The Florida Republican Governor was in a Blue state…
He wouldn’t carry it if he actually was the Republican Presidental nominee next year…
But he made the trip and he’s selling a book also….
Speaking to a sold-out audience, with some 1,300 tickets sold and nearly 1,100 in attendance, according to organizers, DeSantis touted how Florida has led the nation in net migration — even though that is a trend set into motion long before he became governor.
“We’ve witnessed a great American exodus from states governed by leftist politicians imposing leftist ideologies and delivering poor results. And you can see massive gains in states like Florida, who are governing according to the tried and true principles that President Reagan held dear,” DeSantis said. He said that Americans “voted with their feet” by leaving some blue states in large numbers as Florida’s population boomed.
But many experts have argued that the shift in migration patterns, particularly from states along the West Coast, has stemmed largely from the lack of affordable housing and the greater flexibility that the pandemic created for work-from-home or hybrid work arrangements. DeSantis’s remarks served as the latest example of him advancing arguments in defense of his record in Florida that sometimes mask much more complicated debates.
DeSantis’s speech — inside the museum’s cavernous glass pavilion where he stood beneath the former Air Force One plane that carried Reagan and six other presidents — was billed as to promote his new book, “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.” But it also served as an audition before GOP voters here for an ambitious governor many expect to enter the presidential sweepstakes. California could play a major role in selecting the nominee in the state’s unusually early presidential primary next year on March 5….