Um…hasta luego, señor?

Francis Suarez out of 2024 Republican primary race. Never clear why he entered race in first place. https://t.co/AGTEsS0y12

— Byron York (@ByronYork) August 29, 2023

Nonentity and occasional object d’ scorn that he was, Francis Suarez stood atop the shining mount one last time to wave adieu to the adoring throngs…that never were…going to be.

I think a girlfriend of mine captured the mood of the people perfectly upon hearing the news.

This was the CNN+ of Presidential campaigns.

— Amygator 🐊 *not an actual alligator (@AmyA1A) August 29, 2023

The mayor of Miami was one of the last to jump in the pool and he is the first one out. We were treated to several of his commercials up here in the Panhandle – I have no idea why – and they were not appealing.

Where Burgum is a folksy WEF-type, and Ramaswamy has frenetic energy, and all over the contradictory map simultaneously accomplished, annoying, and ingratiating, Suarez is way too much of a smoothly unctuous political chameleon to be trustworthy – in the Charlie Crist mold, only Latin. Plays both sides against the middle looking for the best footing.

…He is more moderate than DeSantis and Trump but has threaded the needle carefully on cultural issues that have become popular among GOP politicians.

Suarez has been critical of DeSantis, dismissing some of the state laws he has signed on immigration as “headline grabbers” lacking in substance. He has said immigration is an issue that “screams for a national solution” at a time when many Republicans back hard-line policies.

The two-term mayor previously expressed support for a Florida law championed by DeSantis and dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” that bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, but he has not specified whether he supported the expansion of the policy to all grades. Like other Republicans, Suarez has criticized DeSantis’ feud with Disney over the same law, saying it looks like a “personal vendetta.”

Further ingratiating himself with the Trump team, Suarez has echoed Trump’s attacks on DeSantis’ demeanor, saying the governor doesn’t make eye contact and struggles with personal relationships with other politicians.

The conjecture is this was a cash grab – whatever he raises can be part of a war chest going forward, and there are rumors about his true future plans. Perhaps laying low for a bit, pulling a Crist switcheroo to Independent then Democrat for a run at a senate seat? He is an irritating joke in state Republican circles.

A BIG joke.

Whatever his plans, he has some image burnishing to do, and it’s going to take a good bit of time to scrape the slime off before he can even hope to start polishing.

GILLUM SUPPORTER

*spits derisively to get taste of that name out of her mouth*

Oh, yeah – he’s under federal investigation, too. He has that in common with former Tallahassee mayor Gillum.

The presidential campaign of Francis Suarez, the swaggering Miami mayor under federal investigation, who launched a quixotic bid for president that ended with him misleading the Associated Press about being invited to a Republican debate he did not qualify for, has come to an end.

It was 76 days old.

…The low-polling mayor was brought lower by investigations that included examining money he received while in office, tried multiple gimmicks in attempts to gain traction in a crowded Republican primary field full of former presidents, vice presidents, and current and past governors, and curiously shared a portion of an email from the RNC with the Associated Press that made it appear as if he had been officially invited to the first Republican debate when in fact he hadn’t.

…Power, who has criticized Suarez on Twitter, said the Miami mayor makes Republicans look bad because he has never voted for a Republican that he is aware of, and again mentioned Suarez’s past endorsement of Democrat Andrew Gillum for governor against Ron DeSantis in 2018. “He’s always trying to play fast and loose and he always ends up embarrassing himself.”

A Tallahassee Republican lobbyist named Christian Camara who has 25 years of watching party players come and go offered up a terrific assessment.

…”With Suarez, a lot of his motivation is to show off to make himself feel better and feel important,” he said, calling him a “postalita,” a Cuban-American slang nickname coined by his opponents which roughly translates to “poser.“

I’m gonna hang onto that one.

His fellow Miamians hope he’s learned his lesson, and even gained a touch of humility, after what they feel was a national embarrassment for their city.

I think they’re too optimistic.

These guys never learn.

Paging Charlie Crist…