On a disappointing night for Republicans, Governor Ron DeSantis rocked the state of Florida, defeating his opponent, Congressman Charlie Crist, by almost 20 spots. Before DeSantis came along, Florida left us wondering if it would turn blue or red [republicana] late into the night of the election or, in the case of the election of 2000, weeks later. But it became clear well before midnight this Tuesday (08) that Florida turned red. From Portsmouth to Puget Sound, Republicans interested in replicating DeSantis’ “historic victory” should learn from these eight rules.
1. Stay on the Attack
Given the left-leaning mainstream media, Republicans are often cornered on the defensive. As president, Donald Trump called the media “the enemy of the people” but also seemed to crave their approval. DeSantis, on the other hand, rewrote the Republican playbook by staying on the attack virtually nonstop for four years. He refused to bow down or apologize for anything he said or did, even when the media called him “DeathSantis” for keeping the state open during Covid or mischaracterized his Parental Rights in Education law (falsely defamed as ” Don’t say gay”). As he said in his victory speech Tuesday night: “We take the blows, we weather the storms, but we stand firm, we don’t back down.” [programa popular na TV americana] Every week, or so it seemed, the governor took the fight to a new target: lacerating corporations like Disney, uncompromising teacher unions, the big tech companies, progressive judges and prosecutors who refused to follow the law, or leaders of “sanctuary towns” who have “embraced” illegal immigrants — as long as they don’t settle in places like Martha’s Vineyard. 2 . You Can Create Your Own Majority With The Right Approach
When DeSantis took office, Democrats enjoyed a slight edge in voter registration across the state, but now Republicans hold an advantage of 70. voters. He undoubtedly won over some Florida natives, but probably the much bigger factor here was his effort to inspire like-minded conservatives to move to Florida from the blue states. (And perhaps that helps explain, in part, why Gretchen Whitmer, Kathy Hochul, and other embattled progressive governors survived.) I moved to Florida from Oregon in 1991 to some extent because I admire DeSantis and his approach to governance, so I consider myself a member of that movement. Conservatives in Florida feared that pandemic refugees from blue states would “vote like they did in the North”, but this does not seem to have happened. As DeSantis stated on Wednesday (09) night, “the woke schedule has caused millions to leave these jurisdictions [do estado azul] for greener pastures. Florida, for many of them, served as the promised land.” While other Republicans avoided making the pandemic a topic in their campaigns, DeSantis did not shy away from it, reminding us at every opportunity of how he kept the state free. Florida is a low-tax state with a healthy budget surplus and a well-run government in almost every respect . It counted its votes more quickly and efficiently than almost any other state in the last two elections. Most Florida residents consider the DeSantis administration’s response to Hurricane Ian to be excellent. I live in Pinellas County, which was under evacuation orders, and I’ll never forget how, when we left town driving north on Highway I-75, legions of emergency relief vehicles passed us south. As it turned out, we never ran out of energy. Others were not so lucky, but the speed with which power was restored and bridges and other infrastructure reopened was remarkable. Election results proved residents’ satisfaction: In the hardest-hit counties in Southwest Florida, DeSantis scored about 70% of votes. Republicans can have an advantage of almost 2000. voters in the state , but DeSantis won by more than 1.5 million votes. The common school of thought is that politicians must focus on the center to win over independents. DeSantis never did that. Instead, he crafted a bold and unapologetically conservative agenda and traveled the state tirelessly promoting it. As Ronald Reagan proved, you can build a broad coalition on a conservative platform, but you have to be an effective communicator and a great salesman. DeSantis was both. DeSantis scored a double-digit victory in Miami-Dade County, which is 20% Hispanic – “rewriting the political map”, as he put it, without the kind of ethnic favoritism that strategists claim is necessary to win the Hispanic vote. Hispanics generally have the same priorities as other Americans, and most reject ideology woke
. For years, these same strategists have insisted that Republicans must embrace amnesty for illegal immigrants and soft immigration enforcement to win the Latino vote. But polls reject that advice. In fact, according to a recent survey by Telemundo, Latino immigrants supported the transfer of immigrants from DeSantis to Martha’s Vineyard even more strongly than US-born Hispanics. Except for the extreme left, Americans of all hues and colors are fed up with woke ideology [lacradora], and Ron DeSantis made the fight against woke ideology a guiding principle in office. Here’s what he said in his victory speech: “We embrace freedom, uphold law and order, protect parental rights, respect our taxpayers and reject woke ideology. We fight the lacradores in the legislature, we fight the lacradores in the schools, we fight the lacradores corporations, we will never surrender to the lacradora mob. Florida is where woke ideology goes to die.” Compare this rhetoric with the clichés used by Republican leaders in Washington. On Tuesday night, for example, Republican Party leader Kevin McCarthy said that Republicans would “offer a new direction that would get our country back on track.” “Republicans are ready to make it happen,” he continued. “It’s a new direction towards a strong economy, where you can fill your tank, feed your family, where your wages go up and not down.” It was standard speech; voters have heard it all before. DeSantis’s forceful delivery and timely messages, in contrast, speak to an angry and restless constituency. 7. Provide a policy-driven approach that works
Beyond the headlines, how much do you know about Ron DeSantis? You’ve probably heard that he was on a Little League World Series team in 1991 [campeonato de beisebol voltado para pré-adolescentes], which served with distinction in the Navy, which has degrees from Yale and Harvard, but probably not much else—and that’s intentional. DeSantis can relate to the common man — at a St. Patrick’s Day party this year in Dunedin, he downed a beer in seven seconds to chants of “USA! USA!” — but he doesn’t go to The View [programa popular na TV americana] to tell us what kind of underwear he prefers or what he had for breakfast yesterday. He grew up in a working-class neighborhood and still owes portions of his student credit to the college, but he doesn’t flaunt his humble roots. Unlike a certain other politician he could face in the 2024 presidential primaries, DeSantis focuses on politics rather than himself. In an age of influencers and extreme narcissism, voters seem to enjoy this as a breath of fresh air. 8. Pay Attention to Mothers
Republicans have fared poorly in recent years in the pursuit of the female vote, but DeSantis wisely won over mothers by focusing on On education. He significantly increased teachers’ salaries, dramatically expanded school choice options amid strong objections from teachers’ unions, and fought to prevent schools from engaging in conscious indoctrination in classrooms. More importantly, he was arguably the most staunch advocate of keeping schools open during the pandemic. Almost every mom in Florida has friends and relatives in blue states who have had to juggle their schedules to deal with school closures and annoying hybrid reopenings, so they appreciate the fact that our schools are closed for just three months. We don’t have exit polls showing the exact share of the female vote DeSantis got, but you don’t win by 08 underperforming points with half the electorate. Some all and Florida voters liked what they saw. Surely other Republicans will try to replicate the way he managed to fight the culture wars and govern effectively at the same time. 20223. Competence Matters
4. You don’t necessarily have to go downtown to win independents
5. You can redraw the political map without being indulgent
6. Create a culture where woke culture cannot thrive
©2022 City Journal. Published with permission. Original in English.
