His tanned face and toothpaste smile appear on Florida highway billboards, on small signs nailed to Miami home lawns. Her country uniform always seems to be a blue jacket, khakis and a white shirt without a tie. But he has another one of a “Top Gun” battle, with a green nylon jacket full of stars and dark aviator goggles, which he pulls out when he wants to show his war credentials and give the message that he is capable of fighting. everything. this is necessary for the future of the United States. Against Joe Biden or anyone else. Even against Donald Trump himself.

Forty-six, married to a former TV presenter, Republican Ron DeSantis is the head of state of Florida and everything indicates that it will sweep the legislative and government elections this Tuesday, when he will renew his mandate. No poll discusses his victory, we only expect to see by what margin it will materialize.

Your victory will be its stepping stone to the White House. We must be very careful about his next movements because this ultraconservative, military, lawyer, who is fighting “for freedom”, against Disney, sex education in schools, communism and illegal immigration, has a chance to become president of the United States.

Money talks: In a few days he broke the record of raising $ 200 million for his campaign, according to Politicwhen his Democratic rival Charlie Christ just raised 31 years.

The Republican’s funds reach beyond the borders of Florida, demonstrating this it already has a national projection. He only spent 100, he keeps another 100 for his future.

DeSantis does not talk about his plans, but everything indicates that he will race for the Republican Party inmates in 2024 to compete with anyone. For now, only the former president, who also flirts with the return to the ring, beats him in popularity.

But many Republicans see it this way “A more verbose Trump”without the tycoon scandals and with a more solid political career.

The most recent publicity of his campaign went to unsuspected limits by describing him without blushing as “a warrior sent by God” to Earth. As several images of the governor in uniform passed, with his wife and three small children, a voiceover with the litanies of a pastor called to vote for him to fight the evils of the country. The more religious sectors – key to any election in the United States – view the character with admiration.

Biden, on the other hand, disqualifies him by saying that he is “the reincarnation of Donald Trump”.

Its popularity is huge in Florida, in the rural hinterland, even in the more mundane Miami, where Latinos are strong. A lawyer graduated from prestigious universities such as Yale and Harvard, he joined the army as a “Top Gun” and came to fight in Iraq. He then turned to politics, first as a member of the state Congress until he became governor.

He took to the skies when he took over the White House during the pandemic and resisted the closure of activities and the obligation to wear the mask. She has also lowered taxes and the Sunshine State has become a magnet for many large American cities that seek a more relaxed climate and pay less.

“He says the things that need to be said.” “He is a family man”. “He understands how business works.” “He has the courage to fight crime and illegal immigration.” “It will wipe out socialism” are some of the phrases he has heard the most Clarione among ordinary people, even among some who once voted Democrat.

controversial policies

The more progressive sectors, on the other hand, are horrified by many of its more aggressive policies, such as his struggle against sex education and critical race theory in schools.

DeSantis hasn’t hesitated to ban shows statewide on the grounds that these topics are taught in the family. She did not hesitate to withdraw some math textbooks that mentioned homosexuals from circulation. He also clashed with the Disney company and withdrew the autonomy of the Orlando land where their parks are located because the owners of Mickey Mouse criticized their policy towards the LGTBQ community.

Another of his most controversial measures was when he boarded dozens of undocumented immigrants who had arrived in Florida and shipped them to liberal cities considered “sanctuaries” like Martha’s Vineyard and Washington DC.

DeSantis is also a strong critic of the regimes of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, with which he has earned the sympathy of most of the state’s Latins.

It implemented the “Day of the Victims of Communism”, so that every November 7, 45 minutes in public schools are talked about “how the victims suffered under these regimes through the repression of the word, poverty, hunger, migration and lethal systemic violence “.

Supporters and detractors

Bertica Cabrera Morris, Republican strategist, explains a Clarione the alleged virtues of DeSantis. “The pandemic defined a lot who the real leaders were. This is a governor who has not only not closed the activities, but has also removed the restrictions on them. “

Also, he says, “We only wear masks if we want to and that’s why Florida hasn’t suffered as much as the rest of the country, neither with the pandemic, nor with the economy. I think even Democrats – I have kids who are Democrats. – he liked it a lot because it wasn’t a totalitarian attitude. People are happy with this leadership. “

Morris, of Cuban origin, also highlights the Governor’s fight against illegal immigration. “It is very clear that he wants us not to be from here, but he wants us to arrive legally.”

For Jaime Florez, director of Hispanic communications for the Republican National Committee, DeSantis “is strong because he has led a process of freedom in our state. Florida stayed away from federally ordered closures based on alleged science and over time we realized that those who were there were fake scientists with an agenda clearly related to government interests, “he told Clarione.

“It also did not allow the closure of schools as in the rest of the country. There have been closures, but it has been a much faster opening than in other regions. De Santis has kept all these initiatives at bay and people admire him very much. This has led to nearly a thousand people moving to Florida every day from other states in search of this freedom and the right to live the life you have, without government mandates for vaccines or the use of masks, or passport mandates. for vaccines.

As for the ban on teaching sex educationFlorez stressed that “the results of these elections will amply demonstrate that the governor has sided with public opinion, with those who want a much stronger education for their children.”

Morris is emphatic: “I don’t want my 5-year-old nephew to be talked about sex at school, absolutely not. Most people agree with De Santis on this issue. “

Away from the scandals of Trump, who has had three marriages and bragged about touching women’s genitals without their consent, and is at the center of multiple lawsuits for his activities, DeSantis has a more traditional family photo.

“He is a family man, married to a beautiful woman, who just faced an extremely difficult problem because he had breast cancer and thank God he was able to overcome it. He has three wonderful children and his family is something exemplary, ”says Florez.

Democrats doubt its transparency. They say he is an opportunist and that his anti-immigrant policy is “illegal and cruel”. David Singer, a Democratic strategist, said Clarione that DeSantis “pursues only his own personal interest and not that of the 28 million people who live in Florida. The people who give him money have businesses in Florida and try to project their businesses nationwide because they believe he will be the next president of the United States. “

What do DeSantis and Trump have in common? They both supported each other, but ever since the Florida governor showed his presidential ambitions, they have drifted slightly away and look at each other with suspicion. For Florez, “the two receive undeserved hatred from the leftist sectors of the Democratic Party”.

Miami, special correspondent

CB