My view on politics and governance has evolved significantly since the 2020 election, and I wanted to share an observation I've made after a year of hearing people talk about their desire for Ron DeSantis to run for president in 2024. Let's remove Trump and whether he will run from the equation, and simply consider the proposal "Ron DeSantis should run for president in 2024."

1) The fundamental presupposition in this idea could more or less be summed up as "Look at how great DeSantis has done in Florida! Now imagine if he were PRESIDENT! He could do what he does in Florida with, like, the country!"

This is an understandable error of thinking on an unconscious level, but a truly baffling one beyond that realm. It reminds me of a metaphor I once heard about a mismatch very similar to the one occurring here. Thinking Ron DeSantis could take what he is doing in Florida and replicate it on a macro scale in Washington is like taking a jockey who just won The Kentucky Derby and entering him in a professional bull riding contest. Just because he's better than anyone on a horse does not mean he will have any idea whatsoever how to ride a bull, let alone stay on one.

The power a governor has over their state and its policies is very, very different compared to the power a President has over the country and its policies. The Washington bureaucratic machine (Deep State, whatever you want to call it) has all but perfected its ability to obstruct, subvert, and ignore Presidents that do not adhere to The Dream. Ron DeSantis would not be able to accomplish anything as president, and his failure would be remarkably demoralizing to an already demoralized and increasingly disillusioned Right.

2) Not only do you not want DeSantis to run for president, you very much want him to remain governor of Florida. His failure as a president is the inverse of his success as governor. And what his success as governor represents is not just good for Florida, but for every potential Florida as well. Many countries looked at Trump in the US and elected leaders that reminded them of Trump and what he represented. You want a similar phenomenon to occur on a statewide level in the US. You want ossified, RINO states and their governors to be ousted by more dynamic, courageous, energetic governors. You want more Floridas, not less. Remember: Florida is currently Florida because of DeSantis.

3) It's better to have a DeSantis in Florida and, believe it or not, a Joe Biden in the White House, than a DeSantis in the White House and a ? in Florida. Yes, I know what I just said.

Something to consider: if you're a Progressive in California and Trump or DeSantis or any other evil elephant is elected as president, how worried are you about your state governance changing? I'm not talking about "omg fascism" histrionics, but pure state governance and policies. We actually have a good contemporary example of how Progressives in their Theocratic states react to hostile actions taken at a Federal level in the recent news Roe v. Wade might be overturned.

I don't know about you, but all the articles I've seen have been about how women in Red states seeking abortion will have to go to Blue states to get them, not how Blue States will no longer have abortions. Translation? Progressives know they can run their states however they want, regardless of who is in the White House, or in this case, what legislation gets kicked back to the states to decide. A more brazen example of this is the existence of Sanctuary Cities, which have been around for decades at this point.

Sanctuary Cities overtly and unapologetically thwart and obstruct the federal government when it comes to enforcing illegal immigration laws. The federal government is more or less powerless to do anything about this, largely because these cities operate with the blessing and support of their state governments. The Right should be learning from these perspectives and strategies rather than complaining about them. This leads us to-

4) States are a stronger check on the Fed than the Fed is on the States. Covid mandates under Brandon are a pretty solid example of this as well. Whether it's gay marriage pre-Obergefell, the legalization of weed in Colorado and California, recent refusals to accept vaccine mandates, or the Sanctuary Cities I mentioned, we can observe that States and their localities have much more latitude in saying "no" to the Fed than the Fed has to say "Yes" to those states and localities. The Regime will not be defeated by sending in a tenacious real estate mogul or governor fresh off their Kentucky Derby win to flounder in the swamp of Washington bureaucracy. The Regime collapses in on itself as its illegitimacy becomes more and more apparent. This can be achieved quite well through contrasts and foils. Florida is both a contrast and foil to Brandon. We want more of those, not less.

5) Anyone who takes an honest look at how little Trump was able to actually do (including with a supermajority for two years) or the 2020 election dumpster fire and its fallout has a hard time preserving the thought that it's possible to actually win the presidency, do something meaningful once there, or both. States get to run their own elections. Would you rather be a Floridian depending on the integrity of Democrats in Michigan and Pennsylvania, or a Floridian depending on the integrity of your fellow Floridians? Neither are easy, but one is much easier than the other.

We want to fortify and replicated Florida. Just as we want the Blue places to get bluer with that Heisenberg Progressivism (nothing beats the blue stuff!), we want the Red states to get Redder to the extent that "Redder" simply represents antifragility to The Regime, increased economic strength, and the creation of new, competent institutions to replace the old ones.

Yes, the president still matters. But it does not matter nearly as much as we thought. Keep Florida Great. Encourage other states to follow their lead. This will help with legislative races, too.

Food for thought 🤙