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Not Everyone Hates DeSantis
The war has already begun. Even before DeSantis announces his candidacy for President, the hate speech and accusations are ramping up. The irony of all these efforts is that those attacking him don’t really understand his goals and motives, and don’t realize that many people have already seen through the rumors. But efforts to tarnish his reputation continue. I’d like to suggest that those who hate him (including Republicans and Democrats) are misjudging not only DeSantis but those who already are, and who could become, his supporters. We’re not as stupid as some assume.
This post was inspired by an article titled “DeSantis Further Right Than Trump?” My knee-jerk reaction was, “I hope so!” (Unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall.) Many of us knew that Trump lacked pure Conservative credentials, but we were satisfied with most of the work he did. In the case of DeSantis, the key attributes he demonstrates are that he acts and legislates like a Conservative, but he rarely relies on the label:
Brian Ballard, a lobbyist and former Trump adviser, agreed that DeSantis was no moderate.
‘What the national media might miss is that Ron DeSantis is an authentic conservative,’ Ballard said. ‘It’s not learned, it’s not something where he looks at the polls to see what a conservative does or believes. … Anyone who says Ron DeSantis is a moderate doesn’t understand him, probably has never met him, certainly, or spent time studying him.’
DeSantis’ ultra-conservative agenda could help him win the Republican primary for president, just as it did for Trump in 2016, but DeSantis would then face the dilemma of whether to move back to the middle for the general election, one analyst said.
I believe that DeSantis is not going to move back to the middle at all. Instead, he is going to stand on his track record and not abandon his conservative agenda.
People may very well try to compare him to Trump, saying that he has demonstrated that he’s more conservative than Trump. Again, I don’t think people are going to be as concerned with the labels as with his actions.
To show how his track record drove his last election in Florida, Democrats turned out to vote for him in great numbers:
It’s unclear how many DeSantis Democrats there are: DeSantis’ vote count jumped from roughly 4 million in 2018 to 4.6 million in 2022. Lots of those voters are presumably independents or Republicans who didn’t vote last time.
But some are disaffected Democrats alienated from the party they once belonged to. That’s evident from the longtime Democratic strongholds that DeSantis flipped, including Hillsborough, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, where DeSantis skyrocketed from a 21-point loss in 2018 to an 11-point win in 2022—a net gain of more than 30 percentage points.
But the comment from this DeSantis Democrat is telling:
Democratic Palm Beach County Commissioner Dave Kerner says he identifies as a DeSantis Democrat, ‘and I can tell you I’m not the only one.’
‘As I traveled around the state and throughout my county over the past several years, at first it was quiet, you know, ‘This governor is doing a great job’—and this is amongst my Democratic colleagues,’ he told me. ‘Then I started hearing it more and hearing it more. And then I saw my own county—which has been majority blue throughout probably its entire history—we saw more people vote for the Republican candidate over the Democratic candidate.” [bold is mine]
This is one more demonstration that the Democrats were looking for results, not following party affiliation.
If he runs for President, his campaign should focus on his bi-partisan support from citizens; how he focuses on results that work; he doesn’t concern himself about stepping on toes but on serving the needs of the citizens; and treats citizens with respect.
He also is difficult to challenge because he’s one of the rare governors who has based his decisions on facts and science, not on lies and rumors. Dr. Jay Battacharya often commented on how well-versed DeSantis was regarding Covid-19 and admired his determination to make wise, rather than popular, decisions.
DeSantis also treated Florida’s citizens as adults. When they needed to decide what was best for themselves, for their children and families, he often left the decision-making up to us. Whether it was getting the vaccine or booster shots, wearing masks, meeting in large groups, taking care of their children, the grown-ups could decide for themselves. And when he needed to step in, whether banning Critical Race Theory, teaching gender-affirming curricula, or closing businesses for Covid-19, he didn’t hesitate to take a stand. When he made mistakes (like some early Covid-19 decisions), he admitted his errors, made the appropriate changes without excuses, and moved forward.
