He didn’t just attack liberals. He attacked the whole state. I guess he figured that he would impress everyone in California by telling us that his state is so much better. I suppose he probably did impress those at the Reagan library — they were the usual California GOP masochists who love to be humiliated by red staters. He’ll probably get some money out of it. But still, this seems like a poor way to introduce yourself :
As he moves toward entering the 2024 presidential race, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made a pilgrimage to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Sunday, where the Republican accused leaders in blue states such as California of being “lockdown politicians” and charged that the nation’s coronavirus crisis created “a great test in governing philosophies.”
Speaking to a sold-out audience, with some 1,300 tickets sold and nearly 1,100 in attendance, according to organizers, DeSantis touted how Florida has led the nation in net migration — even though that is a trend set into motion long before he became governor.
“We’ve witnessed a great American exodus from states governed by leftist politicians imposing leftist ideologies and delivering poor results. And you can see massive gains in states like Florida, who are governing according to the tried and true principles that President Reagan held dear,” DeSantis said. He said that Americans “voted with their feet” by leaving some blue states in large numbers as Florida’s population boomed.
But many experts have argued that the shift in migration patterns, particularly from states along the West Coast, has stemmed largely from the lack of affordable housing and the greater flexibility that the pandemic created for work-from-home or hybrid work arrangements. DeSantis’s remarks served as the latest example of him advancing arguments in defense of his record in Florida that sometimes mask much more complicated debates.
DeSantis’s speech — inside the museum’s cavernous glass pavilion where he stood beneath the former Air Force One plane that carried Reagan and six other presidents — was billed as to promote his new book, “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.” But it also served as an audition before GOP voters here for an ambitious governor many expect to enter the presidential sweepstakes. California could play a major role in selecting the nominee in the state’s unusually early presidential primary next year on March 5.
Obviously, Trump is also one who likes to insult California (and anywhere else that didn’t vote for him.) But DeSantis is touting his state as being specifically superior, which is a slightly different thing. I have to wonder if that’s really going to sell here, even in a primary. Many of the minority of Republicans in California do love Trump. And I’m not sure they hate themselves.
By the way, if DeSantis was trolling for donors, he may want to re-think this approach. If he can:
The Florida governor did not spend time mingling with members of the crowd and did not take questions from the media in California.