Why are Washington Democrats so afraid of strong, conservative women? WaPo published an article on Casey DeSantis on Sunday – Father’s Day – because they didn’t want to do a favorable article on the governor, I guess. I braced myself for what I thought would be a hit-piece against Casey. As it turned out, it is the kind of article that conservatives will appreciate and liberals may find their stomachs churning.

Tracing the power of Casey DeSantis is heavy on the theme that Casey DeSantis is the strong woman behind Ron DeSantis, pulling the strings and being a true partner in their marriage. You know that expression that behind every successful man is a strong woman? That is what the vibe is with this article. There is also an underlying tone of fear, though the left will never admit what a threat Casey and Ron DeSantis are to their view of marriages in politics.

Casey DeSantis was on the other side of the room. She knew, starting with his early days in politics, when Ron was still a member of Congress, elected at the age of 34, how she wanted to figure in his world. She knew the staff he should hire, former aides said, the invitations he should accept and the invitations he should decline. She knew his walking path at events, the people he’d stand next to on a stage. She knew his schedule, down to every meeting and call and fundraiser and congressional vote, because she asked to be copied on every calendar entry. She knew the cowboy boots he should wear, even though, at first, he complained that they hurt his feet, until a staffer suggested he buy dress shoes instead, at which point he said, “Casey got them for me,” and that was the end of the conversation about the cowboy boots. She knew the earpiece he should use for live interviews, because she had spent 15 years in television, even though, at first, the earpiece was uncomfortable in his ear, at which point an aide said, “Casey got this for you,” and that was the end of the conversation about the earpiece.

That paragraph set the table for the author’s premise that Casey is super-efficient. She studies what she thinks she needs to know and she rehearses when she is going to make a speech or speak to groups of people. She has a professional background in television as a news anchor and then co-host of a local daytime show. She’s a Type-A personality and it seems to work well in their marriage. She knows about earpieces and wardrobe choices and what people respond to.

The real kicker in the article, though, is how many words are written about how “insular” their marriage is and how the governor does not have a circle of friends serving as inside advisers. He separates work from family and spends as much time as possible with his wife and three very young children. You can see how much he enjoys being on the road with his family as he campaigns in early states now. It can’t be easy – those kids are close in age and so young – but there they are having big fun at the Reno Rodeo, all three wearing matching RD 24 t-shirts. It was so good that Team Trump released snarky statements about it. Trump is the king of marketing himself and Ron and Casey DeSantis are going to give him a run for it in this campaign.

Ron and Casey are young – 44 and 42. The kids are 6, 5, and 3. For those of us old enough to remember, the family reminds us of the days of JFK and Jackie. Camelot was a made-up fantasy of the Democrats but the DeSantis family allows Republican voters to envision young children back in the White House and the passing of the torch from aging Baby Boomers to the next generation of politicians moving up. It’s time.

The left is nervous. They can’t mock her as they did Melania. They won’t put Casey on the cover of Vogue and other fashion magazines, though she makes an effort to dress well. The double standard will remain in place. She’s wrangling little kids and her husband is running for president. She’s a breast cancer survivor. She has been active as first lady in Florida, working on several initiatives at a time, not just focusing on one cause. She’s likeable.

To the voters she met in Iowa, Casey was likable. She was 42, a mother of three kids, ages 3, 5 and 6. She had survived breast cancer after insisting on a mammogram, even when her doctors were reluctant, because she had “felt something,” not physically, she said in 2021, but in her gut — “something sitting inside me just didn’t feel right.” Next to her husband, in his loose-cut blazers and jeans, with his boots curved over the base of a lectern, as if he were trying to scale it, Casey had steel-straight posture and a precise, sure way of speaking — clasping the mic with one hand, turning her thumb and forefinger in the other, as if adjusting a dial.

Her message was always this: She was there to support Ron. If the line ever blurred between his role and hers, she drew it back again, sharp and clean.

In other words, she’s not looking to be the main attraction. She’s not Jill Biden or Hillary Clinton. How refreshing. She’s a woman who was raised in Ohio and has that Midwestern kind of level-headed common sense. Her family is trying to stay out of the political spotlight and they turn down interview requests. Her parents now live in South Carolina and her sister lives with her family in Colorado.

The left doesn’t understand normal any more. The coastal elites who write for publications like the Washington Post can’t help themselves. They are busy writing fluff pieces on Jill Biden and covering up for Joe Biden’s failing mental health and his physical frailty. They are Biden voters and don’t understand a successful Republican governor who not only supports family-friendly legislation but get the bills signed into law. He stopped mandates from federal bureaucrats during the pandemic. He kept Florida open when Trump was still bowing to Fauci and the CDC recommendations. DeSantis has a record of success in Florida that is tough to beat. He does what he says.

As I said, Democrats are nervous. This article wasn’t as mean-spirited as it could have been. That will change as DeSantis rises in the polls. Democrats want to run against Trump, not a young and successful governor from Florida. Think about the optics of Biden and DeSantis on a debate stage. What a contrast that would be. And Casey would be in the front row cheering him on.