Ron DeSantis is on the ropes
There was a stir on social media when a poll showed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis losing to former governor and current Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist by a slight margin. This is only one poll, of course, and it’s within the margin of error, so while this alone isn’t really something for DeSantis to lose sleep over, it also suggests he’s not as invincible as the media narrative proclaiming him to be the second coming of Trump would have you believe.
There’s another bit of data in that poll, however, that DeSantis and the Florida GOP should find even less settling: President Biden’s overall approval rating in Florida is actually higher than DeSantis, who should be enjoying a relatively high approval rating just due to being a governor in a time of crisis. In fact, his disapproval rating is worse than President Biden’s.
Florida has inevitably become a hot spot for COVID due to DeSantis’ reckless policies – but even worse news for DeSantis is the fact that voters in the state appear to have made the connection that his own recklessness is responsible, even with the GOP’s preposterous talking point that somehow South American migrants are spreading it throughout the state. His defiant stance on COVID to appeal to Trumpers can and will inevitably come back to bite him at some point or other – but the portrayal of Ron DeSantis as #DeathSantis appears to be working.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making