* * * *
Of course, Florida citizens will be only a fraction of the population deciding whether to choose DeSantis as the next President. He will also be up against the Republicans in Congress who have proven to be feckless and prefer the status quo, Progressives who will demonize him, and the media. But DeSantis understands his enemies well. He served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate and wasn’t afraid to buck the status quo and so knows the lay of the land. He knows that the establishment will attack his actions against Critical Race Theory, is not afraid of the unions, and will protect children against sick and progressive agendas whenever he can. And he’s had plenty of practice fighting the media in Florida.
I suspect the media will be so over-the-top in their criticism of him that people will have second thoughts about where the truth lies. Here are one “journalist’s” comments about DeSantis:
What he shares with Trump is a vindictive and demagogic streak, unquenchable ambition and a refusal to be weighed down by political norms or democratic traditions. Like Trump, his time in office would be marked by repeated attempts to pit Americans against each other. But unlike Trump, DeSantis has the proven ability to follow through on divisive rhetoric. The complete package, DeSantis represents a terrifying future for America, and by 2025 it could become a reality.
I think this writer has the wrong guy. Let’s hope the rest of our citizens figure that out.
Published in Politics
Did you see Comment #27
Saw it a few moments ago. Must have been while I was typing. (:
The OP is why I want Trump to push ahead and take the fire. Hopefully he will break the progressives. Afterward let DeSantis complete the restoration.
Wasn’t true about Reagan
Reagan was on a mission and knew it, may he rest in peace.
Reagan did run in 1976, and he nearly won the nomination. He had 1,070 delegates to Ford’s 1,187. When he addressed the Republican Convention, the delegates realized they made a mistake. When Reagan ran in 1980 he secured the nomination on May 20.
Contrast that with Christie: CC declined to run at all in 2012. Had he done so, he may have ended up in Reagan’s position, and may have been able to overcome “Bridgegate.”
Very good post, Susan, but I have question about this
Who are the Republicans who hate Ron DeSantis? I know there are Republicans who don’t want him to run for president at this time because they believe he has an obligation to fulfill his term his term as governor. There are Republicans who think this is still the era of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis can just wait his turn. I’ve heard from the occasional Republican who says Governor D isn’t their top choice, but would be more than acceptable. I haven’t heard of any Republicans who hate him. Are there Florida Republicans who hate him?
There are former Republican Floridians, like Charlie Chris, who don’t like the Guv.
A libertarian walking across a field comes to a fence and thinks this must be removed. A conservative comes upon the fence and thinks this must be here for a reason.
A farmer comes upon the fence and looks around for the bull.
Yeah, he was a hoot. I only hope that DeSantis proves as deadly dangerous to wokeism as this creep thinks he will be.
Ron DeSantis threatens the establishment and everything they hold dear. Hate may be too strong a word, but they do not want him in charge. My hope is that he could actually turn the Republican party upside in Washington. I can’t imagine he would tolerate them basically being part of the Democrat plans. So it’s the Washington set, not the Floridians.
Hear! Hear!
It’s possible that establishment Republicans really dislike DeSantis but are keeping their mouths shut, but I wouldn’t want to regard someone as being my opponent without some evidence. I have read about a couple of prominent Republicans who seem pretty anti-DeSantis, but they aren’t establishment. They are MAGA people, Mike Lindell and Roger Stone.
De Santis is a governor so we have some sense of how he governs. Unfortunately we can’t know that about Senators. Trump was a businessman, and an unusual one so we couldn’t know much about him. He had to learn the hard way and kept getting better as he hired good people. He turned out good enough to lead the really rotten politicians to turn against him. So now what? We can’t elect a Democrat or a Republican who acts like a Democrat, i.e. builds up Washingtons power no matter how he characterizes the purposes for doing so. We must have a President that cuts Washington, doesn’t give money to the states to hire bureaucrats, or anything else unless it’s a border state. States that cut bureaucrats and reduce taxes can show what works. States that don’t, can’t. De Santis and Trump can compete against each other with some others joining the competition.. We need Trump free from the Democrats incessant, dishonest, radical attacks on him and my guess is that, if so, when Biden is no longer the candidate Trump will back out. But whether he does or not what is essential is that they do not trash each other and who ever wins the candidacy, the other not only backs out but offers support. That’s our only hope to free the country from the Democrats. I don’t think many Americans understand what a Democrat victory means for the future of the U.S. Were it not for China we could figure it out after a complete collapse of the economy, but China will remain. The issue will be, once we figure out what we’ve done to ourselves, is can we avoid war with China?
