Of course, being governor of Florida isn’t the same as being president of the United States. Unlike the Cuomo administration, the DeSantis administration was doing no such thing, and DeSantis stood up and denounced the smear, setting another example. He has also been quick to respond to media efforts to drum up scandals, as when fraudulent “whistleblower” Rebekah Jones falsely claimed that the DeSantis administration was cooking the numbers on COVID. (But not the servants.)ĭeSantis has moved decisively elsewhere, as when he sent law enforcers from Florida to Texas to help the Lone Star State deal with a Biden-engineered crisis at the Mexican border. That sets up yet another contrast with the current administration, which has been letting that region groan under the weight of many thousands of illegal immigrants.ĭeSantis has been antitax, pro-small-business and a strong opponent of defunding law enforcement, all in contrast with his opposition. While masks are useful in some circumstances, the evidence that mandating widespread mask-wearing helps is limited. A recent study by a US Army medical team found that the introduction of mask mandates in the San Antonio area did nothing to reduce rates of illness, hospitalization or death.ĭemocrats, on the other hand, have been all masks, all the time - except when it comes to their own glitzy events, like the Emmys or former President Barack Obama’s birthday party, where the “sophisticated” attending crowd was deemed mask-exempt. Likewise, DeSantis has opposed mandatory masking. (Nor was it DeSantis who was opposing the science here as I’ve noted in these pages, the World Health Organization opposes lockdowns as a means of dealing with COVID except in very limited, short-term circumstances.) It turns out Cuomo’s policies killed many thousands in nursing homes, something his own administration covered up, while seriously damaging the Empire State economy. Andrew Cuomo, who was once touted as a COVID hero by virtue of snappy news conferences that garnered a (now-revoked) Emmy. And he has been doing an excellent job of drawing contrasts between his way and the approach taken by the Biden-Harris administration.ĭeSantis was an early opponent of widespread lockdowns. This got him called a murderer by many national pundits and politicians. Yet his approach was vindicated: Despite predictions of doom, the Sunshine State did much better than lockdown-heavy states like California and New York, not only in terms of disease, but also economically. Now Florida’s biggest economic “problem” is the influx of people fleeing from states with more intrusive COVID policies.ĭeSantis’ approach contrasts sharply with that taken by disgraced former New York Gov.
Unlike a British shadow government, DeSantis has real executive power of his own - not in the federal government, but in his capacity as governor of America’s third most populous state. None of these activities has any direct impact on the actual Cabinet the shadow government has no executive power. But it does provide a contrast to the ruling government and a source of criticism. It also cultivates people with some expertise, ready to take over the various offices when political power shifts.Īmerica doesn’t use this system, but in a very real way we nonetheless have a shadow president in DeSantis. In the Westminster parliamentary system of government, used in Britain and elsewhere, the opposition forms a shadow cabinet: A group of senior opposition-party members takes responsibility for issues facing various government departments. So there might be a shadow defense minister, who focuses on military issues, and the group might put together a “shadow budget.” But there’s one job that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves: In many ways, DeSantis is serving as America’s shadow president. Ron DeSantis has been doing a lot as governor of Florida.