Ron DeSantis’s plan to turn the US into Florida

TeaThe title of Governor Ron DeSantis’ book, which he has been enthusiastically promoting across the country, is less important than the subtitle. The Courage to Be Free is a forgettable title shared by actor and gun rights activist Charlton Heston with Vol. But the subtitle, Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival, unlocks DeSantis’ national ambitions.

While former US President Donald Trump operates under the clunky slogan of “Make America Great Again”, DeSantis is making a case for “Make America Florida” – a phrase that appears on hats, flags and accessories,

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The governor argues that he has made a great summer in the Sunshine State. If and when he announces a run for US President in 2024, he will claim he can replicate the formula in state after state across America. Florida, his theory goes, is an incubator of conservative ideas that work.

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He dangles a carrot for Republicans, who, weary of Trump’s losing streak, are looking for a savior. DeSantis writes that when he was elected in 2018, there were about 300,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in Florida; As of October 2022, there were 300,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats.

DeSantis writes in The Courage to Be Free, “What Florida has done is set a template for governance that produced concrete results while serving as a rebuke to the prestige elite that ran our country down to the ground.” have done.”

How Florida’s Republican majority handed Ron DeSantis absolute power

But the governor’s critics question whether his fixation on the culture wars (“Florida is the place where wakes go to die!”) is as popular as it seems. They also argue that, with many climate, economic and social problems, Florida is not exactly heaven that DeSantis likes to portray.

“This is a blueprint for people who want to abuse their power to target people who disagree with them politically,” said Maxwell Frost, the youngest member of Congress to represent the Florida district. “That’s what we’ve seen from someone like Governor DeSantis.

“What we’re exporting from Florida is fascism, For him to sit there and say, ‘Oh yeah, my bill to ban trans kids from talking about who they are is now equivalent to a top education system,’ that’s just a load of bullshit to be honest. Bunch. Hopefully most Floridians will see through this.

As governor of the third-most populous state, DeSantis, 44, has imposed limits on how race and sexuality can be taught in schools, forcing some teachers to remove the books from their libraries. He has also banned transgender girls from school sports, redrawn state political maps in favor of Republicans, attacked Disney and other businesses that disagree with his ideology, and has been involved in Black Lives Matter protests. But crack down.

Then there was the coronavirus pandemic. The governor mostly followed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the early months, closing Florida’s beaches, bars and schools. But they started reopening schools and easing restrictions in early 2021, before other states Face Mask and Vaccine Mandate In businesses and government. When the media questioned his approach, he responded emphatically to the delight of a base who “own the veneer”.

DeSantis claimed vindication last year when he broke fundraising records and won re-election By about 20 percentage points against a weak candidate from an unorganized Democratic Party in what used to be a swing state. Republicans see hope that DeSantis has broken the code for a party that has lost the popular vote in six of the past seven presidential elections.

The party now enjoys a supermajority in the Florida state legislature and is pushing issues such as telling teachers what pronouns they can use for students, making guns more available and easier to carry, immigration Illegally placing out of state and criminalizing certain drag shows.

Republicans argue that DeSantis’ agenda explains why Florida ranks number one in the nation for net migration. About 319,000 people moved there last year analysis of census data by the National Association of Realtors, while California lost the most residents with 343,000 departures.

Strip plot showing Florida’s placement among other states as a red bar in the small gray bar.

Christian ZieglerFlorida Republican Party chairman, said: “You’re seeing people leave other states whose ideologies and political positions and policy positions are completely opposite. California, New York – everybody is leaving those states and everybody someone is coming to our state. This confirms the claim that Florida is a working model. If it were a cellphone, it would probably be the Apple iPhone. Everyone wants it, everyone is buying it and everyone Attracted to it.

Part of the allure, Ziegler claims, is DeSantis’ “pro-liberty” approach to the pandemic, which allowed businesses and tourism to bounce back more quickly than elsewhere, and Republicans who have “parented their support for what they termed “rights”.

“I can’t tell you how many parents have come here from other states because they want their kids not locked up in school, not masked, not vaccinated,” he said.

‘Hostile takeover’: Small University of Florida targeted by Ron DeSantis

DeSantis’ critics present a very different version, noting that Florida has long been a magnet because of its sunny weather and lack of state income tax. The pandemic, and the rise of remote working, made it especially attractive for people looking to migrate from expensive big cities like New York. (The trend may be temporary: the latest census data show that Manhattan’s population grew last year,

Speaking from Sarasota, Ziegler also defended DeSantis’ controversial policies on the teaching of American racial history. “From my perspective, I can tell you that we learned about the injustice of slavery. We learned about the heroic efforts of Harriet Tubman or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” he said. “It’s very different from critical race theory, where they’re trying to point out that everyone in society is oppressed or oppressed or that the color of your skin will make you prejudiced and hateful.”

It is a misrepresentation of critical race theory, which examines the ways in which racism was embedded in American law and other modern institutions, leading to white supremacy. It is not usually taught in public schools.

Progressives dispute the claim that DeSantis’ focus on hot-button culture war issues is working.

“He’s selling a blueprint for hate and bigotry,” said Brandon Wolf, press secretary for LGBTQ+ rights organization Equality Florida and a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016. Trying to sell the snake oil of his authoritarian strategy in Florida to the rest of the country.,

Wolf pointed out that, beneath the veneer of prosperity that the governor projects, there are many shadows in the state. Paradise for retirees is in Florida worst long term care For elderly people in all 50 states, according to the American Association of Retired Persons. It is among 10 states that have refused to expand Medicaid, a public health insurance program for low-income people under the Affordable Care Act. it ranks 16th worst for healthcare Of the 50 states, says the Commonwealth Fund, a grant-making foundation that supports independent health research.

Meanwhile the cost of living is rising. Norada Real Estate Investments found that Florida home values ​​have increased by 80% in the last five years. home insurance costs growing rapidly As markets struggle to deal with stronger storms and more intense storms due to the climate crisis.

Leaning into culture war issues was successful for her. And the challenge I posed to her is to ask any everyday Floridian: What are the top five things that keep them up at night? I guarantee you, they’re someone in a wig. Red Fish in the library isn’t going to ask Blue Fish to read,” Wolf said.

“That Florida has been wildly successful is a question best left to those who are kept at night by the cost of housing, the potential for dangerous storms,” ​​he said. “You just ask him if Florida feels like the most successful and freest state in the country.”

Education is another such example. While DeSantis has created political theater around pandemic measures and racial and sexual identity, the state is facing severe teacher shortages in its chronically underfunded public schools. Florida ranked 49th in the nation average teacher salary In 2020, according to the National Education Association.

Tim CanovaA law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale and a former candidate for Congress, said: “Teachers are underpaid, there’s a shortage of staff, the curriculum is centrally set at the bottom, whether it’s the Common Core federal Be it standard or from the state in Tallahassee.

“It’s a miserable job for teachers. They don’t have much autonomy. They have large class sizes. They don’t get paid much. There’s a Long Way to Go, But Florida’s Schools Are Chronically Weak,

research by data for progressA progressive polling firm and …