DeSantis touts corporate culture war in economic plan as poll shows message falls flat

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leaned into culture war criticism of corporate governance Monday during an economic policy rollout in New Hampshire, even as a new poll shows that message falling flat with GOP voters.

DeSantis has been under pressure to overhaul his presidential campaign messaging amid a disastrous stretch.

Yet while he avoided any mention of his high-profile battle with Disney, the governor continued to lambast businesses that pursue a social agenda and accuse schools of “indoctrination” in his speech, which also promoted standard GOP economic policies such as reducing taxes and regulations while mixing in Trump-era trade protectionism.

"We will seek independence from a class of progressive corporations looking out for every interest under the sun except the interests of the American people," DeSantis said.

'Declaration of Economic Independence' targets woke, but is it connecting with voters?

The rollout of his so-called "Declaration of Economic Independence" was heavy on GOP economic orthodoxy both new and old. DeSantis called for more domestic energy production, reducing federal spending and rebalancing trade with China.

He also criticized the Federal Reserve, which has hiked interest rates aggressively to slow borrowing and cool the economy in an effort to tame record inflation, which has begun to ease.

"We need to rein in the Federal Reserve," DeSantis said. "It is not designed or supposed to be an economic central planner... it's got one job – maintain stable prices – and it has departed from that with what it's done over the last many years. We're now in a situation where they've raised interest rates because they put us in this, and so now affording a home your mortgage payment is like twice as much as what it would have been four or five years ago for basically the same home given how much interest rates have gone up."

DeSantis' campaign has been in turmoil for weeks, shedding staff and facing questions about it's strategy as former President Donald Trump continues to dominate in the polls.

The campaign has emphasized DeSantis' record as culture warrior battling with schools and businesses on racial and LGBTQ issues. That message has failed to lift him in the polls, though.

A New York Times/Siena survey released Monday has Trump dominating DeSantis by 37 percentage points, and the survey also found limited appetite for a candidate prioritizing an anti-woke agenda.

Some supporters have been calling on DeSantis to pivot to issues that are more pressing in voters' minds.

The economy consistently ranks as one of those issues, and Florida has been booming under DeSantis’ leadership, with unemployment at just 2.6%, the lowest among large states.

However, fueled by skyrocketing property insurance rates and other housing costs, Florida’s economy has been beset by high inflation in large metro areas such as Tampa and Miami, making it tricky ground for DeSantis to ignite his floundering campaign.

Much of DeSantis' economic messaging also is tied to his anti-woke agenda, and he doubled down on that approach Monday, continuing his aggressive criticism of corporate efforts to promote environmental protection and racial justice through diversity, equity and inclusion training.

“Those are discriminatory programs, if they have you go through a training and say somehow you have white privilege that is wrong," DeSantis said.

DeSantis speech notably silent on Disney

The governor's speech didn't mention Disney, though, a conspicuous absence considering that his battle with Florida's most famous company has been central to his political image and is a major part of his economic record.

After Disney spoke out against one of DeSantis' priority bills limiting discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation in school, the governor pushed legislation asserting state control over the board governing Disney's properties in Central Florida – a clash that now has the two sides in both state and federal court.

DeSantis' GOP opponents have criticized the governor's fight with Disney, and many GOP voters seem to agree.

The New York Times/Siena survey asked GOP voters if they prefer a candidate who "promises to fight corporations that promote 'woke' left ideology" or one “who says the government should stay out of deciding what corporations can support.” The majority – 52% – prefer the latter.

The survey also asked voters if they'd rather have a candidate "who focuses on defeating radical 'woke' ideologies in our schools, media and culture" or one focused "on restoring law and order in our streets and at the border" and 65% prefer the later.

DeSantis highlighted both issues in his speech, but his detailed criticism of "woke" education and business policies came first.

"We need our schools from K-12 through university to focus on education, not indoctrination," DeSantis said, even as his administration recently approved materials for school classrooms from a conservative group that acknowledges they are indoctrination.

The economy could be fruitful ground for GOP candidates, with 70% of voters in the New York Times/Siena survey rating it poor and another 20% rating it only fair, despite low unemployment, declining inflation nationally and forecasters now seeing little chance of a recession.

DeSantis echoed the concerns of the GOP base in declaring: “American families have been saddled with weak economic growth, with high prices, their quality of life has stagnated."

Highlights and challenges of the Florida economy

While DeSantis is full of ideas about how to improve the nation’s economy, his home state of Florida’s performance over more than four years as governor has been mixed.

The state budget has boomed since DeSantis took office, with state spending skyrocketing 28% since 2019. The $116.5 billion state spending plan the governor recently signed pumps up environmental work, road construction and spending on schools, while still making room for $1.3 billion in tax breaks, a record.

And despite DeSantis’ relentless attacks on the Biden administration and congressional Democrats for their spending policies, Florida’s budget benefited from billions of dollars in federal aid during the pandemic years.

Many of DeSantis’ top priorities also were financed by federal dollars – including pay raises, tax breaks, a voter-friendly gas tax holiday timed to just before his re-election last fall, and dozens of new construction projects across the state.

Florida has been wrestling with runaway housing prices, contributing to a lack of affordable homes and rentals. Property insurance also is through the roof, with more than 1.3 million Floridians now enrolled in Citizens Property Insurance, Corp., the state-backed insurer of last resort.

Floridians can expect another 14% hike in Citizens’ insurance rates in the coming year. That adds to woes caused by the fleeing of many major carriers from Florida, the latest being Farmers Insurance which just pulled out of the state.

During two special sessions in the past year, the Republican-controlled Legislature steered $3 billion in taxpayer money into reinsurance accounts the industry could tap. Lawmakers also have added new barriers preventing customers from suing their insurance companies when unsatisfied with claim outcomes.

DeSantis and Republican leaders in the Legislature were quick to embrace claims by industry officials that lawsuit abuse is driving rates and keeping many companies out of the Florida market.

But the fixes are resulting in little improvement for consumers.

Trump's campaign highlighted Florida's property insurance crisis in an email Monday slamming DeSantis' economic record.

"Ron DeSantis has abandoned the state of Florida to fly on private jets and speak to dwindling crowds," the Trump campaign said.

DeSantis is seeking to reboot a campaign that trails far behind Trump and has been mired in controversy, with multiple Black Republicans criticizing Florida's new Black history standards that state “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

DeSantis' campaign also has been criticized for excessive spending on perks such as private jets and a bloated staff. The candidate fired more than 40% of his campaign staff earlier this month.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Lagging Donald Trump, culture warrior Ron DeSantis pivots to economy