Under Gavin Newsom’s leadership, California has become a disaster area: the highest poverty rate in the nation, population dropping, major cities turned into battle zones, businesses fleeing, utilities unable to keep the lights on. One might expect the state’s governor, who survived a recall election last year, to be holed up in his Sacramento office working feverishly on plans to turn his state around.
But no: Gavin Newsom is pumping up his re-election campaign with an ad about…Florida.
We’re about to celebrate Independence Day — but Freedom is under attack by Republican leaders in states like Florida.
Banning books.
Restricting speech.
Making it harder to vote.
Criminalizing women and doctors.It’s time to stand up. Don’t let them take your freedom. pic.twitter.com/cFI5UzgZzX
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 3, 2022
The ad is paid for by Newsom’s re-election campaign, but more pertinently, Newsom is trolling Ron DeSantis with an eye toward the 2024 presidential election. Newsom is viewed as one of the favorites for the Democratic nomination–goodness knows why–while DeSantis is a likely GOP nominee.
If the 2024 presidential race turns out to be DeSantis vs. Newsom–at this point, as likely a pairing as any–I say, bring it on. Under DeSantis, Florida is the anti-California: booming economy, massive population growth, and an oasis of freedom from irrational covid policies. DeSantis’s Florida is a model of fiscal restraint, too. California’s state budget, on a per capita basis, is 50% larger than Florida’s, and its public services are vastly worse.
So let’s make the 2024 presidential election a referendum on blue state vs. red state policies. We know how that election would turn out. All we have to do is look at how Americans are already voting with their feet.
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