While we are all pretending that Ron DeSantis isn’t running in the 2024 Presidential Race because he hasn’t “officially” announced yet, that doesn’t mean that the Cable News Pontificators won’t discuss his chances of winning, because we all know that DeSantis is running. We are all gonna play along with this charade for a few more days. A panel on Fox Business channel believes that Ron DeSantis inherited Florida’s greatness and did nothing that he is credited with doing. I say: Stuff and nonsense. The Governor of Florida has had many opportunities to show a lack of leadership and he, instead, led the state.

Just so we are clear, I am not in the tank for Ron DeSantis, even if I say nice things about him. I am still “lean Trump”. But, I want a fight. I want the best candidate to win. I want the winner to be glorious in victory. Bloody and unbowed. And ready for the next fight. Because we need a pugilist. We need someone who believes in the founding documents and will go to the mat for them. We need someone who believes in the individual, not identity politics or collective guilt. I love Vivek Ramaswamy and I love Tim Scott. Do they look like pugilists? No. Trump and DeSantis look like prize fighters. I will vote for the winner of the Republican primaries even if it’s Nikki Haley. Dear God, please no. Thanks, k, bye.

I have only seen Ron DeSantis in person one time. He spoke at the 2022 CPAC in Florida. I wrote it up here. DeSantis did slay that night. Unfortunately, that night DeSantis followed North Carolina Lt. Governor Mark Robinson. Robinson is a combination Baptist Pastor and Football Tight End. DeSantis didn’t fare well in comparison. Not his fault.

I believe in giving credit where it’s due. And, DeSantis has been a very good Governor. The Kudlow show panel on Fox Business Network does not agree. From Mediaite:

On Monday’s edition of Kudlow, Larry Kudlow, Mark Simone, and Pete Hegseth discussed the ways they feel DeSantis has underperformed.

“I’m waiting for DeSantis to show me an economic prosperity agenda,” Kudlow said. “This is going to be a pocketbook election. This is going to be a kitchen table election. And the candidate who has a good, strong, pro-growth, pro-prosperity agenda is going to win.”
Kudlow chided DeSantis over his vendetta against Disney – one of Florida’s largest employers – after the company opposed legislation he signed into law last year.
“It is all about attacking a company in his state named Disney,” he continued. “He won’t let up. Conservative free market people don’t attack businesses. They do promote jobs and businesses. He hasn’t done that.”

That legislation was the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill, which as we all know had nothing to do with Gay. “Conservative free market people” have a duty to protect the population. It’s a problem, for me at least, if a “Conservative free market” person sits back and allows evil to flourish in the name of jobs.

Next!

“Everything about Florida that you love – Desantis inherited,” Simone said. “The no state tax, all that stuff. He’s done a great job of running it. But most of that was inherited. You watch DeSantis turn Disney into World War III. Imagine what he would do with Putin. This guy has got problems. He’d be great in 2028. Wait ’til then.”
Hegseth chimed in to hit DeSantis over his handling of questions about Ukraine.
“Part of his rollout that was so poor from DeSantis was being on both sides of the Ukraine issue,” he said, referring to the governor’s dithering on the question of Russia’s war on the country. “Trump’s been very clear about it: ‘It didn’t happen under my watch and it wouldn’t have happened. And I don’t want to start foreign wars.’ DeSantis kind of tip-toed on the establishment route and then went another direction.”
Simone essentially opined that DeSantis lacks people skills.

There is a lot that every Florida Governor inherited. The sun, the surf, the ocean, the Gulf. Ron DeSantis got a pandemic. Let’s be honest here. A lot of Governors like hair-gel Newsom and Gretchen Whitmer totally screwed their people. We could go on for days on the way those Governors screwed up. There was a time when Larry Kudlow recognized the DeSantis free market model:

But wait, there’s more. Remember Hurricane Ian? The bridge? Sanibel Island?

This moment right here when @GovRonDeSantis announces residents of Sanibel Island will be able to cross the Sanibel Island Causeway earlier than expected thanks to the work by @MyFDOT and then you see the utility vehicles moving across the bridge!! pic.twitter.com/URciqApEil

— Florida Grand (@florida_grand) October 11, 2022

It doesn’t matter what a leader inherited. It can all go to shit if he doesn’t take care of it and, um, LEAD.

Featured Image: Gage Skidmore/flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons