Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Gov. DeSantis can set tone for new kind of politics
During his inaugural address Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida can “cruise to bright, new horizons” if the state can “overcome the tribalism that has dominated our politics.” He’s right.
Unfortunately, the comment came right after DeSantis played to tribal politics.
Florida’s new governor said, “We won’t allow sanctuary cities,” Rather, he said the state “will stop incentivizing illegal immigration.”
And regarding the courts, DeSantis said, “To my fellow Floridians, I say to you: judicial activism ends right here and right now.”
DeSantis offered no evidence that Florida creates incentives for illegal immigration or that judges create their own laws here, but the audience before him cheered wildly.
The rest of Florida, meanwhile, continues to watch, wait and try to get a bead on this man who is our new governor. Outside of Northeast Florida, few knew DeSantis before President Trump identified him as the best candidate in the Republican primary. And during the general election campaign, DeSantis chose to campaign on Fox News, shunning Florida reporters.
Still, with every inauguration comes a sense of hope. You search for something to cling to, something that makes you believe things will be alright, that the person in power will be a leader for — and listen to — all Floridians.
We liked what DeSantis said about tribalism, but would ask him to remember that the leader sets the tone, and some of what we heard Tuesday sounded less than hopeful.
That said, let’s start with the good. As we editorialized Sunday, DeSantis is saying all the right things about the environment. On Tuesday, he sounded downright inspirational, saying, “For Florida, the quality of our water and environmental surroundings are foundational to our prosperity as a state. Protecting it is the smart thing to do; it’s also the right thing to do.”
He sounded like Winston Churchill, who swore “we shall fight on the beaches” before the Battle of France.
“I will lead the efforts to save our waterways.,” DeSantis said. “We will fight toxic blue-green algae, we will fight discharges from Lake Okeechobee, we will fight red tide, we will fight for our fishermen, we will fight for our beaches, we will fight to restore our Everglades and we will never, ever quit.”
But the new governor is new to Tallahassee, where many lobbyists and special interests fight the public good, including protections for clean water. DeSantis has criticized the oversized influence that Big Sugar has on state government, but state lawmakers will have a hard time forgetting that U.S. Sugar contributed $8 million to their campaigns during the last election cycle.
The governor will find support from Democratic lawmakers on this vital issue. He will also find it from new Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat from Broward.
DeSantis can model how to overcome “tribalism” in Florida if he is guided by the answer to this question: What best serves the public good? Then, he should create coalitions to make it happen.
Beyond the environment, DeSantis sounded less willing to challenge conventional Republican wisdom. Traditional public schools educate 90 percent of Florida’s school-age children. And Tallahassee regularly praises their increased high school graduation rates, so teachers must be doing something right.
But those same teachers remain underpaid and under-appreciated. The Legislature squeezed school districts so hard last year that 19 counties asked local voters to raise taxes to help with operating and capital expenses. And voters in every county stepped up and said yes.
Yet DeSantis named former House Speaker Richard Corcoran to be education commissioner. Corcoran rammed through legislation that diverted money from public schools to privately run charter schools. On Tuesday, DeSantis said the education system “needs to empower parents to choose the best possible school for their children.” But how do parents know?
To drive home the point, Tuesday’s benediction came from the Rev. R.B. Holmes. His Tallahassee church operates schools whose students take corporate tax-voucher scholarships.
We agree parents should get to choose the best school. But will the new governor favor legislation that finally brings accountability to the voucher program? Or will he divert still more money from struggling public schools?
DeSantis also drew cheers by saying, “We also cannot allow Florida’s reputation to be further tarnished by the repeated failure of a small number of counties to conduct elections in a transparent, lawful manner. A generation of botched elections is enough.”
But here’s the central question: Will DeSantis and the Legislature change the laws to deal with the state’s real election problems, such as outdated equipment, unrealistic deadlines and absentee ballot abuse? Or will they go “tribal” and try to suppress the vote by claiming to stop nonexistence voter fraud?
DeSantis noted he will be guided by “the courage of my convictions.” He became governor, however, by only 32,000 votes among more than 8 million cast. And during the campaign, he refused to renounce support from individuals with dangerously extreme views. That may be how you win. It shouldn’t be how you govern.
After 20 years of Republican control in Tallahassee, nearly half of all Floridians are poor or living paycheck to paycheck. Despite GOP attempts to cripple the Affordable Care Act, nearly two million of Florida’s working poor signed up for coverage again this year.
So if DeSantis, as he said Tuesday, intends to make health care reform a priority, he should ditch the tribalism and seek out new ideas.
Maybe Tallahassee could find bipartisan solutions not just on health care, but on criminal justice reform, property and car insurance, and sea-level rise. Those would indeed be some bright, new horizons.