When DeSantis was first elected governor, I thought that Florida had a conservative small government Republican in Tallahassee.

He said that he believed in local governments handling most issues in their jurisdictions. He claimed to be someone that did not believe in interfering in the private sector. DeSantis wanted to have parental control of education. Only the last sentence is still operational. What happened?

DeSantis decided to run for president. He went from being a principled conservative to a toady populist pandering for votes among the Trumpets. A true consistent conservative philosophy was sacrificed to the roar of the crowd.

At one point, being a populist meant being like Huey Long. Long was a governor and senator from Louisiana in the 1930s. He promised social and infrastructure programs to his base of poor white farmers and country folk. Unlike today’s supposed men of the people, he grew up in very reduced circumstances. Long attended a bible college without graduating. He went to Tulane Law School for one year and eventually ended up passing the bar. In 1935, he was assassinated by a member of the establishment who loathed his populism

The populists of today are mostly the product of upper middle-class families. They are graduates of some of the most elite universities in the country. DeSantis went to Yale and Harvard. His roots are far from the coal mines, hard scrabble farms, and inner cities of men and women who did pull themselves up by their bootstraps. The ‘Populist-in Chief,” former President Trump, had a maid, cook, and chauffer to tend to his needs as a child. And his father Fred was worth hundreds of millions of dollars when he died.  Trump senior bequeathed a large portion of that wealth to his son.  Donald graduated from Ivy League Penn…as he will quickly tell you.

My biggest disappointment in DeSantis currently is his anti-market and pro-interference stance for business in Florida. He has repeatedly threatened businesses telling them that they cannot mandate vaccines for their employees and masks for their customers. This is the antithesis of allowing the markets to decide.

Let me be up front. I think that there should be a vaccine mandate for all. However, I also recognize that the governor and legislature have the final say. I may disagree on the policy but not the state’s ultimate authority on this issue. What I do not think is appropriate is the governor dictating to private businesses what they can require of employees and customers.

It becomes a slippery slope when government begins “warning” citizens and businesses about what is appropriate. If companies or individuals want to stop supporting others for their stands on issues, then that is their right. They shouldn’t feel as if Governor DeSantis is the final arbiter.

This newfound populism in the governor’s message can quickly become tin pot dictatorship territory. If DeSantis wants to run for president, he need not copy anyone. His message of principled conservatism will do well in the primaries. For I vote, too, and I have not missed voting except twice for any office in over 50 years. There are plenty of people like me.