Rita Panahi: Coalition MPs could learn a lot from Ron DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the quintessential conviction politician and is unashamedly conservative — something Coalition MPs should adopt.

Australia’s Coalition MPs can learn a great deal from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

The man who has single-handedly turned a purple state deep red is the quintessential conviction politician who is unashamedly conservative.

One who enthusiastically fights the important culture wars and, unlike most centre-right politicians, has the courage to play offence, rather than just try to defend against the Left’s march through the institutions.

DeSantis has never ‘moderated’, aka compromised, his policy positions in the hopes of appeasing his opponents.

He has won overwhelming support – beating Democrat challenger Charlie Crist by almost 20 per cent – by being authentic and principled from stripping trans ideology from school curriculums to ensuring businesses were free to operate during the pandemic.

Whatever your politics, you know precisely where DeSantis stands on any issue whether it’s parental rights, law and order or economic freedom.

Republican Ron DeSantis won re-election as Governor of Florida.

The Governor of the US’ third most populous state won re-election convincingly in formerly solid blue Democrat areas including Miami-Dade County, where just four years ago he lost by more than 20 per cent and where Hillary Clinton won by 29 per cent in the 2016 presidential race.

In last week’s poll DeSantis won 55 per cent of the county, achieving the largest margin of any Republican governor in four decades.

Speaking to Floridians from safe Democrat areas such as Tallahassee to the most conservative strongholds in the Panhandle, it was clear that the governor’s decision to keep the state open during the pandemic (after a month-long lockdown) was seen as a masterstroke.

Not only were children free to go to school, unmasked and without Covid vaccine mandates, but businesses and households were allowed to make decisions about their own welfare.

In 2018, when he became governor, DeSantis scraped through with a 0.4 per cent margin, but now he owns Florida and is the new frontrunner to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2024.

His policy positions are almost identical to Donald Trump, who is expected to announce his run this week, but DeSantis is a more skilful politician.

Contrast the DeSantis model to the wet WA Liberals or the net-zero embracing federal Coalition or the Victorian Liberals, who have failed to learn anything from the mistakes of their colleagues.

Victorian Labor has instituted the most extreme racial gender legislation, divisive racial policies including a treaty as well as inflicting the world’s longest lockdown on more than five million Melburnians.

A competent opposition would seize on these issues rather than building their platform around not being Dan Andrews.