Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
GILLUM VS. DESANTIS
Democratic nominee for governor tries to rally college students and Jewish voters
The Andrew Gillum who appeared at Temple Kol Ami Emanu-el in Plantation was on a much different mission than the one who appeared a couple hours earlier at Florida Atlantic University on Thursday.
At three South Florida universities, it had been all about getting out the vote. At the temple, it was about fighting off attacks from Republican nominee Ron DeSantis that the Democrat is anti-Israel.
These attacks stem from Gillum’s close association with Dream Defenders, which supports the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, an attempt to impose economic pressure on Israel. Gillum has said he disagrees with the group’s support of the Palestinian cause.
Gillum called himself “a deep and unapologetic friend to Israel” and recalled the trips that he has taken to the country as part of a program with Ramat HaSharon, a coastal city near the West Bank.
Before Gillum took the stage, Democratic Congress members Ted Deutch of West Boca and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, both Jewish, spoke in his defense, in glowing terms laced with Yiddish and Hebrew.
“It is a shonda what some are trying to do — the smear campaigns,” Deutch said. “My friends, Mayor Andrew Gillum is a mensch.”
“Andrew has truly internalized the meaning of tikkun olam,” Wasserman Schultz said, using a Hebrew phrase meaning “repairing the world,” a concept that instructs Jewish people to do good works.
Gillum promised not to put anyone on a university board of trustees who supports boycotting Israel and, having promised to keep to “the 5 B’s of public speaking — be brief, brother, be brief,” ended with a call to get out and vote.
That echoed his push earlier at FAU, Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens and Florida International University in Miami. Gillum appeared with civil rights leader and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., at the historically black college. At FIU, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, in a tough re-
election fight against Republican Gov. Rick Scott, rallied the student crowd.
For the first time, FAU and some other universities are designated early voting sites. Since early voting started Monday, FAU has had the lowest turnout number — fewer than 500 people — of Palm Beach County’s 14 early voting sites.
FAU set aside Kaye Auditorium for the appearance, and the lower level of the auditorium — which seats 900, according to university officials — was about half full.
Gillum took the stage to loud cheers and started off with a victory lap after Wednesday night’s debate, saying DeSantis “came into the category of demonstrating the temperament of a 4 year old” after being questioned about ties to racists.
“I have twin 4-year-olds, and I don’t want them to take their cues from him,” he added.
Gillum said that as “the candidate who believes in science,” he would be better positioned to tackle issues such as water pollution and mass transit.
“We cannot win fights that we’re not prepared to stand up for,” he said.
The boisterous audience heard speeches from other Democratic statewide Cabinet candidates, all of whom stressed the importance of turnout to the outcome of the race.
“We gotta leave it all on the field Nov. 6,” said Democratic attorney general candidate Sean Shaw.