Red Tsunami Hits Florida – And Nowhere Else

My wife and I were in Hawaii when the massive 8.8 earthquake hit Chile in 2010. It triggered tsunami warnings throughout the Pacific. On Maui, where we were, they sounded the alarms, cleared the streets and moved everyone to high ground. And then … nothing – just like last Tuesday. It was the red tsunami that wasn’t, with one very significant exception – Florida.

Governor Rod DeSantis didn’t just win his reelection bid. He crushed his competition and probably took Florida out of the “swing state” category for some time. In 2018, he won his election for governor by a paltry 32,000 votes – in a state of almost 22 million people. In 2022, DeSantis crushed his opponent Charlie Crist (R,I,D-Nowhere), beating him by over 1.5 million votes. It was almost a 20 percent victory margin. DeSantis even won the Miami/Dade area, something that Republicans simply don’t do – until now.

He did it by governing smart, and consistent with the wishes of his citizens. He stood up to pressure from woke corporations like Disney. He faced down federal pressure to curtail personal liberties in the name of fighting a virus. He effectively guided his state through various crises. He was competent, responsive, and humble.

Ron DeSantis’ victory, combined with disappointing performance elsewhere in the country, has important implications for the nation.

What does the highly localized tsunami mean for the Democrats? They’re stuck with their “Gremlin in Chief” for another 2 years. They may still want to dump the “creeper of children” and spoiler of all that he touches, but I don’t see how they can now. They may even be stuck with him as their candidate in 2024 (Kamala Harris hardest hit). After all, how do you convince someone who managed to avoid the historical midterm losses, to step aside?

Joey from Scranton is going to claim victory – warranted or not. He’s going to be crowing about it for years to come – with stories of his personal heroics in the epic struggle to save American democracy from the forces of MAGA tyranny.

What does the midterm smack-down mean for Donald Trump? It means he couldn’t keep his ego in check long enough to avoid stepping right into the trap the Democrats set for him. The Dems made every effort to make the midterms about Trump, and he was more than happy to help them. They called January 6^th an insurrection and raided Trump’s home to paint him as a criminal. Biden called Trump’s followers semi-fascists and claimed that they were attacking democracy by questioning the last election.

The Donald was happy to play along. He worked to get Republicans elected, but only those who supported his narrative about 2020 being a stolen election. He endorsed those who supported his claim, and criticized those who didn’t – playing right into the Biden narrative that questioning the election was subversive.

Trump even attacked Republican candidates that avoided the subject altogether, including Ron DeSantis – one of the few Republican shining stars from Tuesday. The Donald made the mistake of commencing the offensive against 2024 primary challengers, before the 2022 battle with the Dems was even over. It’s never smart to start another fight before the current one is over. Was it flawed tactical thinking? Or was he merely throwing punches wherever his emotions dictated? Neither is what the Republicans need.

The Donald’s personal vindication was more important than the needs of all Americans – stopping the radicalism that threatens all of our liberties. He placed himself above the needs of the country he wishes to lead again.

Is that recoverable, or is he running out of gas politically? He gambled that all Americans were on his side. They weren’t. With the country coming apart at the seams, most had more pressing concerns than Trumps feelings or what happened in 2020. They want their “public servants” to actually serve them, just like DeSantis has been doing in Florida.

Was the midterm drubbing as bad for MAGA as it was for Trump? Not even close. MAGA is alive and well. What the left still hasn’t figured out is that Trump didn’t create MAGA. The movement for a return to American exceptionalism (which is what MAGA is) drafted Trump as its leader. Just as Abraham Lincoln had to fire a bunch of generals until he found one that could win, if 2022 ends up being the end of Trump politically, the movement will just find another leader – and their bench is deep.

What does the midterm failure mean to the Republicans? It means it’s time to do something that the Democrats are incapable of – introspection. They underperformed – even in a year in which all of the political forces were in their favor. Why?

Then they need to figure out what happened and decide what to do about it. It wasn’t about being cheated, loosing the messaging battle (the default Democrat excuse), or lack of funding.

Talking about 2020, how horrible Joe has been, or snickering at the lunacy of San Fran Nan and her merry band of radicals didn’t win any elections. They’ve got two years to figure out what Americans want, and come up with a plan to deliver.

The Republicans need to lay out an agenda that Americans can support, and explain how they will deliver it, with specific legislative and executive plans. I don’t mean a Kevin McCarthy empty pledge like his Commitment to America plan. His pledge to provide “A Future That’s Built on Freedom” isn’t a plan – it’s useless boilerplate that Americans see through. A promise to push legislation that criminalizes any activity by federal officials or employees to censor citizens – now that’s a plan. If calling Twitter to get politically sensitive stories squashed results in a government employee getting a 10-year prison sentence, then the Republicans will have really done something to promote freedom.

I suggest the Republicans start by asking average Americans how they feel about

• Government spending. Are they okay with $31T of national debt?
• Government corruption. Is the IRS and DOJ targeting of citizens and political opposition okay with them?
• Our national security situation. Do they see any problem with leaving our border open to invasion? Are they okay with leaving Americans behind in Afghanistan?

After those conversations, the party needs to come up with specific legislative and executive proposals to address them – no boilerplate.

And for crying out loud, the Republicans need to do something about their leadership. Part of Ron DeSantis’ appeal was his work to make Florida a refuge from runaway wokeness. On Tuesday night he declared that, “Florida is where woke goes to die.” Can anyone see Mitch McConnel or Kevin McCarthy taking such a stand? Just as Americans’ concerns go beyond the emotional needs of Donald Trump, they also go beyond what the establishment Republican leadership shows any inclination to address.

When 2024 comes around, and “Baskin Robbins” Biden in on the Democrat ticket, Americans are going to want to talk about

• The economy
• Inflation
• Crime
• Gas prices
• National security
• Woke radicalism

But I suspect the Dems will be in no position to talk about any of those things. They’re still too drunk on their own power to consider any party failures. They’re going to leave themselves vulnerable, again, in 2024. If only Republicans can get prepared in time. And they better not waste any time. The 2024 election started on November 9.

Author Bio: John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He has written for American Thinker,American Free News Network, and The Blue State Conservative. His work has been featured on The Dan Bongino Show, World View Weekend Broadcast with Brannon House, and Steel on Steel with John Loeffler. He can be followed on Facebook or reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.