennsylvania voters were evenly split, with 45 percent approving of his job performance and 45 percent not.

Some key findings from the 1,305 Floridians — Democrats, Republicans and independents — surveyed (numbers may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding):

» Only 1 in 5 believes Trump never lies or exaggerates the truth. The rest think he exaggerates the truth either “with good intent” (38 percent) or lies (43 percent).

» Slightly more Floridians (37 percent) say Trump’s first 100 days have been successful compared with 35 percent who disagree. About 28 percent say it’s too early to tell.

» A clear plurality (44 percent) would blame congressional Democrats if the lack of a budget deal leads to a government shutdown. The rest would point the finger at the president (31 percent) or congressional Republicans (26 percent).

This is ostensibly good news for Gov. Rick Scott, who is widely expected to announce next year that he’ll challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who is seeking a fourth term.

Scott, a close Trump ally, will benefit if Florida voters have a favorable view of the president. In addition, Nelson could be hurt if a large portion of his constituents believe Democrats are to blame if the government closes its doors.

More: 2017 legislative session

Florida lawmakers among most bipartisan in Congress

Florida sends some of the most bipartisan lawmakers to Capitol Hill — and some of the most partisan.

The latest yardstick from The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University that measures how well members reach across the aisle shows lawmakers from the Sunshine State ran the gamut during the 114th Congress, which includes 2015 and 2016.

Democrat Bill Nelson (20th out of 98 senators ranked) and Republican Marco Rubio (33rd) were both considered bipartisan as measured against their colleagues. In contrast, Republican Ted Cruz, of Texas, and independent Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, were labeled the two most partisan senators.

The Bipartisan Index measures how often a member of Congress introduced bills that succeeded in attracting co-sponsors from members of the other party, and how often they in turn co-sponsored a bill introduced from across the aisle.

Members are given a score (above a zero means you’re judged to be bipartisan) and then ranked against their peers.

On the House side, three Floridians were among the top 11 most bipartisan members of Congress out of 427 ranked: Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (sixth), Democrat Gwen Graham (ninth) and Republican Carlos Curbelo (11th).

Other Floridians considered bipartisan (and their rank) were: Republican David Jolly (48th), Republican Tom Rooney (52nd), Republican Ander Crenshaw (63rd), Democrat Patrick Murphy (67th), Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz (76th), Democrat Lois Frankel (79th), Republican Gus Bilirakis (81st), Republican Curt Clawson (86th), Republican Vern Buchanan (92nd), Republican Ted Yoho, Republican Mario Diaz-Balart (124th) and Republican Rich Nugent (149th).

Floridians labeled partisan (and their rank) included: Republican Bill Posey (154th), Democrat Kathy Castor (164th), Republican Dennis Ross (168th), Democrat Alcee Hastings (252nd), Democrat Ted Deutch (268th), Republican Jeff Miller (291st), Republican Ron DeSantis (305th), Republican Dan Webster (326th), Republican John Mica (342nd), Democrat Corrine Brown (358th), Democrat Alan Grayson (363rd) and Democrat Frederica Wilson (377th).

Rubio, Warren want to stop trafficking

Under the heading “lawmakers share more in common than you might think” comes this tidbit: Conservative firebrand Marco Rubio and liberal icon Elizabeth Warren are teaming up on a Senate bill.

The Florida Republican (who ran for president last year) and the Massachusetts senator (who could run for president in 2020) are co-sponsoring the End Banking for Human Traffickers Act that would assist financial institutions in identifying and reporting instances of human trafficking. The idea, they said, is to prosecute offenders and protect victims.

“Human trafficking is a human rights violation that can happen in our own backyards without us even knowing it,” said Rubio, who has emerged as one of the Senate’s most passionate voices for human rights. “That’s why we must encourage the development and implementation of effective tools to detect and stop criminals from profiting from this heinous crime.”

“We have an obligation to end human trafficking to ensure that every person can live with freedom and dignity,” Warren said. “To stop this terrible crime, we need to cut off traffickers’ access to the banking system, and this bipartisan bill will give financial institutions and regulators better tools to do so.”

Human trafficking is considered a multibillion-dollar industry that is allowed to exist because banks process their profits but often don’t have the information or the know-how to stop them. The Rubio-Warren bill would direct federal banking regulators to work with law enforcement and financial institutions to combat the use of the financial system for human trafficking.

Contact Ledyard King at lking@gannett.com; Twitter: @ledgeking.