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There's plenty of presidential stump speech in DeSantis state-of-the-state address

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis acknowledges cheers from audience after his March 2023 state-of-the-state address.

It has become impossible to hear Ron DeSantis give a speech without listening as a potential Republican presidential primary voter. For them, then, the address he delivered Tuesday was surely a rhapsody in primary colors.

Not 24 hours after he wooed and wowed the conservative establishment with Ronald Reagan’s Air Force One as a backdrop, DeSantis was back in Tallahassee praising Florida’s current governance and summoning the Republican supermajority to historic undertakings.

“Bottom Line Up Front,” said the Sunshine State’s 46th governor, Florida is No. 1 in all the best categories. The state he has led since January 2019 tops the nation, he dutifully reported, in commerce, economic growth, business startups, unemployment rate, in-migration population growth, tourism, cruise ports, education freedom and parental involvement, fourth-grade reading scores, public higher education, law enforcement recruitment, road quality, and — here he applied bold letters and double under-strokes — protections against the “biomedical state.”

Famously, DeSantis said, pounding away with the blow-by-blow efficiency that is his trademark, Florida defended against vaccine mandates and passports and ensured hospital visitation rights. Introducing Panhandle radiologist Tim Boyette, who risked his livelihood by rejecting all forms of the COVID vaccines until the Legislature stepped in, DeSantis proclaimed (with profound satisfaction), “No Floridians should have to choose between a job they need and a shot they don’t want.”

With the breezes of a 19-point re-election victory and that grateful GOP legislative supermajority at his back, DeSantis waxed Sinatraesque:

We defied the experts, we buck the elites, we ignored the chatter, we did it our way, the Florida way. And the result is that we are the number one destination for our fellow Americans who are looking for a better life.

Working together we have met big challenges and we’ve led the nation on many big issues.

We don’t make excuses, we don’t complain, we just produce results.

And those results benefit actual folks. Florida rebuilt a bridge washed out by Hurricane Ian not in six months, as projected, but in three days. When a Pine Island resident who lost her house to the storm couldn’t get a live-in trailer from FEMA, the state created its own travel trailer program. Now Barbara Morgan, who stood in the state House of Representatives gallery as a human example of a public policy success, lives in temporary accommodations while she directs home rehabilitation projects.

This is one for all the philosophers who say Voters don’t care what you know until they know that you care.

With images of cities on fire still fresh in our memories and threats to simply strolling urban streets a regular concern, the governor nailed down another potential campaign plank: He’s not messing around on crime.

Florida’s proud to stand for law and order. We are tough on crime and we support the men and women of law enforcement. And we have made it very clear to prosecutors who believe they can disregard the law, you will be held accountable.

DeSantis presented equally straightforward thoughts on the nation’s alarmingly porous borders.

We believe that borders matter and we have fought against illegal immigration in the state of Florida from banning sanctuary cities to suing the Biden Administration over its catch and release policies to transporting illegal aliens to sanctuary jurisdictions. We have put Floridians first and we will continue to do that.

Fentanyl dealers must be treated “like the murderers they are,” he said. And Florida should do what it can to squeeze illegal immigration through tighter employment verification and increased penalties for human smuggling. “Florida is not a sanctuary state,” he said, “and we will uphold the rule of law.”

Then there was this, for the shameless critics who claim pro-life advocates care only about the unborn still in the womb:

By permanently eliminating sales tax on all baby supplies, diapers, wipes, closed cribs, strollers, we will be able to say that in Florida, having a child will be tax free. We are proud to be pro-family and we are proud to be pro-life in the state of Florida.

The cheers and ovation for this lasted most of a minute, the longest of a speech that brought all but the Democratic minority to its feet two dozen times or more.

DeSantis also called for civil lawsuit reform that would promote justice over “lining the pockets of lawyers,” endorsed plans that would enable workers to find dwellings near their jobs, exhorted legislators to press ahead with efforts on behalf of water quality and conservation, preserving a bail system that keeps public safety at the forefront, and enabling Floridians to join residents of 25 other states that allow the “constitutional carry” of firearms.

Looking for a national security/foreign affairs aspect to the speech? Florida lawmakers “will not allow land grabs by [Chinese Communist Party]-backed businesses in our state.”

That’s quite a sackful, but he wasn’t finished. Without hauling out “where woke goes to die” — there are places for that; the lectern of the House Speaker is not one of them — DeSantis nonetheless walloped the Woke Mob (TM) who countenance children as “guinea pigs for science experimentation” as well as “people [who] make money off mutilating them.”

Up stood Chloe Cole, the poster image of a philosophy that encourages abusive gender fluidity in minors. Puberty blockers at 13. A double mastectomy at 16. She’s since rejected all that and advocates against similar procedures for children. The governor praised he courage. Soon, he was calling for the same from legislators.

So we find ourselves in Florida on the front lines in the battle for freedom.

Together we have made Florida the nation’s most desired destination and we have produced historic results.

But now’s not the time to rest on our laurels.

We have the opportunity and indeed the responsibility to swing for the fences so that we can ensure Florida remains number one.

Don’t worry about the chattering class.

Ignore all the background noise.

Keep the compass set to true north.

We will stand strong.

We will hold the line.

We won’t back down.

There was plenty in this punchy 30-minute address to copy-and-paste into a presidential campaign stump speech about the benefits of making Florida America —  should the need arise — laying out policy actions and executive successes, all the while providing a clear vision of another bright morning in America.

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Ed Morrissey 9:20 PM | October 14, 2024
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