Newsom vs DeSantis: The Debate is On

It’s a rare thing when a political debate has the chance of helping both candidates.

It’s a rare thing when a political debate actually involves diametrically opposed visions for America.

And it’s a really rare thing for a debate between candidates who are not even running – yet – against each other.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California’s own Gavin Newsom will have a bit a chin wag with one another and Sean Hannity on Fox News in early November – one year out from the 2024 presidential elections that one definitely hopes to be involved in and the other that everyone knows really really really hopes to be involved in.

The debate – just by happening – helps both DeSantis and Newsom in their official and kinda sorta unofficial White House bids. 

For DeSantis, it’s a chance to clearly separate himself from the Republican pack challenging Donald Trump.  The debate will almost certainly have the feel of an actual presidential debate, giving him that aura and the leg up he needs to re-calibrate his campaign.

Newsom, too, gains by just being there as he becomes the absolute de facto 2024 Democrat nominee if and when Joe wanders off into the tall grass, never to be seen again.

To be blunt – it never ever crossed anyone’s mind that it should be Kamala Harris debating Ron DeSantis.  

Ever.

The debate is also an opportunity for Americans to see polar opposite ideas for the nation’s future.  Woke was born here; it, like so many retirees, dies in Florida.

How they each govern their states – and presumably how they would govern the country – will be on full display for the nation to see.

Newsom: Glam, money, virtue and an abject failure.

DeSantis: Regular, low key, straightforward, and a success by any metric.

It is also quite possible that DeSantis will ask Newsom the questions Hannity did not in his ultimately softball interview with Governor Hair Gel.

While the chances that 2024 election will end actually being between the two are murky, it would be a chance for the United States to make a direct, specific choice if it were.  The political and culture wars settled (as much as they ever can be) in one fell swoop.

From The Nation Needs Newsom vs. DeSantis in 2024:

That is why the 2024 presidential election must be an up or down choice, a column A or column B decision, chicken or fish, an in or out verdict, a clear conclusion to the feigned fear frenzy of the present.

That is why the race cannot be between Donald Trump and Joe Biden – it must be between the Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom, the poster boys of the divide.

The clarity of the choice – one way or another – is the best option to move beyond the morass.

The specificity of the choice would allow for a certain cleansing of the system that would be good for everyone:

Though they appear at some level to be, neither Trump nor Biden – who carry so much non-ideology baggage – make good human surrogates for the sharp decision that needs to be made in 2024.

Newsom and DeSantis do.

Newsom is fresh and facile, shiny and slippery, a jargon filled jolly jumper that oozes false promises in his quest for justification for personal power; in other words, he is the physical embodiment of woke.

DeSantis is quick and sharp, decisive and dedicated, showy and mean when needed, quiet and detailed oriented if called for – in other words, Newsom’s polar opposite.

Beyond the more esoteric cultural issues, the debate should show with utter clarity the differences between the two predominant styles of governance today – the urban blue and the suburban red.

Thousands of people are literally moving from California to Florida.  California’s crime and homelessness epidemics are the DIRECT result of Newsom’s policies.  The high taxes and cost of living are the DIRECT result of Newsom’s policies.  The awful – unless you are a connected Silicon Valley start-up –  business climate and stultifying building regulations are the DIRECT result of Newsom’s policies.

California is Norma Desmond, the delusional former star clinging to a fictional fan base and impossible desires to become IT again. 

Thousands of people of moving to Florida from around the nation.  Florida has no state income tax but still manages a budget surplus. Florida is a place where people can still afford to buy a home and start a business.  Florida respects personal freedom and space.

Florida, long a supporting – if not comic relief – character in America’s movie has been given the role of a lifetime and is making the most of it.