Village. Ron DeSantis is ready to position himself as a champion of conservative causes during Tuesday’s State of the State address, which will likely be about his national ambitions as it assesses Florida’s situation in the wake of a pandemic and pandemic. Series of devastating storms.
The address comes at the start of a 60-day legislative session, which has taken on increased significance this year because it will likely be used to launch DeSantis in a highly anticipated presidential campaign.
The Republican-dominated Legislature, eager to boost DeSantis’ political prospects, is expected to sign off on nearly all of the governor’s agenda, which is filled with issues ranging from race to immigration to gender that proved popular in the GOP presidential primary. It is possible
Instead of focusing on rising rents and the cost of living, a property insurance market that is in crisis, and preparing for rising sea levels in the state that is most vulnerable to climate change, DeSantis will begin a session where the GOP Will emphasize issues like telling teachers this. pronouns they can use for students, make guns more available to Floridians, drive immigrants out of state illegally and criminalize some drag shows, as Tennessee recently did Was.
While DeSantis is unlikely to formally announce a presidential campaign until the Legislature wraps up its work in May, he is already taking big steps toward a White House bid. He attended a high-profile donor retreat last week in Florida before traveling to California, where he made a sweeping argument against the excesses of liberalism. Later this week, he will travel for the first time this year to Iowa, which will host the nation’s first presidential caucus in 2024.
Even without an official campaign, DeSantis is emerging as a leading alternative to former President Donald Trump, a fellow Floridian who has already announced his third White House bid. DeSantis’ strength has been fueled partly by commanding a nearly 20-point re-election victory last year in what are often infamously close elections.
They have done this by limiting how issues such as race and sexuality can be taught in schools, banning transgender girls and women from school sports, redrawing state political maps to favor Republicans, and increasing black voters. eliminating congressional districts that support, and attacking private businesses that disagree. His ideology and crackdown on Black Lives Matter protests.
DeSantis acknowledges that his decisions as governor are based on what he feels is right and not necessarily what is popular with the mainstream. He said that’s why he was able to turn a 32,000-vote, recount-confirmation victory in 2018 into a 1.5 million-vote victory last year — the largest margin ever won by a Republican governor in the state.
“We beat the left day after day,” DeSantis said Sunday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. “Don’t worry about the polls, don’t worry about the daily news cycle, and don’t worry about the media for Pete’s sake, what they say. Do what’s right and the voters will reward you.”
He has been the subject of mockery nearly every night on late-night shows such as “Saturday Night Live” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” but more critics mock DeSantis, especially what he calls the “liberal elite”. is, the more support he inspires among his base.
When he shuns the mainstream media in favor of friendly conservative outlets, the more mainstream media cover him. And he has the luxury of not making an “official” run for the presidency at this point.
While most candidates who jump into the presidential race two years later spend the early days of the campaign campaigning to raise money, build support for the nation, and boost their name recognition, DeSantis still has a political committee has $70 million, four months into their reelection.
And she’s already a star daydreamer at GOP events nationally. Almost as soon as he finishes his State of the State speech, he’s on his way to Iowa.
“You don’t see the Florida flag behind that anymore. They’re all American flags,” said Democratic state Sen. Jason Pizzo.
DeSantis’ State of the Union speech is sure to incorporate some of the “anti-voc, pro-freedom” messages he’s taken across the country. While critics argue that he has taken liberties from marginalized groups, it has become a catchword for the governor.
The book he released last week is titled “The Courage to Be Free,” and its subtitle reflects his 2024 plans: “Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Renaissance.” Instead of the Trump slogan of “Make America Great Again,” DeSantis is making the case for making the country more like Florida and more like states like California and New York.