Ron DeSantis: The US should be like Florida
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis positioned himself as the architect of a new conservative vision for the nation during a state of the state speech on Tuesday, in which he presented his aggressive stance during the pandemic and culture wars as a blueprint for Republican leadership.
The address came at the start of a 60-day legislative session that has added political significance as it is expected to serve as a platform for DeSantis’ much-anticipated presidential campaign.
“We defied the experts. We resisted the elites. We ignored the chatter. We did it our way, Florida way,” DeSantis told lawmakers in Tallahassee. “And the result is that we are the number one destination for our fellow Americans looking for a better life.”
The Republican supermajority of the Legislature is eager to advance DeSantis’ political prospects and are expected to sign off on virtually his entire agenda, which is packed with issues ranging from race to immigration to gender and moving into a GOP presidential primary could prove popular.
Instead of focusing on rising rents and living costs, a distressed property insurance market, and preparing for rising sea levels in a climate-prone state, DeSantis launched a session where the GOP will push issues like telling teachers what pronouns they use can use it for college students, making guns more accessible to Floridans, keeping illegal immigrants out of the state, and criminalizing some drag shows, as Tennessee recently did.
In his speech, DeSantis reviewed the Conservative accomplishments of his tenure so far and highlighted upcoming measures that will be popular with some Republican primary voters, such as: B. A proposal to abolish concealed firearms permits.
In a signal of Republicans’ upcoming schedule, a GOP lawmaker introduced a bill Tuesday to ban abortions after six weeks, with Democrats denouncing the move not long after DeSantis finished his speech. DeSantis had previously indicated that he would sign such legislation.
Though the governor is unlikely to officially announce a presidential campaign before the legislature wraps up in May, he is already making big strides toward a White House bid. He attended a high-profile donor retreat in Florida last week before traveling to California, where he delivered a broadside against what he called the excesses of liberalism. Later this week, he will travel to Iowa for the first time this year, where the nation’s first Republican presidential convention will be held in 2024.
Even without an official campaign, DeSantis is emerging as a leading alternative to former President Donald Trump, a fellow Florida native who has already announced his third run for the White House. DeSantis’ strength is fueled in part by a nearly 20 percent re-election victory last year in a state often notorious for close elections.
He did this by restricting classes on race and sexuality in schools, banning transgender girls and women from school sports, rewriting the state’s political map to favor Republicans, and dissolving a congressional district that favored black voters, and attacked private companies that disagreed with his ideology and crackdown on Black Lives Matter protests.
“Our governor really is America’s governor. He has defended our conservative values, challenged individuals and institutions who pose a threat to others, and proposed innovative solutions to improve our state,” Republican Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said Tuesday. “It is often said that states are laboratories for democracy. Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, Florida is more than a laboratory. We are a model.”
DeSantis acknowledges that his decisions as governor are based on what he sees fit and not necessarily what’s popular in the mainstream. He said that’s why he was able to convert a 32,000-vote-confirmed win in 2018 to a 1.5-million-vote win last year — the widest margin a Republican governor has ever achieved in the state.
“The November election results are a validation of our joint efforts over the past four years. The results also give us the responsibility to take the lead and give us an opportunity to reach for the stars,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “Audacity be our friend in this endeavor, we still have much to achieve.”
The governor has been the frequent target of jokes on late-night shows like Saturday Night Live and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, but the more critics taunt DeSantis, particularly those he calls the “liberal elite,” the more more he is galvanized support under his base.
While most candidates entering a presidential race two years later spend the early days of campaigning raising funds, traveling the country, building support and increasing their notoriety, just four months after his re-election, DeSantis still has 70 million dollars on a political committee.
And he’s already a star de jour at GOP events nationally.
“You don’t see the Florida flag behind him anymore. These are all American flags,” said Democratic Republic Senator Jason Pizzo.
DeSantis released a book last week titled “The Courage to be Free,” and its subtitle hints at his plans for 2024: “Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.” Instead of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, DeSantis is building on the nation looking more like Florida and less like states like California and New York.
“We have an opportunity, and indeed a responsibility, to swing for the fences so we can ensure Florida remains number one,” DeSantis said in his speech. “Don’t worry about the chattering class, ignore all background noise, keep the compass set to true north. We will stay strong, we will hold the line, we will not give up and I can promise you: you haven’t seen anything yet.”
But Democrats see it as intolerance and misguided priorities. They point to efforts to build a new law, which critics are calling “don’t say gay,” that would restrict discussion of gender and sexuality in schools. A new GOP proposal would limit how schools can use gender pronouns, while another would criminalize some drag shows.
Not only are Democrats resigned that the GOP supermajority will prevent them from opposing legislation they oppose, but they are also concerned that their Republican counterparts have ceded responsibility to DeSantis.
Democratic House Speaker Fentrice Driskell said that while Republicans have controlled the governor’s office and the legislature for 24 years, they have never seen a governor wield so much power over the legislature in that time.
“All of this is driven by his ambition. I think there are leaders who want to be close to this governor because they see him gaining power,” she said. “But the people who are bearing the cost and brunt of it all are everyday Floridians. Each of the governor’s culture wars comes with an economic cost. Every single one of them.”
