Wrong DeSantis, Green Zone Warrior

Governor Ron DeSantis’s claims of being tough, and getting things done, are politician garbage.

DeSantis didn’t take on Antifa. There never were riots in Florida. Because people who move to Florida are soft and not outdoorsy. People who move to Florida are just not like the free-thinkers who move to Oregon and Washington. DeSantis never faced Antifa, and pretends he beat them.

DeSantis says corporations appease the left, in hopes of getting better treatment. DeSantis says that just emboldens the left to demand more, whereas if you punch the left like he does, they will back down. DeSantis is wrong twice. Corporate leaders really agree with the left, and agree with BLM. And the left never backs down. DeSantis pretends to be tough and wise with this cute cliche of punching the bullies, but it is not based in reality.

DeSantis saved women’s sports? These same people a few years ago, were saying Title 9 wastes money on women’s sports which there is no real demand for. Now they are trying to stir up the base on TV, with the fake principle that a handful of girl’s winning individual sports events somewhere, is the keystone of our way of life. Kristi Noem refused to throw money away, for some fake principle invented yesterday, that girls need sports. And nobody is wearing WNBA jerseys at DeSantis astroturf rallies.

This whole idea of caring about women’s sports came from Republicans watching too much TV. I suspect liberals bait Republicans with these little cultural triggers, to send them running in circles in a frenzy and distract them from real issues. So now the Republican platform is colleges spending money on lesbian ultimate frisbee with NO MEN!

DeSantis criticized the US Congress, claiming that by contrast, he gets things done as Governor. DeSantis has a legislature that is 64% Republican, and safe because of gerrymandering. Getting stuff done just means signing what they send him. Getting things done is not because DeSantis is special, but just a friendly legislature.

You might argue DeSantis is not afraid to lose votes by signing a list of Republican base legislation. But whether that calculation turns out to be correct at the statewide or national level, remains to be seen. Much of the legislation panders to Republican talking points, but is dead in the courts or doesn’t actually improve the lives of Floridians. So this is just more fluff boasting.

You might say DeSantis has good core conservative values and judgment, with business-friendly policies, and keeping schools open during the pandemic. But it is not clear that DeSantis has good core values and judgment, or he is just “reading the room” like he told Trump to do after Surfside. To me, DeSantis looks like a cover band, just playing a popular song to please each voting bloc. One for the cops crowd, one for the Cubans, one for the suburbs. And then copy Trump, by pretending to be combative.

Is this DeSantis’s real personality, that he is comfortable in? Or will he abandon it as quickly as he adopted it? Is this legislative buffet DeSantis’s real values and beliefs? Or is it just designed to appeal to a set of numbers which he believes add up to 51% in Florida, or in the Republican primary?

DeSantis is definitely not a flaming crazy liberal, and that is good. But that is not unique among Republican governors. And his style of Trump imitation has no track record of winning. Kids in school won’t be an issue in 2024. DeSantis is focusing on base issues, not broad issues. If imitating Trump stops working, DeSantis might never get to 50%.

DeSantis only ever won by 0.4%. And what won in Florida lost nationwide. It remains to be seen if DeSantis’s legislative list wins more than 49% support. And it remains to be seen if DeSantis will then read the room and become a moderate to win. Or if DeSantis will go national, and become a David Souter, who suddenly found love like a hippie.

DeSantis seems so eager for power, it is not clear which is more important to him: Core conservative values? Or power?

The base likes being combative. But most Republicans politicians don’t play combative for a reason, it doesn’t work for them. It worked for Trump one election, but it is not proved it will work for DeSantis.

Trump was the first Republican to fight back because the tone he had worked for him. And he had Twitter, to avoid his words being spun on the news. Trump is like Rodney Dangerfield, or Biden saying “come on, man!” Trump was mean in a soft way. It was the artful touch of a salesman, not a prosecutor who throws garbage at the wall all day without penalty.

DeSantis attacked pandemic leader Fauci as thinking he is bigger than he really is, when Fauci accepted an invitation to throw out the first pitch. Being invited to throw out the first pitch, and accepting, has nothing to do with whether you can pitch. Suggesting Fauci should have declined because he is a bad pitcher, is nonsense. It is an example of DeSantis not being as good at is as Trump, not finding the right note or tone.

People say Mitt Romney lost his Senate campaign to Ted Kennedy, because he never fought back. But some people can’t fight back, because they come across as stuck up. Or the Democrat label “mean spirited” sticks to them. When DeSantis talks about punching people, the left will be energized. And suburban voters don’t like civil war. DeSantis doesn’t get the subtle playful tone. And his look and personality don’t quite make it to the sort of goofy cartoon character that can pull off insulting people, and people will vote for.

DeSantis is a war politician talking big in a green zone, when his party just picked a fight and lost nationally. And lost with with the real deal, a much better fighter than DeSantis, not a cover band. The Republican base wishes something would work, and is too emotionally attached to reconsider just yet. DeSantis is reading the room.

Kristi Noem just said more than Ron DeSantis has ever said about anything. I am not saying Kristi Noem will ever be President or that she is my pick. But she is communicating philosophically about an issue. This particular example is some 1776 stuff that is not really kitchen table issues. But Noem can do the same thing on mainstream topics in a general election. Even Don Junior can do it.

All Ron DeSantis knows how to say is “You don’t like X? I passed a law against it and prosecuted it. You don’t like Y? I passed a law against it and prosecuted it.” DeSantis is able to recite simple concepts, like kids are supposed to go to school, not having to wear masks is freedom, Fauci can’t pitch well. But DeSantis is not able to engage in the critical human leadership activity of marketing a value or belief, with a hypnotic discussion.

DeSantis thinks if he legally attacks people who don’t support his policies, he will win the votes of the 51% of people whose favored policies he is reciting. But to win President, you have to pull people away from the other side by talking about the issues, and convincing people your heart and mind are superior. You really don’t win President in the US by physically attacking people who don’t vote for you, or creating a lawyerocracy, but by making friends.

At first this sounded good, but I changed my mind about it. Everything DeSantis says is a little hokey and off. Like saying Fauci shouldn’t throw the first pitch, because he is a bad pitcher. This virus is not the best example of “free to choose” and some libertarian laissez faire. It is like DeSantis misses the plot slightly all the time.

When you talk about a specific policy, you don’t defend it with general principles which apply better to other things. You say “I am for freedom in general, and here just a few examples.” You don’t say “I am for this policy because it is a general principle of freedom.”

Driving 110 mph is freedom, but it is a bad policy. So saying “I support driving 110 mph because I am for freedom” is wrongheaded. You have to simply say “The masks are more trouble than they are worth.” Because DeSantis does not think drug sentences are more trouble than they are worth.

Just another example, DeSantis is for closing the border. So he is not against closures and restrictions in general.