Palm Beach Post Editorial Board on Florida Governor's race: Forward with Charlie Crist
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Political debates seldom settle matters of logic, as they pretend. The televised spectacles unfold more like coliseum sport, with some of us rooting for the incumbent lion and some, the gladiator.
Monday's confrontation between Gov. Ron DeSantis and former governor and U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist was no different. So much of it was facial expressions, name-calling and poll-driven tactics. How many times did DeSantis lunge with "Biden!," how many times did Crist parry with "abortion!"?
But when the dust settled, a clear picture did emerge, of American aspiration and fear, vision and bias, grace and derision. Crist showed us who we need to be as individuals and the path we must follow as a state. DeSantis presented an unkind and outdated sensibility, a politician stiffened against economic reform and social justice, fearful of a world changing around him.
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DeSantis tried to tar Crist for having voted with Biden, by extension blaming him for inflation and whatever else might ail the American populace. He spoke of having saved the state's economy by refusing to order businesses closed at a time when pandemic science would have dictated otherwise. "I lifted us up, while some wanted to lock us down," he said, a line he liked so much he used it twice, even after Crist reminded him that 82,000-plus Floridians died on his watch. No one had to mention the anti-science surgeon general he appointed. That would have just been piling on.
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DeSantis boasted that, in declining to close businesses, he was more concerned about saving your jobs than his own, pointing to Florida's 2.5 percent unemployment rate. Yet he didn't credit Biden for that same result nationwide, nor for the billions in federal aid or infrastructure money from which Florida has just begun to benefit; and which fueled the state's record budget surplus. We're supposed to think DeSantis gave nary a thought for his career? He's all about his job, or at least the job he clearly hopes to snag in 2024. In a cringe-worthy moment, he refused a prod by Crist to pledge to complete the four-year term for which he's re-applying as governor. The silence was deafening.
Culture war issues DeSantis has brought to the fore came through loud and clear in Monday's debate. Crist correctly called him out for legislating "a whitewashed approach to educating our children" about the Civil War and civil rights and for meddling in family matters regarding gender-related surgery.
On the matter of a woman's right to choose abortion, DeSantis has dodged whether he supports further restricting Florida law's 15-week limit (which has no exceptions for rape or incest). He didn't even attempt to answer the moderator's question about whether he would be OK with a ban on abortion after the first week of pregnancy.
As for immigration, Crist lambasted him for deceptively sending a planeload of Venezuelan asylum-seekers from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, on Florida taxpayers' dime, as "props for your political game." DeSantis replied that he was giving northern states a taste of their own medicine, since policies they supported had sent so many immigrants to Florida. (We should note that none of those Venezuelan migrants came to Florida.) So yes, a political game. He admitted it. "It isn't funny, it's not right and it was inhumane, how you treated these people," Crist said. We couldn't agree more. The courts will decide whether it was even legal. More importantly, as to arriving at a solution to that complex issue, Crist twice called for comprehensive immigration reform, which DeSantis wouldn't support during his years in Congress.
More: Post Editorial Board Endorsement: Elect Democrat Charlie Crist for governor
As the race heads into its final week and a half, things are looking up for DeSantis. He has nearly $98 million in cash unspent, while Crist has barely $2 million, according to Politico. The incumbent is polling well ahead, too, and that looks good for the Republican Party, in Florida and the U.S. But who knows how it will play out in this American electoral coliseum? Charlie Crist's performance and priorities confirmed our reasons for having endorsed his candidacy. He again made it clear he deserves your vote and Ron DeSantis does not.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Editorial on Elections 2022: Vote Charlie Crist for Florida governor
