Any time a member of the media writes about DeSantis’s approach to the vaccine, a member of his staff will huffily insist that the governor encouraged Floridians to get vaccinated. And he has. But he’s also been careful not to alienate the hard-right base on the subject. He’s not repeatedly insisting on the importance of vaccinations the way West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) has. When the state was getting hammered by the virus, DeSantis put his energy into treatments targeting covid instead of increased vaccinations.

Florida’s vaccination rate actually decreased during the fourth coronavirus surge relative to the period immediately prior. Mississippi’s percentage of residents who had received at least one vaccine dose rose by 16 points from June 21 to today, compared to only 11 points from April 1 to June 21, the day the fourth surge began. Florida’s percentage increased 24 points in the months before the surge and only 16 percent during. The state had a higher vaccination rate at the outset than other states, but that was probably inflated in part by winter residents of the state…

For a certain group of Republican politicians (that includes Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin) this is seen as the smartest play in the moment. Cozy up to and energize Trump’s base with signals you know they’ll hear while still presenting a sober face to the broader public. Stoke the passion of the hard-right while keeping open a door to the moderate middle. It is, in fact, the way that Republicans have dealt with Trump for the past six years.