DeSantis delivers a governor’s masterclass in governance

As they search for a winning campaign message this election, Republicans are consumed with turmoil over abortion. Bizarrely, as they move leftward on the issue and engage in mental gyrations to subvert a longstanding conservative stance, Republicans are all ignoring the lesson of Ron DeSantis and Florida: You do not need to sell out your values to win elections.

DeSantis won over many pro-choice voters in 2022, carrying the female vote by seven points (white women in particular by 18 points) and the suburban vote by 18 points, even as 56% of Florida voters said abortion should be legal. Now, the state is poised to give Donald Trump the widest margin in modern presidential elections, despite the passage of the heartbeat bill. What gives?

When you lead and govern with prudence, principle, and competence, every issue winds up being a winning issue.

While not all swing voters agree with DeSantis and Florida Republicans on abortion, they appreciate his “whole life” approach, making the quality of life in Florida — from safety and security to cleanliness and economic prosperity — superb.

According to a new Emerson poll, 57% of Florida voters believe the six-week ban on abortion is “too strict.” At the same time, Trump maintains a 13-point lead over Joe Biden in the Sunshine State, even as the same pollster has Biden leading by two points nationally. Hence, even as the national poll has Trump performing along the lines of his 2020 loss, it shows him winning a historic margin in Florida after carrying the state by just 3.36 percentage points four years ago.

Clearly, one can govern strongly in favor of life so long as he has a broader message and list of accomplishments on comprehensive quality-of-life issues.

Elections are not about issues in a vacuum (aside from individual ballot referenda). Elections hinge upon the amalgamation of the image, messaging, and accomplishments of the candidate and the broader party.

Imagine if the broader GOP had the accomplishments of DeSantis, particularly on core quality-of-life issues?

Safety and security

Rather than receding to irrelevance after failing to win the presidential primary, DeSantis stepped up his fight for the freedom and security of Floridians every day since exiting the race. He accomplishes more in one week than other GOP governors do during their entire tenure.

If the rest of America is government by anarcho-tyranny, Florida has now become a beacon of ordered liberty — freedom and prosperity for peaceful citizens with zero tolerance for criminals and anarchists.

Suburban voters, regardless of their position on abortion, care about their quality of life. Everyone wants safety and security. While the rest of the country is degenerating into ubiquitous crime, carjackings, theft, and street vagrancy, Florida is moving in the opposite direction.

Addressing the trend we see in blue cities where anarchist mobs attack and harass law enforcement, DeSantis signed SB 184, making it a crime to harass law enforcement and first responders. He also signed HB 601, which guts the Soros-inspired “civilian oversight boards” blue city governments established to second-guess every officer-involved shooting.

Although every Republican claims to be pro-law enforcement, most others have not leaned on blue city officials to fight the anarchy. Red Texas is full of anti-cop blue cities. In Florida, by contrast, crime is at a 50-year low, and thousands of police officers are moving to the state and even receiving bonuses.

Floridians, and hundreds of thousands of people seeking shelter there from other states, know that the Sunshine State will remain a beacon for ordered liberty while chaos and mob rule reign elsewhere.

Given crime and political instability in Haiti, there was a broad expectation that thousands of Haitian refugees would throng Florida’s shores as we saw with the Cuban Mariel boat lift in 1980. Much to the shock of those who don’t know DeSantis, nobody has come so far. DeSantis’ stern warning about interior enforcement and his forward deployment of maritime assets have clearly deterred an invasion.

The same principle holds for domestic unrest. Pro-Hamas protesters shut down major bridges and highways across the nation this week — except in Miami, where police had zero tolerance for road blocking. The police knew they had a mandate and weren’t afraid to use it.

DeSantis also decided to crack down on street violence during spring break this year. In line with his ruthless efficiency in deploying law enforcement, this is the first year without widespread violence and no viral videos of wild street fights.

Of course, there is the issue of porch piracy and shoplifting that is plaguing even red states. Florida became the first state to clamp down on flash mobs and made porch piracy a felony. Suburban voters like their packages to be delivered and stay on their porches.

These are not sexy national issues, but they matter to voters.

Land of opportunity

While ensuring public safety, DeSantis has consistently cut the budget, accrued record surpluses, paid off a quarter of the state’s existing debt, slashed tolls, and cut sales taxes on baby items. Florida has the lowest per capita state government overhead in the nation.

Florida also has more housing inventory by far than any other state, has had a substantially lower unemployment rate than the national average for 41 consecutive months, and is the number-one state for new business formation.

Additionally, DeSantis has enacted a host of educational reforms, broke the back of teachers' unions, and fought to purge wokeness from K-12 schools and state universities.

Even on issues that don’t make headlines, such as the complicated problem of homeowner’s insurance, DeSantis’ reforms are paying off. Seven more insurance companies have entered the market, and several of them are announcing a plan to extend relief to policyholders.

Taken together, the entire political center of suburban voters in the state feels like it has a governor who cares about quality of life and is competent in enriching it. Some of those voters might disagree with the governor on this or that ideological issue. But he has been able to lean into those issues precisely because he offers a full package – whole life – tethered to a strong pro-life message on abortion.

That’s likely why Florida Republicans now hold a massive enthusiasm advantage over Democrats and independents. This stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the nation where a reverse enthusiasm gap is fueling Democrats’ victories in special elections.

When you lead and govern with prudence, principle, and competence, every issue winds up being a winning issue. When you are incompetent, unprincipled, hypocritical, and clownish, the few issues you still stand for seem to be political losers. As DeSantis often likes to say, “Decline is a choice.”