Is Ron DeSantis ready to run?

Yesterday, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) ended the week by receiving, in essence, legislation to enable him to run for President. This raises some questions the governor has to answer. Didn’t he promise to serve out a full term as Governor of Florida? Why do so many of his flashy initiatives not produce the results he promised, and sometimes fail in court? And most of all: is he ready for prime time?

Ron DeSantis beats the Resign to Run Law

Florida has always had a Resign to Run Law, saying that a holder of office must resign before seeking another. This applies also to State officeholders who seek election to Congress or the United States Senate. Most people believe it applies also to those wanting to run for President or Vice-President.

Knowing this, State Senator Danny Burgess introduced a rider on an election-integrity bill, to write an exception into the law:

This section does not apply to … persons seeking the office of President or Vice-President of the United States.

Journalist Laura Loomer predicted this result a month earlier.

Yesterday the bill passed the House, 76-34. At least two journalists noted the passage:

Only four other States have resign-to-run laws: Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii and Texas.

Showboating

Again, this raises several questions Ron DeSantis must answer. Worth noting is that Donald J. Trump, the current “champion” of the nomination, is also a Florida resident. So the two can’t run for President on the same ticket unless one or the other redomiciles himself elsewhere. The reason: Presidential Electors from any State must vote for one candidate each for President and Vice-President,

of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves.

Ron DeSantis surely knows this – and hasn’t said a word.

We also have seen many initiatives from this governor that, most of the time, look like showboating. Yes, he passed an anti-grooming bill. And yes, he went after The Walt Disney Company after they protested the bill (and not with good reason). But why, when Disney CEO Bob Iger gave the game away, didn’t the governor follow up on his advantage? Why did he let Disney sue him, when with a few words he could have made that lawsuit go away, and perhaps made Disney subject to immediate bond repayment or even criminal fines?

Then we have Florida’s on-line anti-censorship law. That law hasn’t held up in court – the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck it down.

Other failures

Why didn’t Ron DeSantis intervene when the FBI laid on a raid on Trump’s house? (We have since learned that the FBI laid on that raid by Biden’s direct order.) People expect the Governor of Florida to protect people’s Constitutional rights. We haven’t seen DeSantis do that lately, or at least not very well. In fact, DeSantis said nothing when Trump faced arrest this year in New York. Laura Loomer called him on it.

And how does the governor come to be out of State during natural disaster emergencies? This last came out during his recent trip to Israel – a trip he made to get a photo-op. Apparently DeSantis actually said he’d placed a prayer note into a crack in the Western Wall. And for that reason, Hurricane Dorian did not make landfall in Florida in 2019. However:

And concerning that, Laura Loomer said this:

And why was he in Israel? To sign legislation making “anti-Semitism” a felony in Florida.

Loomer was, if anything, less impressed.

She also criticized him resoundingly for meeting prospective campaign donors – on Florida’s dime.

What about it, Ron DeSantis?

These are the questions Ron DeSantis must answer. Is he serious about being a servant of the people? Why must even the simplest things be so complicated? And why doesn’t he seem able to do something that really works?

Now that his tame legislature has exempted him from the Resign to Run Law, we can expect him to announce for President soon. Donald J. Trump set the standard for Presidential results. Ron DeSantis will have to work hard to satisfy people that he can and will get results.