The DeSantis Management Model
Florida’s governor has been impressive with multiple hurricane recoveries, which commends him for a promotion.
Would you rather have a president you could have a beer with, or one who could competently do the job? Those things obviously aren’t mutually exclusive, but in an age where personality seems to dominate the political landscape, it’s worth remembering that ideally we elect presidents for their skill and leadership, not their entertainment value.
Which brings us to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Hurricane Idalia, the Category 3 storm that hit Florida’s Big Bend Wednesday morning.
“Republican voters should be watching the governor’s performance closely over the next few weeks,” argued political analyst Charles C.W. Cooke before the storm arrived. He was right, and they are. So far, so good for DeSantis.
Thanks to the fact that Idalia hit mostly rural areas of north-central Florida and the forecasted track for it was what DeSantis called “pretty doggone accurate,” the state was ready. Well, that and this is Florida, which is pretty used to hurricanes by now, though Big Bend hasn’t been directly hit by a hurricane this strong since 1896. There is some discrepancy in the count, but not more than three deaths were storm related.
Idalia was certainly less devastating than last year’s Hurricane Ian, which went off the forecasted track and hit more populated areas, killing 150. Even then, however, with a worse disaster and the presidential spotlight not yet on him, DeSantis impressed with the quick and thorough recovery response.
With Idalia, he’s effectively dispatched relief efforts and things like water and fuel where necessary. “All that stuff we have an abundance of,” he said Thursday, “and we’ll be providing that as needed.”
When all that’s settled, would someone get the giant tree off the governor’s mansion?
Joe Biden? He’ll visit Florida tomorrow. We doubt it’ll go better than his trip to Hawaii — he’s already retold the same mindless lie about his house fire to relate to Florida’s disaster, just like he did in Hawaii. As for policy, so far all he wants is “a whole hell of a lot more money” for the Left’s climate boondoggle.
Biden’s allies in the Leftmedia clearly hope DeSantis fails. After all, they’ve been telling a narrative about the governor that they need to “prove.” He’s a “racist,” for one thing, after the Jacksonville murders of three black men by a white man. Never mind that he went to a community where he’s not popular and worked to connect, or that he condemned violence of any stripe.
He’s also struggling to gain traction in early primary polls, which the media is all too happy to trumpet so as to make those early polls self-fulfilling.
We mean no disrespect, but being president is about a lot more than entertaining people at small campaign stops or even big rallies.
“This seems to be Mr. DeSantis in his element, examining the figures, the emergency response plans, the Covid-19 statistics, and then synthesizing it into government policy,” write the editors of The Wall Street Journal. “Everyone knows an introvert like this, and the flip side of the personality type is that Mr. DeSantis, now a 2024 presidential candidate, has proved less than adept at making small talk with Iowans.”
As we said up top, competent governance is paramount. Then again, we’re sort of puzzled why we’re being told DeSantis can’t relate to people.
“We are not going to tolerate any looting in the aftermath of a natural disaster,” he told reporters yesterday. “I mean it’s just ridiculous that you would try to do something like that on the heels of an almost Category 4 hurricane hitting this community.” He added: “I’d also just remind potential looters that you never know what you’re walking into. People have a right to defend their property. This part of Florida, you’ve got a lot of advocates and proponents of the Second Amendment. And I’ve seen signs in different people’s yards in the past after these disasters, and I would say it’s probably here — ‘You Loot, We Shoot.’ You never know what’s behind that door. If you go break into somebody’s house and you’re trying to loot, these are people that are going to be able to defend themselves and their families, so I would not do it.”
You know something? We’d like to have a beer with that guy.
DESANTIS ISSUES WARNING TO POTENTIAL LOOTERS
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) August 30, 2023
“This part of Florida, you’ve got a lot of advocates of the Second Amendment…You loot, we shoot. You never know what’s behind that door.” pic.twitter.com/U5xmVrVTdu
