The chaps to watch: Grant Hill, the former Orlando Magic forward who still resides in the area; and Dwyane Wade, a three-time NBA champion for the Miami Heat.

Or maybe not. Dixon and Allen rightly describe the gambit as a “moonshot-type candidate,” both of whom apparently would be a hard sell. Here’s at least one reason: Democrat operatives imagine either could post up Scott as a self-funding candidate.

Let’s pause over that for a moment, shall we. Just north of Florida, the most recent race for U.S. Senate, pitting incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock against Georgia football legend Herschel Walker, consumed more than $320 million. Warnock’s campaign raised $150.5 million. All of that was spent in a state with roughly half as many voters (7.9 million vs. 14.5 million), and only one media market (Atlanta) ranked in America’s top 20 (Florida has three).

For his part, Scott, with a net worth reported in the vicinity of $320 million, has a passion for the work and a history of putting his money where his mouth is.  

So, self-fund, in that climate? Really? Hill (net worth: $250 million) and Wade ($170 million) worked — and work; Hill is a serial entrepreneur — pretty hard for their money. Not entirely unexpectedly, then, neither has publicly expressed interest. This, at least, demonstrates the wisdom you’d like to have in a senator (and is in desperately short supply).

Still, it’s nice to have a dream.

“Grant Hill has great name ID. He would raise a boatload of money and is one of the smartest guys you will ever meet,” said John Morgan, an Orlando-based trial attorney and national Democratic donor, who has spoken directly with Hill about his desire for him to run. “Grant Hill would beat the s— out of Rick Scott.”

Well. You can believe that if you want to. Pundits have been writing off Scott since he emerged from Naples (on Florida’s southwest coast) to win the race for governor in 2010. Yes, his races all tend to be nail-biters, but they are nail-biters he wins.

And even though he has been only sporadically politically active, Hill’s choices have not resonated with Florida voters:

He campaigned with Hillary Clinton in Jacksonville in 2016 and has criticized former President Donald Trump over comments he made in 2019 slamming the city of Baltimore.

Ah, there’s nothing quite like spotting the opponent a 17-point first-quarter lead.

Regarding Wade, Dixon and Allen report this: 

Beyond having star power in the state, Wade has become an outspoken advocate for transgender rights. His 15-year-old daughter, Zaya, is a transgender model and activist. Wade’s support of his daughter comes at a culture war-infused moment in time in which Republicans across the country have filed legislation taking aim at that community. Florida Republicans filed more than 15 anti-trans bills alone during the 2023 legislative session, which Wade said prompted him to leave the state.

“My family would not be accepted or feel comfortable there,” Wade said on Showtime’s “Headliners with Rachel Nichols” last month. “And so that’s one of the reasons why I do not live there.”

Since Wade’s reason for location is out there, it’s worth noting DeSantis and Republican legislators on the ballot last November ran on precisely the sort of sensible, anti-woke policies Wade describes as too much to take. The result was a tsunami of red: DeSantis coasted to re-election by nearly 20 points, bringing a GOP supermajority to Tallahassee with him.

So … none of what happened in this year’s just-concluded legislative session ought to have surprised Florida voters; indeed, they overwhelmingly endorsed it.

Nonetheless, here’s this from a true-blue believer:

“Top donors and party leaders know they need different kinds of candidates with pre-existing profiles to mount statewide campaigns,” said a veteran Florida Democratic operative, who was granted anonymity to discuss candidate recruiting strategy. “There’s a short list of retired athletes and business leaders who could fit that bill, and Dwyane Wade tops that list. There are definitely conversations underway about recruiting Wade or a retired athlete like him to challenge Scott.”

Then the operatives wake up, the dream evaporates, and Democrats are left shopping among run-of-the-mill politicians with zero record of winning outside their backyards.

Won’t somebody hit the snooze button for them, please?