Florida is the way forward for America because it stands in such stark opposition to the rest of the country. The almost tropical weather, the world-leading tourism, and the numerous and notorious “Florida Man” seem to garner the attention and capture the hearts of Americans from all walks of life. What many don’t notice, however, is that the rise of success in Florida is due in large part to its exceptional local and state governance.
Ron DeSantis
To me, Governor Ron DeSantis is an interesting mix of Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan. He maintains a professionalism and image that most would associate with Reagan, while carrying the stinging bullets of whit and crass which exemplify Trump. It seems to me that he was not initially seeking to become a national figure. He barely won his first gubernatorial election in a state notorious for flip-flopping between red and blue in recent years.
Though it could be due to chance, it seems that Ron DeSantis chooses his fights very carefully. He keeps an eye on national sentiments on sensitive topics, and swings hard for the fences when he sees an opportunity for a win. In this sense, he hits a lot of homeruns without ever striking out. In case you’ve forgotten, remember that his policy to keep the state open during the pandemic was met with harsh criticism. More recently, he has fought against the inclusion of irrelevant sex and gender discussions and pushed back against teaching kids racial hierarchies by fighting an AP Black History course in public schools.
The battles he chooses to fight are easy wins for him because he has the skill to clearly articulate the problems he is addressing and the clear benefit of his solutions. When the American public hears what he is doing and sees the positive results, they are able to draw distinctions between effective Floridian leadership in comparison to ineffective governors like Gavin Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer.
The Florida Legislature and Disney
As a huge Walt Disney fan, it’s a tragedy to see how far his company has fallen. It’s in shambles because of woke policies from top to bottom. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature made national headlines when taking action against Disney’s self government known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District. Though it is arguably bad from a conservative point of view, Walt Disney himself set up this plan to enable his team to build the world’s best theme park destination without government intervention. This special treatment was effectively a way to keep themselves away from government, not necessarily receive special provisions from them.
However, since the Walt Disney Company brought the fight to leaders in Florida by advocating for the inclusion of gay curriculums and an LGBT+ focus in their films, conservatives were not shy to fight back. They immediately gathered to abolish special privileges for certain companies, including Reedy Creek.
Now, it should be acknowledged that it is very unclear just what will happen as a result of the law. It’s amusing to see local news push that taxpayers will suddenly be burdened with costs. Honestly, there will probably be little change to what Disney is and isn’t allowed to do – but that wasn’t the point. Ron DeSantis and Republicans scored a major victory in national media simply by posing as opposition to Disney. With Disney’s reputation crumbling as they push more woke garbage, Republicans standing in their way quickly gain the high ground.
Comparisons to Other States
Though already touched on, Florida has climbed to the top of the charts by standing by practical policies that exist counter to the ones from other states. While New York closes its businesses, Florida keeps them open. While other cities deride their own police force, Florida hails them as heroes. While California attempts to tax their own citizens into oblivion (and is considering adding tax penalties for leaving), Florida welcomes everyone with no state income tax.
These clear policy differences are what normal, non-political Americans see and understand. They don’t know what the silly Washington politicians are doing, but they know when their kid comes home from school complaining about woke teachers. Florida, led by Ron DeSantis, has done an incredible job of leading the charge and warming up moderates and classical liberals alike to the idea of voting red.
Diversity
As a final thought, one which left-leaning readers should love to explore, Florida is an relatively diverse state. It contains Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee, and Miami as major cities, yet still has unexplored, unrefined areas which some would consider as part of the “deep south.” It is also demographically diverse, especially due to large numbers of Hispanics. Latest census data shows similar Black populations but nearly a 7% greater (19.5% compared to 26.8% in New York and Florida, respectively – or 37% greater, depending on how you want to play with statistics) proportion of Hispanic residents in Florida.
Florida doesn’t seem to care about playing identity politics or believe that any racial group is a voting block – and it’s succeeding because of that.
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