GOOD GOVERNMENT (FOR A CHANGE): The DeSantis doctrine.

‘Maybe the best way to understand Ron DeSantis — who came out of nowhere for a lot of Americans outside Florida — is to know that he was a longtime Rush Limbaugh listener,’ says David Reaboi, a political communications consultant who lives in Miami Beach. ‘It’s not surprising that the governor has been on the leading edge of things conservatives care about, like Big Tech censorship, the trans issue or critical race theory. Conservatives really get a sense that DeSantis is “one of us”, because he is.’

Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, thought she would retain the base’s loyalty after she refused to implement a mask mandate. But that goodwill vanished when she vetoed a bill banning biological men from competing in women’s sports. DeSantis signed a similar bill in Florida, then took on Big Tech, the Chinese Communist party and the cruise lines that wanted to require vaccine passports for passengers.

DeSantis’s critics claim his legislative victories are merely performative and will get struck down by courts. Others worry he is seeking state solutions to federal problems. DeSantis insists that he won’t sign ‘symbolic’ measures because there would be ‘no point’. When I asked him about potential lawsuits in response to his bill fining Big Tech for deplatforming political candidates, he had a coherent legal defense ready.

John Cardillo believes DeSantis is a ‘brilliant’ policymaker who understands how to use the law to his advantage.

He fights, to coin a phrase.