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There is no elected official in America with his finger on the pulse of his party more than Ron DeSantis. Florida’s governor knows exactly what his voters want, and he gives it to them. Time and again. He seems always ahead of the curve.
GOP, take notes.
Name the issue: Florida’s response to COVID-19 was mocked by the media and Democrats, and yet Gov. DeSantis oversaw one of the best recoveries in the country. This achievement alone will be a huge feather in his cap for the rest of his political life.
When Big Tech continued to target conservatives, DeSantis signed a bill to stop censorship and deplatforming.
As many continue to debate whether trans women should compete in women’s sports, the governor put a stop to such insanity in Florida.
DeSantis has expanded school choice for low income families. He’s led the charge to ban toxic Critical Race Theory from classrooms. DeSantis even signed a bill requiring a “moment of silence” in schools, in which students are free to pray. Who saw that coming??
The governor of Florida is sending his state’s police officers to help with the border crisis in Texas and Arizona, since Vice President Kamala Harris can’t be bothered with tending to the problem.
He signed an “anti-riot” bill. He cut taxes. He more than funded the police.
How does DeSantis so successfully advance a conservative agenda in his increasingly purple state? Who knows, but he’s doing it, with a strong 55 percent approval rating that shoots up to 70 percent based on the governor’s COVID-19 response, alone.
Republicans across the board should be adopting this agenda as well. At the federal and state level. Whatever DeSantis is doing, it’s working, he’s popular, and all Republicans should be following his lead.
Granted at the federal level there are certain things Republican congressmen can’t do, even constitutionally. But to the degree that they can, explicitly copying DeSantis should be a top priority.
In fact, we have a unique opportunity to test this idea in Virginia before the 2022 midterm elections.
The Virginia governor’s race in which Republican Glenn Youngkin is challenging Democratic Governor Terry McCauliffe takes place this November. The Hill noted Wednesday “Republicans say they see a path forward for Youngkin in the blue state, one that will require the candidate to win the support of the pro-Trump base while also expanding his appeal to the suburbs.”
That’s the mission: Win Trump voters and pick up new and independent votes; which is what Ron DeSantis has managed to do in his state.
Just do what Ron does. Youngkin’s campaign slogan could be, “I’ll make Virginia “Florida North.” Youngkin should list off all of DeSantis’s popular accomplishments and vow that as governor of Virginia, he will do the same.
Virginia might be blue now, but it hasn’t always been historically. If Youngkin wins Virginia, while adopting a “Florida North” message, we will know this strategy works.
Virginia hasn’t been led by a Republican in 12 years. What do Republicans have to lose? If the strategy works, Republicans nationwide will now know what agenda to adopt headed into the 2022 midterms: “Florida North.”
As we head into 2022 and 2024, many in the Republican Party are scratching their heads trying to decide what a winning path to victory might look like.
Stop scratching and look south. The answer is staring right at you.