They are both governors, rising stars and soon-to-be presidential candidates, creating micro-ideological models in their sunny capitals.
In ever-blue California, Newsom, the son of a state appellate judge, has since his inception rebooted into a charmingly progressive hero built around a quiet legislative push. Meanwhile, in reding Florida, Nielsen is the son of a box salesman, DeSantis, who publicly falls short of his two Ivy League degrees, compared to the anti-elitist, reactionary politics that have consumed the GOP. .
Newsom is now going to air against DeSantis in Florida — what he says isn’t the first ad of the 2024, or even 2028, presidential race — to help Democrats reclaim a sense of collective identity. is asking for. With the goal of trying. Which could enable them to defeat Trumpism in the long run.
“It’s Independence Day—so let’s talk about what’s happening in America,” Newsom says in the ad, in sunny California, as “America the Beautiful” fingers in the background. “Freedom is under attack in your state.”
“I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight – or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom: freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom from hate and love. of freedom,” says Newsom. Images range from an aerial shot of the Santa Monica Pier to a rainbow flag with two women waving their hands around each other. “Don’t let them take away your freedom.”
The ad is paid for by Newsom’s re-election campaign, though it is clearly not about racking up potential absentee voters, who retired in November to the Sunshine State and hoped for an easy win for California governor. Was doing. have gone.
“He’s running for president,” Newsom told CNN last week. “I care about people. I don’t like people being treated less. I don’t like people being told they are not worthy. I used people as political pawns. “Don’t like going. It’s not just about him, but he is its poster child.”
“We are as different,” Newsom said of both the governors and their states, “as daylight and darkness.”
During a 20-minute phone interview, Newsom called DeSantis a bully, a fraud, an authoritarian, a fake conservative, a betrayer of Ronald Reagan’s legacy, and sometimes “DeSantos.”
“Everyone has their parts of the playbook,” Newsom said, comparing DeSantis with other Republicans. “He’s writing it.”
DeSantis declined a request for an interview, but those around him say he is happy with the fight.
“Gavin Newsom could set fire to a pile of cash,” said Dave Abrams, a DeSantis campaign spokesman. “Pass the popcorn for your desperate attempt to win back California refugees who fled their state-created hell to come to Florida.”
The rivalry between the two governors has been going on for months. DeSantis has said California was building a “tremendous biomedical tool” guiding its closure-heavy COVID-19 approach, and called San Francisco – a city Newsom once led – a “Dumpster Fire.” Newsom has said that DeSantis’ approach to the pandemic would have killed an additional 40,000 Californians and that he “does not seek inspiration for that particular governor.”
DeSantis is growing
DeSantis’ popularity among Republicans soared during the pandemic, when he toppled medical experts and pushed Florida back to normalcy before the rest of the country. DeSantis welcomed the comparison between Florida’s laissez-faire approach and California, where leaders have implemented mask mandates and lockdowns determined by public health metrics such as case rates.
The huge difference in approach became fodder for both the governors.
In a recent meeting with conservative political commentator Dave Rubin, DeSantis recalled a fundraising trip to California in June 2021 (he received more donations from Golden State residents than any other state besides Florida), And most of them are $100 or less. He told employees that he would not abide by any Covid-19 restrictions while in the state and recalled an incident that he said was echoing there.
“These two people in masks come up to me,” DeSantis said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my god. Here it is.’ A man comes right in front of me, takes off his mask, looks into my eyes and says, ‘I wish you were our governor.'”
If DeSantis vs. Newsom ever moves from a cross-country screaming match to a real campaign, Republicans in Florida believe they have an eventual victory argument: Florida is a growing state and California’s population is declining, although there is a long way to go before that. Both reach out to each other; Florida has over 21 million residents and California has about 40 million.
“We have a working product in Florida,” said Florida GOP vice president Christian Ziegler. “The No. 1 way to measure a states’ success is the economy, job performance, and people moving or moving to states. And the state of Florida is winning that battle. They’re losing people. People are fleeing California. And There’s a helluva lot of them coming to Florida.”
Newsom pushes back
For the governor of California, it becomes more of a personal rancor match, or more of a political angle as he advances laws and lawsuits that deviate from the correct trend of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and state flags. But “Republic of California”.
“Hell of one thing. Not to mention during Pride Month,” wrote Newsom. “Hey, Corporate America – where are your values? Stand up for these disgusting states and come to California.”
“My expression is one of despair, seeing for many years, the current climate and the current administration are predicting,” Newsom said in the interview. “The success of the right to define the terms of the debate, the success of the right to dominate the narrative … they are winning in ways that are dangerous to me.”
He promised that many more advertisements would be introduced in the times to come.
“Things have changed, the rules of engagement have to change,” Newsom said. “You have to fight them.”