I haven't been able to write in about 2 months due to prioritizing family and also working as a freelance writer and an adjunct professor at the University of Central Florida. So, in the limited time that I have to be on the computer, those have taken priority over writing for this Substack newsletter. But, I wanted to share a thought about the politics we are seeing from Governor DeSantis and friends in Florida.
DeSantis and the Republicans are coming off a stunning, massive landslide victory in the November 2022 elections, which would seem to be a strong thumbs-up endorsement from voters in Florida. But, a big part of this victory was low Democratic voter turnout, particularly among people of color. Turnout of registered Democratic voters was only 52%, compared with 67% for registered Republican voters. We can analyze and speculate as to the reasons for Democrats failing to vote, but the end result is that Republicans dominated in Florida at all levels—every statewide cabinet officer, 20 of 28 U.S. House representatives (aided by a shocking gerrymander), 28 of 40 Florida Senate seats, 85 of 120 Florida House seats, school boards, county commissions, city commissions, and more.
But, paradoxically, despite this blowout victory, the policies that Florida Republicans are implementing are not popular, and Republicans did not do so well in most other states (as seen by Democrats expanding their U.S. Senate majority, only narrowly losing the U.S. House, gaining a unified government in Michigan, etc.).
For example, the Florida Republicans are now moving to get rid of handgun training requirements and permits, which is absolutely unconscionable given our epidemic of mass shootings, suicides, and other gun violence. This does not poll well. They are also moving to boot as many as 1.75 million Floridians off Medicaid, despite the fact that Florida is one of only 11 remaining Republican holdout states that refuses to take advantage of generous federal funding included in the Affordable Care Act and subsequent legislation to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of Floridians. This, too, does not poll well when people are surveyed. There are many other examples of unpopular moves Florida Republicans have made and are now making, but these are just 2 major ones.
What DeSantis and other Republicans do (e.g., Trump, Speaker McCarthy and U.S. House Republicans, etc.) is to overwhelm and distract the public with crud. You have probably heard of Steve Bannon calling this the "flood the zone with s***" strategy. The press eats this up and depicts it as normal or even popular, and these pieces actually shift public opinion, in concert with propaganda from well-funded organizations such as Fox News, Turning Point USA, National Review, and many others, including some that are even aligned with corporate Democrats, rather than the radical right wing (e.g., those in favor of continued enrichment of insurance middlemen instead of universal single-payer healthcare).
Thus, Floridians and other Americans come to believe that many things are much bigger problems than they are (e.g., abuse of welfare benefits), while overlooking important things that are flying under the radar.
For example, DeSantis wants you to be thinking about an advanced placement African American high school history course, and he wants you debating that with friends, family, and acquaintances on whether authors of the course are communists, even though the course was only going to be offered in a small number of high schools to a small percentage of students. Meanwhile, DeSantis puts January 6th insurrectionists into high-ranking positions in his administration and campaign. Laws that he has signed expose teachers to potential felony charges for having books in the classroom, leading to shelves being cleared off in many schools out of an abundance of caution (which is well-advised, given the vindictiveness of the Republican regime in Florida).
Your property insurance premiums are out of control or you cannot get insurance at all, while the DeSantis administration continues helping big business (insurance, utilities, you name it) with tens of millions of dollars in state aid. Florida Republicans are moving to outlaw any local governments trying to control rents. DeSantis looks like a cultural warrior against The Walt Disney Company, even though behind the scenes, they continue benefiting from tax breaks worth hundreds of millions of dollars that he could easily terminate.
And of course, DeSantis and friends gaslight you all the way, even within the discussion of culture war issues DeSantis uses to deflect attention from more consequential issues. For example, the DeSantis propaganda machine argues that the "Parental Rights in Education" law is about preventing sexual indoctrination of K–3 students, even though it has prompted school districts to take numerous actions against LGBTQ+ teachers and LGBTQ+ issues in higher grade levels (vindicating the "don't say gay" label). Some puppets for DeSantis chide: "Oh, the school districts must be stupid—the bill doesn't say that!" Well, it doesn't matter precisely what the bill says—each legislative session brings new and greater insults, with sweeping laws being whipped up for DeSantis on short notice. And, school districts such as Volusia already know that even implementing a porous mask "mandate" for a couple of days almost resulted in them losing millions of dollars of funding in the last legislative session.
Using politics of distraction is a storied strategy DeSantis is using to build a personality cult and accumulate power. It is a dangerous path that eats democracies from the inside. Each small and simple step leads to something bigger and more insidious.
Did you know? Governor DeSantis has to resign to run for President of the United States, according to Florida law. The Republicans in the legislature already promised, months ago, that they will be expeditiously changing that law. That should tell you a lot about the power he wields. The actual text of the "don't say gay" bill, and many others, does not matter—and even when it does, a new law can be passed in less time than it takes Congress to elect a Speaker of the House. That's scary.
A closing thought: The Florida Republican position on Medicaid expansion is something along the lines of "people should work for a living" (even though so many jobs don't offer healthcare) and "federal government = bad." But, DeSantis could wake up tomorrow and change it. His propaganda machine has become so effective that they could spin it in any number of ways. He could say that although he supports constraining federal spending, it isn't fair that New York and California are receiving this federal money but Florida isn't getting anything. Regardless of spin, this would be great—it would prevent thousands of unnecessary bankruptcies and deaths. But, DeSantis will only do it if it aids his quest for power. There may come a moment when the DeSantis operation determines that right-wing culture war issues are not sufficient to win a national general election. We shall see. Either way, he and his cadre cannot be trusted. Be on the lookout for a future "pivot" to the so-called "center," and know that it will be disingenuous.
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Notes:
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23141651/gun-control-american-approval-polling
https://mississippitoday.org/2023/01/18/medicaid-expansion-mississippi-poll/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/16/media/steve-bannon-reliable-sources/index.html
https://www.newsweek.com/video-florida-classroom-books-desantis-ban-1777793
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/04/12/dont-say-gay-bills-language/
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/dec/03/florida-gop-eyes-resign-to-run-law-for-gov/
DeSantis' culture wars distract you from a disgusting and unpopular agenda
Very well written, thank you. DeSantis’s ambition & the power he has given himself is truly frightening. As far as pivoting toward the center, do you think this is his strategy with abortion? Since he is clearly anti abortion, but the 15 week ban makes him look “reasonable.”