DeSantis Readies For The National Stage"You've got to giddy-up and get ready to tussle," the Florida governor told an audience of Hillsdale supporters last Wednesday.
By Carmel Richardson
February 28, 2022
One day before Ron DeSantis took the stage at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), he spoke to what may be the most intimate crowd he’ll address for a while—a room of just under 1,000 Hillsdale College supporters and staff.
It was a sunny and hot February evening in Florida and America’s favorite governor was at the top of his game. Speaking at one of Hillsdale’s two annual National Leadership Seminars, this one hosted at the Naples Grande, on “Threats to American Liberty,” the Jacksonville native returned often to two major ones: elite institutions and woke ideology.
The unspoken questions in the room were palpable: What about 2024, and what about Trump? The Yale graduate and Harvard Law alumnus flashed his answers to both.
Talking fast and hardly looking at his notes (guests I spoke with afterward said his speed made him sound intelligent), DeSantis spent his hour in front of a friendly audience drawing distinctions—between conservatism and libertarianism, between himself and the broader GOP, and, most carefully, between himself and former president Donald Trump. Using phrases like “military industrial complex” and his now-favorite “biomedical security state,” and shifting the conversation from keywords like “freedom” and “liberty” to courage, justice, and the positive project of government, DeSantis seemed to be using the talk not just to float his presidential prospects, but also to demonstrate his alignment with major goalposts of the new right.
“Freedom is not enough of a condition to secure a just society,” DeSantis said. “It’s essential, but you need more.
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Source:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/desantis-readies-for-the-national-stage/
