Governor Ron DeSantis, enemy of all things woke, dominates Florida politics. Not even his critics would deny this.
“The man is an instinctive authoritarian and practicing bully,” said Mac Stipanovich, who spent three decades as a GOP consultant and lobbyist in Tallahassee but left the party in 2019 during Trump’s presidency. “And he is sufficiently popular with the Republican Party primary base that you cross him at your own considerable risk.”
And the governor relishes his image, as God's fighter:
"God said I need someone to be strong, advocate truth in the midst of hysteria, someone who challenges conventional wisdom, and isn't afraid to defend what he knows to be right and just. So God made a fighter."
When DeSantis expressed support for a 6-week ban on abortion, the legislature quickly complied. This represents a huge change in public policy, made possible by the Dobbs decision last year. But after this victory, instead of touting this accomplishment on behalf of the white evangelical base of the Republican Party, the governor signed the bill late at night without fanfare. And he neglected to mention it at all the next day when speaking to an evangelical audience at Liberty University.
Could the man be trimming his sails? Note that the Florida governor's agenda consists mostly of variations on owning the libs. This is consistent with Republican strategy to concentrate on the culture war (rather than on more significant public policy issues):
Kent Syler, a political science professor at Middle Tennessee State University, said fomenting fear around culture war issues — then promising to take action against these perceived threats — has become a winning formula for conservative Republicans. It also distracts voters from more intractable concerns like gun violence, school funding, and inflation, he said.
“It’s a whole lot easier to say you’re fixing some culture issue than it is to fix a real government problem, because we don’t really have easy answers for those things,” Syler said.
We see this dynamic play out across the county as Republicans revile the LBGTQ community and impose restrictions on transgender youth, their parents, and transgender adults (all together: a sliver of the population). Bullies target the vulnerable.
But in the case of restrictions on abortion, all women of childbearing age are targeted. This is a highly significant public policy issue with widespread impact. But while anti-abortion activists applaud bans on abortion, many women (and men) abhor state-mandated coercion that denies women their agency.
Eighty-five percent of Floridians -- and 61 percent of Republicans -- oppose the 6-week ban on abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest. Opposition in many other states (including swing states) is likely to be even higher. Is imposing the coercive power of the state in this case God's work? Or is it off the rails MAGA Republicanism?
God's fighter appears to be losing his voice regarding the evangelical dream of forcing women to carry all pregnancies to term regardless of their wishes or circumstances. The governor's freedom agenda is fraudulent. The authoritarian faction that has a stranglehold on the Republican Party isn't seeking freedom. They're looking for a strongman.
Have they found one in the Florida governor who bows to political convenience, who appears "afraid to defend what he knows to be right and just"? And, to the extent that this man sticks to his guns by embracing the coercive power of the state to impose its will on individuals and families, is this what Americans want?
Candidate DeSantis is going to find it difficult to straddle this issue. It will be awkward, if he wishes to portray himself as a tough guy -- as God's fighter, to lose his voice (and claims to authenticity) when speaking to the whole nation. While, if he stands his ground, American voters beyond his white evangelical base are poised to spurn him and his autocratic vision of state power.