JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — At this writing, Floridians like me are taking Hurricane Milton very seriously, looking at spaghetti models, storm-surge projections and wind warnings.

But despite the storm’s status as a Cat 5, headed due east but due for an inevitable turn north before its Gulf Coast landfall, elected leaders remind us no matter how severe the stakes, life goes on after the hurricane as it did before, and politics remain the same.

Consider the case of Kamala Harris and her ill-fated phone call to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The vice president and Democratic nominee phoned DeSantis, but per a staffer, the call was refused because it was seen as “political,” NBC and ABC both reported Monday

After that, DeSantis said he wasn’t “aware” she called. From there, the game of ping pong continued, with Harris telling her traveling press corps DeSantis is “selfish,” followed by the governor claiming the veep is likewise “selfish” on Sean Hannity’s show Monday night.

Who’s right?

That’s a matter of perspective, of course.

Members of the KHive will blast DeSantis for not being willing to have a phone conversation with Harris, though he did have one with President Biden earlier Monday evening. And DeSantisites — of whom there are millions in Florida and nationwide — will counter the vice president has no legitimate role in storm response, and (as the governor said on Fox) her call was about her campaign.

The non-call accomplishes a perversely positive political purpose for the gov and the veep both, elevating their profiles in contrast and providing a means to an end for political goals: one short term, one longer range.

Harris would like to defy all odds and public polls and somehow win the Sunshine State without putting in the work. She hasn’t held a rally here and neither has Coach Tim Walz, but she has sent Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff to the state as what passes for a consolation prize. Absent a legitimate role in storm relief, she saw an opportunity here to don the federal cloak amid crisis.

This kind of level jumping is something DeSantis, who has been auditioning for his next job since he entered politics, understands very well.

As a congressman, he wanted to be governor. As governor, he wanted to be president. And he still wants that in 2028, no matter if ideologically and stylistically similar J.D. Vance is the veep or the president himself.

He also understands acutely well the folly of demonstrating weakness/vulnerability in a partisan moment.

What would a White House readout of a call with Harris look like?

How would the veep frame it in one of her rare interviews? Though as a governor of a significant state, he has a platform, it’s not the size of the potential next leader of the free world.

DeSantis has had to evolve politically this year after a sharp repudiation in must-win Iowa back in January.

He endorsed Donald Trump and rebuilt the relationship, fundraising for the campaign even if he hasn’t yet shown at a rally for the former president, and staying in the game in a way reminiscent of Richard Nixon working for Barry Goldwater’s doomed 1964 campaign.

His understanding of Harris has also had to evolve.

He frequently called her “impeachment insurance” for Biden when the former president mattered more politically, saying as bad as the old man was, she’d be worse. In response, she came to Florida to hector him about the way black history was taught and the state’s six-week abortion ban.

He understands keenly that Harris is the present and potentially the long-term future of the Democratic Party. And to that end, he knows she’s willing to use Florida’s crisis to boost herself in a state that will be divided by a few points and, along the way, do for his presidential hopes what Barack Obama did to Chris Christie’s after another historic storm some years back.