Donald Trump doesn't strike fear into Democratic politicians.
Donald Trump strikes fear into Republican politicians. That's because Trump is radioactive. No one can galvanize and unite Democrats, Independents and random ass people more than Donald Trump. If he's on the ballot in 2024, tens of millions of people will come out to vote in 2024 for an 82 year old Joe Biden or Kermit the Frog. It doesn't matter. If Trump is on the ballot in 2024, Republicans will lose and they know it.
After Obama left office in 2016, Democrats have not run on any policies other than they're not Trump. And that worked. They won back the Presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives. But if you ask anyone, what actual policy did Democrats campaign on from 2016 - 2020, you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who can tell you anything other than, they're not Trump.
No, Donald Trump doesn't strike fear into the hearts of Democrats. Neither does Ted Cruz or Nikki Haley or Dan Crenshaw. No, the one man Democrats fear, is the man who will win the Presidency in 2024 if he decides to run.
A Florida man, Ron DeSantis.
Who is Ron DeSantis?
Ron DeSantis is the current first term Republican governor of Florida, who beat Andrew Gillum by less than 35,000 votes in 2018. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he was raised in Florida his whole life before attending Yale University. After Yale, he attended Harvard Law School. After graduating with his law degree, he became a lawyer for the US Navy where he was deployed with Seal Team One.
In 2012, he ran for Congress in Florida and won and was a Congressman until 2018. when he won the Florida Gubernatorial race.
Despite how he's portrayed in the media, Ron DeSantis is clearly no slouch and very well accomplished.
Great, thanks for telling me something I could have googled about him, tell me why Democrats fear him
Florida's economy since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic back in March of 2020, is booming
In November of 2021, Florida's job growth was 6x faster than the rest of the country.
Florida's labor force increased by 6.1% in 2021. For comparison, the entire nations labor force only increased by 0.9%.
Florida created nearly 500,000 new businesses between January of 2021 - September 2021. To put that in perspective, Florida created 300,000 new businesses from January 2019 - September 2019, pre-pandemic.
Hundreds of tech and financial services companies moved their headquarters down to Florida because of their tax-friendly policies. Examples of these companies are Eliot Management, which manages $14b in assets, Point 72, Virtu USA, Ichan Enterprises and Starwood Property Trust.
More than 550,000 people moved to Florida from other states between January 2020 and April 2021, in large part because of the states tax structure (no state income tax).
His Covid policies aimed to protect Florida's most vulnerable, the elderly. They were vaccinated first and were kept isolated during the height of the first few Covid waves (he banned nursing home visits).
Okay, so the economy is doing well, but did Ron DeSantis do anything to spur this economic boom in Florida?
Absolutely. While most of the nation shut down in the spring of 2020, Ron DeSantis took a gamble and decided to keep most of Florida open for business after only shutting down for a few weeks in the beginning. While small businesses across the country faltered, businesses in Florida thrived.
In addition, he fought for schools to stay open in the fall of 2020 and spring of 2021, while many other states, most notably those run by Democratic governors, kept classes virtual. According to a national poll, 97% of teachers said they saw their students experience learning loss in virtual class settings vs in person learning.
Don't just take my word for it, just ask people who live in Florida
Florida is one of the most politically diverse states in the country. You have hardcore Republicans, Democrats and Independents. According to Pulse Opinion Research, Ron DeSantis is the most popular governor in the United States.
64% of all Florida voters approve of the job he is doing
85% of Republicans in Florida approve of the job he is doing, while 10% disapprove
60% of Independents approve of the job he is doing, while 23% disapprove
46% of Democrats approve of the job he is doing, while 39% disapprove. MORE Democrats in Florida approve of the job he is doing than disapprove. That is impressive considering how hyper-partisan our politics have become over the last decade.
62% of Hispanic Voters/68% of White Voters/40% of Black Voters approve of his job.
In 2021, there were more registered Republicans than Democrats in the state of Florida for the first time in decades. To put that in perspective, there were nearly 600,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Florida in 2014.
The secret sauce that Ron DeSantis has that other Republicans do not
What Ron DeSantis has done that no other Republican has successfully done since 2016, is manage to be liked by Trump Republicans and moderate/mainstream Republicans.
It is absolutely incredible that he has garnered support by people who believe taking the vaccine is injecting 5G into you and by people who helped create the vaccine.
It's what makes him such an incredible threat to Democrats. DeSantis has been able to get Trump supporters to support him without having to adhere to the outrageous rhetoric spewed by the former President. He's also garnered their support without having to alienate moderate Republicans who hate the former President.
The media hates DeSantis and that's great for him
The media killed Ron DeSantis when he kept Florida open for business while the rest of the nation closed down. They continued to hound him as he kept schools opened and banned mask mandates.
In 2021, if the media hates you, that means Republicans love you. And the more negative press DeSantis gets, the more Republican voters love him.
It should be said, as the media ripped DeSantis to shreds, they praised the governors from California and New York.
Welp, that didn't work out too well.
Gavin Newsom was recalled in the state of California, but won that vote easily.
Andrew Cuomo of New York resigned in 2021 after numerous allegations of sexual assault, and a scathing report from the Attorney General's office in New York, that outlined that he and his administration grossly mismanaged nursing home deaths in New York, and then tried to cover up some of the deaths that occurred.
Below is a clip of Chris Cuomo who was recently fired by CNN, mocking the Governor for his Covid response back in May of 2020. Turns out it was Chris's brother who handled the pandemic historically bad.
What's the other side to Ron DeSantis?
Despite all the great news coming out of Florida, it should be noted not everything is rainbows and butterflies.
Florida has the 12th highest death rate per capita from Covid (3rd most deaths from COVID overall).
Florida has the 11th highest COVID cases per capita in the US (3rd most t0tal Covid cases)
Despite a global pandemic, Ron DeSantis made mask mandates against the law in schools, despite the science proving masks do help in preventing the spread of Covid
One thing DeSantis has really played into, are the "culture wars" that are popular for the Republican base, particularly Trump supporters.
Banned transgender girls from competing in girls public high school sports
He proclaimed he would send Florida police officers to protect the border. Let me remind you, Florida does not share a border with Mexico
He's trying to push a bill that will allow parents to sue their children's school if they're taught Critical Race Theory. The bill is called " Stop Woke Act"
Banned Vaccine Passports or Mandates for public sector employees
Make no mistake about it, Ron DeSantis has contributed to the poison and vile that is the American political system we see today. His culture war attacks are contributing to the divide we have in the states.
He’s not a dumb man and knows his attacks on science and facts about the 2020 election are not founded in truth. They‘re just a tactical strategy to appease the Republican base.
What's ahead for Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis will run for re-election for governor in 2022. Unless something unforeseen happens or some major scandal unfolds (like him smoking crack or meth, which is what his 2018 Democratic opponent was caught doing in 2020....read about Andrew Gillum), he will win re-election.
The bigger question is what will he do in 2024? Will he run for President? If Trump decides to run, DeSantis probably won't and could instead be Trump's candidate for Vice President.
But if Trump doesn't run, expect Ron DeSantis to be the Republican candidate for President.
He’s got a strong record of economic growth in Florida that is supported by Republicans, Independents and Democrats. Independents and moderate Republicans who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and helped propel him to victory, would switch their votes and vote for DeSantis.
He’ll be a young, energetic candidate that would be almost half the age of Joe Biden, if Biden decides to run for re-election. And if Joe doesn’t, the Democrats do not have a candidate in the pipeline that could go up against the popular governor from Florida.
More than likely, Ron DeSantis will be the next President of the United States.
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