Democracy thrives on debate, such as – hopefully – tomorrow’s debate between two rival governors: Republican Ron DeSantis, officially running for president, and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who obviously hankers for the job. The two have been trading barbs and running attack ads in the other’s state for more than a year.
The debate is being hosted at 6 pm on Fox News for 90 minutes from Alpharetta, Georgia, a key swing state. Host Sean Hannity is a Republican partisan. But after two interviews with the Californian, Hannity said, “From the first time we met we just hit it off and there was a certain relationship that developed that was like, ‘Oh, come on, you don’t believe all that.’ … It was always friendly and never contentious. You can say anything to him. You can have fun with him.”
The governors will be sniping at one another about several contentious issues. DeSantis has signed abortion restrictions, is pro-gun rights and was light on lockdowns during COVID-19. Newsom championed Proposition 1 last year, putting abortion rights in the California Constitution, has proposed a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution limiting the Second Amendment “right to keep and bear arms,” and was one of the most restrictive governors during COVID-19.
Also look for DeSantis to boast about the 50,000 Californians who moved to the Sunshine State from the Golden State last year, seeking refuge from high taxes, impossible housing prices, homelessness and overall crime. For his part, Newsom could point out California has a lower homicide rate, 6.4 per 100,000 population to Florida’s 7.4.
At the surface level this debate is about who’s Top Guv. But at a deeper level it’s about each governor making an impression on voters in his own party.
DeSantis’ campaign has floundered. In FiveThirtyEight’s Nov. 28 aggregate of polls, he trails former President Trump badly, 60% to 12.9%. And nipping at DeSantis’ lifted heels is former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 10%. Her gap with him has narrowed to 2.9 points from 6.1 points a month earlier.
The three Republican debates so far have not helped DeSantis. And their viewership has slipped from 13 million at the first debate on Aug. 23 to 7.5 million at the third on Nov. 8. The fourth debate, on Dec. 6 from the University of Alabama, probably won’t be an improvement. Without the Trump Show, voters are losing interest.
Last month, Newsom made a week-long trip to China and met with President Xi. When Xi attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit earlier this month in San Francisco for a summit with Biden, it was Newsom who greeted them at the airport on his home turf.
Newsom says he’s not running for president in 2024. But the PredictIt betting service on Nov. 29 put Biden’s chances of getting the Democratic nomination at 66 cents (out of 100) to Newsom’s 23 cents.
From our personal liberty perspective, neither candidate is ideal. We hope the debate highlights how each would give Americans more freedom.
