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Posted on 07/18/2026 5:34:53 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Florida’s next governor needs a stress test, not a coronation.
A few days ago, I posited that St. Pete Beach in Florida is showing signs of strain, hinting at a lack of the resilience that was once part of its fabric. Given that hurricanes are inevitable, I worried that its general inability to cope with even minimal pressure put it at risk of collapse in the event of another natural disaster.
Some commenters thought I was exaggerating a bad restaurant experience and overextending it. It’s worth taking that criticism seriously because the objection shows that I failed to make myself clear.
I wasn’t claiming that a tight parking lot and cold fries add up to a verdict on the entire state, nor was I calling St. Pete Beach unlivable. Instead, I was arguing that a community’s standards—the small, unglamorous commitments to safety, accessibility, and basic care for the people you serve—are the first things to erode when an economy is stretched thin.
A restaurant cutting corners on parking striping and food quality isn’t a scandal. It’s a symptom. And symptoms are worth naming precisely because they’re small enough to dismiss and common enough to matter.
I spent a decade in a volunteer uniform enforcing exactly this kind of compliance for the City of Fort Lauderdale—the invisible scaffolding that keeps a community functioning for everyone, not just the people who can squeeze through a two-inch gap. I don’t think that standard should apply only to the public sector while the commercial sector gets a pass because the economy is tight and everyone’s in a hurry.
The public deserves better from both. If pointing that out counts as handing ammunition to the other side, the problem isn’t the observation—it’s how little tolerance we’ve built for anyone noticing that things are fraying
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
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DeSantis will be hard to replace.
“DeSantis will be hard to replace.”
Taek him national....Senator or Prez/VP line.
He is Trump/MAGA lite.
More polished.
Not as hard corps.
Read between the lines. Is Byron Donalds up to the job? The black executive experience with disasters. Think Ray(school bus) Nagin with Katrina. Think women. The one in La. had a nervous breakdown. When the SHTF blacks riot. They make pretty party ornaments when things run smoothly. Trouble will find you when all is well and DeSantis set the table to where we relax at our own pearl.
Collins is probably as close as tehy come. Renner is an ally of his too. H-1Byron is in thrall to teh ani-DeSantis RINOs.
...or “at you own peril”.
No
Florida is a 21st century version of 1988. There was no one in the wings to take over from Reagan with his stature, and we suffered for the next 28 years as a result.
Donalds is a melanin-enhanced version of GHWB, and none of the other candidates have enough of a standing to be able to handle the legislature and the numerous leftist activist orgs. The one person who would make a great governor is Marco Rubio, but we need him on the national stage.
Oh no, DeSantis will be easy to replace...anybody can do his job.....he’s just a meatball.
The political experts right on this forum said so during the last Republican presidential primary......f’n morons.
He’s been the best Governor Florida has ever had, at least in my lifetime.
Hopefully the GOP will treat replacing him with all seriousness in the world.
The advisors that surround Ron are his greatest asset. Lapado, who guided him thru covid and the jab is the best example of this. Ingoglia, his DOGE CFO, is pushing back hard on whiny, wasteful property tax jurisdictions. AG Uthmeier, preceded by Moody, and the FDLE are going after China, terrorist orgs and illegals. Ron’s successor would do well to follow this model.
Puhleeeze.
Florida very nearly elected Andrew Gillum.
Must be the heat.
I agree. I cringed the first time I heard he was running. I knew he’d be unstoppable, why Trumps blessing. But I’ve never been impressed. We’re going to be stuck with him. And the election will be far too close for comfort.
DeSantis will be Trump without the rough edges and have 2 years free to run for the WH. He wouldn’t be Bush 41 with the ‘kinder and gentler’ crap. The country will need to exhale after Trump and there are no accomplished democrats to write home about. His enforcement of federal immigration law and his flights to Martha’s Vineyard demonstrated his willingness to play political hardball. Add to it his leadership during disasters and you’ve got the total package. Democrat voters go for the flash and are less likely to pay attention to the details. The Biden experience will still be in the minds of the fence sitters. Let’s hope the final 2 Trump years are a successful pedal to the metal with no wars.
He’s been the best Governor the USA has ever had, at least in my lifetime.
The state suffers from a classic problem of two economies, one being glitzy and generating high incomes, with the other having the low incomes characteristic of tourism, trade, retirees, agriculture, and retail. A massive population of illegal immigrants drags down wage levels even as they underpin tourism, construction, agriculture, and healthcare.
Florida needs reliable manufacturing and high end service businesses but has long struggled to develop and sustain them. Fortunately, in recent years, the state has reformed its education sector and ruthlessly cut bureaucracy and regulation. Yet these take time to confer economy wide benefits.
Florida's hurricane resilience is better now and its recovery cycle quicker than in the past. Nevertheless, some areas and businesses are slow to recover due to inadequate insurance, the severity of storm damage, or that it is better to take a payout and move on without trying to rebuild.
The result is that hurricane ravaged areas can have gaps where destroyed property is not rebuilt for years. In time though, what is rebuilt tends to be better than what was there originally.
LOL I needed a good laugh.
Desantis has just been the signer on other people’s work. He himself has been more focused on promoting himself than actually helping his states people, lots of people died and harmed on his watch as governor needlessly because desantis didnt fully use his authority as Gov.
He has only done as told by those who elevated him to Gov.
Many people can fill those shoes, without even having to wear high heels like Desantis.
DeSantis - most Hurricane deaths since the 1930’s. True fact, we don’t need a repeat. So yes, he will be hard to replace, because we don’t need another result like Ian.
SCOTUS, I think
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