You are right – his country needs him. Maybe if we appeal to his sense of duty, him having been former military . . .
I hope you’re right and I’m wrong. Of course, being a married man, I’m used to that . . .
I wouldn’t disagree, but I think a person has to speculate on who his enemies might be. For example, McConnell and the many Republicans who want to vote for the Omnibus bill would likely be no friends of DeSantis. If he asked me, I’d say be polite but alert. I hate to sound so paranoid, but the Republicans in Washington have done very little to earn my trust and respect.
Democrats can be counted on to compare a current Republican to prior Republicans.
At the age of 70, I can still remember 50+ years ago that Republicans were being compared to Herbert Hoover.
Then, in 1992, Bill Clinton compared the small pause (I would hesitate to call it a downturn or recession) to being the worst since the Great Depression.
Then, Dole and W. were compared to Reagan.
Then, McCain and Romney were compared to W. I exploded on a lunch-mate who was saying bad stuff about Romney, who is about the biggest boy scout Republicans have ever run.
I don’t want to start a fight in this great post over my feelings about Trump. But when I hear someone say that DeSantis or anyone is as bad as Trump, I strongly contest it every single time. I argue strongly that Trump is “sui generis” or “one of a kind.” The arguments you have heard me make here, are then focused on the Democrat was I argue that DeSantis or anyone else is not at all like Trump.
I don’t want to start a fight in this great post, but I will say, “NO, DeSantis did not try to conduct a coup; NO, DeSantis did not assemble a mob and direct them at the capitol; NO, DeSantis did not organize fake electors; NO DeSantis did not commit crimes. You can disagree with DeSantis on policy positions, and that it fine, but you cannot argue with an ounce of credibility that DeSantis is like Trump.” I cite my vote for Biden in 2020, and all the t-shirts I have given away in 2020 and then with Kari Lake in 2022, to give me credibility with the person I am speaking to, and it brings them around, at least so far.
You can count on me to defend DeSantis and other Republicans.
Libertarians oppose him because he takes executive actions. Any opposition by MAGA would be for two reasons, none personal. Either they feel Trump deserves his second term or they have influence with him but not DeSantis.
Good! Then I would encourage everyone to ignore your comment completely. Just move along . . .
DeSantis’ enemies run deeper than that. China and Russia would work to destroy him. Environmentalists worldwide would do anything to stop him. The most powerful opposition would come from “The Great Reset” and Soros fanboys. This is why I think we can’t fix the country top down but must do it bottom up starting in the states with strong governors and the people. Congressmen won’t have backbone until the people become a big enough block to overpower the outside interests. Scare the crap out of them with an article 5 convention once you have support. Use it to limit federal power. Otherwise, you are just pissing in the wind and sacrificing good people.
Well, I can say one thing about the “coup.” If you are going to claim it was, then it proves what a weak sorry party we have because that would go down as the most sissified coup in history, but par for Republicans. No weapons like Antifa carried, small mob, no city blocks burned; lasted about 3 hours, not over three months, as Antifa did, or 8 years, as Democrats are doing; was ordered by the “leader” to be peaceful, occupation wasn’t celebrated by the “leader” as the Democrats celebrated their occupiers; and was intended to use selfies to reduce Democrats to sniveling cowards.
Oops. Apologies.
Raise Cain at school board meetings. Ask tough questions at city council meetings. Attend state rep meet-and-greets. Recruit solid local candidates for every office. Back them with your time, treasure, and talents.
We must do that but it will be at least 15 years before that saved generation can make an impact.
Maybe it would take 15 years. But how long do you think it would take to have an impact with your approach?
Then suffice it to say that I am standing up for DeSantis with Democrats and can talk “Democrat Speak” from the heart as I agree with some of their beliefs about President Trump. I am uniquely able to reach Democrats when they say that DeSantis is “just as bad as Trump.”
With all due respect, I suggest that you take the “win.”
In 15 years, at 3 million a year, the Democrats will have brought in about 45 million new voters across the southern border.