Ron DeSantis as American president is thrilling for some, however horrifying for others

Breakfast in a Floridian diner is rarely for the faint-hearted.

There’s the biscuits and gravy, the grits, the outsized breakfast tacos, the waffles, the pancakes, the corned beef hash and, after all, the all-American drip espresso.

If you survive all that, and in the event you nudge the locals just a little, then the passionate but divisive politics of this state and this nation all comes tumbling out.

The second I point out Ron DeSantis, the playing cards are on the desk.

“I love him… I think he’s doing the things that most of us would like him to do,” Patricia Barra says.

“He’s just kept Florida very productive; open through COVID. I think he wants to make America the way we were used to having it.”

Her husband, Gerald, finishes her thought: “Californians moving to Florida, Massachusettsans moving to Florida, New Jerseyans moving to Florida, New Yorkers moving to Florida. Must be something!”

But, a desk away: “He’s bigoted, a white supremacist, a Trump wannabe…” Robin Mix says.

They say the Starlite Diner is a Daytona Beach landmark, an unofficial neighborhood assembly place for the locals. Where higher, then, to search out out extra about Florida’s governor?

This is the place the political profession started for the person who desires to be president.

Daytona Beach is in his outdated district again when he was a congressman, approach earlier than he made waves nationwide.

I’ve come to search out out what the attract is and whether or not that landslide vote for governor final 12 months actually might propel him all the best way to the White House.

‘Make America Florida’ is his line. It’s a neat play on the tagline of his fan-turned-foe, Donald ‘Make America Great Again’ Trump.

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Trump is the clear favorite to clinch the Republican Party nominee for president. But DeSantis is behind him and hopes to shut, quick.

He is Trumpian with out the chaos. Maybe he can ship on coverage the place Trump did not handle to? That’s thrilling for some; horrifying for others, and it seems they’re all represented within the Starlite Diner this morning.

The vibe from his followers displays a view that America has misplaced its approach and must return to conventional values – conservative ones.

‘He would make a beautiful vice chairman’

“I like that idea…” one other diner says once I put the Make America Florida tag to her.

“I think he would make a wonderful vice-president under President Trump…” one other says.

It displays what some see because the dream conservative ticket, nevertheless unbelievable it could be given the pair’s present animosity.

If there’s one theme which will get to the center of what Ron DeSantis is all about, it is tradition wars – his conflict on woke.

He has recognised that cultural points – tapping into the concept that values have been eroded – so typically resonates extra with voters than points just like the financial system.

Trump harked again to a time when America was apparently higher. DeSantis has gone additional, figuring out points which, for his conservative assist base, signify societal erosion – wokery.

“We will fight woke in the schools, we’ll fight woke in the corporations. We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die,” he says in various types repeatedly.

And but, even channelling Churchill in Florida, on no account everybody right here within the Starlite Diner is shopping for it.

“You know, his big thing is he wants to get rid of wokeness and I’m happy to be woke myself,” Peter Stephenson says.

“You know, I feel the definition of wokeness is having an acceptance for all types of people.”

His spouse, Karen, provides: “And this stuff about all the gays and all that. Just let them live. Let everybody get along.”

Ron DeSantis has by no means explicitly stated something towards the homosexual neighborhood.

DeSantis’s insurance policies signify erosion of minority rights, say critics

But his insurance policies, for his critics a minimum of, signify an erosion of minority rights whether or not they be homosexual rights, racial rights or the liberty to be who you need to be.

“He wants to make everything like the 50s television shows where all the people were white, all the people were ‘normal’. Dad goes to work, mum stays at home. We can’t go back to the 50s. But that’s what they want,” Robin Mix says.

His lately revealed e book is known as The Courage To Be Free.

Critics say there is a deep irony {that a} man who champions freedom has been so busy limiting so many various issues.

On abortion he has launched laws banning it after six weeks.

On drag exhibits, legal guidelines now make it unlawful for kids to be current. There are restrictions on gender-neutral bathrooms. He was elected governor with these insurance policies as guarantees.

And then there’s the so-called e book ban. It’s a headline that is not wholly correct.

He hasn’t banned books however has taken a tough line on what books can be found to high school kids of various ages. In that sense, some books are banned for some age teams.

“Unfortunately, we’ve seen some books in some of these libraries – you’re talking about kids in middle school – some of the stuff that’s ended up there is incredibly disturbing stuff,” he stated lately.

The governor’s grassroots assist comes from moms like Tina Descovich, who based the group ‘Moms for Liberty’ right here in Florida. It now has branches nationwide.

She raises a e book in her hand as we chat.

“Gender Queer has obscene images throughout. It was found here in a local middle school library that shared middle school in high school and not only was it in the school, it was on display on one of the display cases at the end,” she tells me.

“A lot of school districts around the country have decided that this is appropriate for as young as six grade so 11 and 12-year-olds here in the United States.”

There isn’t any proof that this e book is extensively accessible to that age group throughout America.

But for Tina, his robust stance represents management.

“He takes action. You know, we are tired in our country and in our state of spineless leaders, who change their mind, who flip-flop, who go with the flow. What we saw with Governor DeSantis as he looked at facts, and he made decisions even though they were unpopular.”

‘DeSantis will not be for freedom for all individuals’

Down the coast in certainly one of Florida’s few remaining Democratic counties, I met Denise Soufrine, a trainer who’s contemplating leaving Florida.

“He touts that we’re the Free State of Florida, and I don’t understand how he could possibly say that when you are restricting the rights,” she says.

“The Moms for Liberty will say ‘we’re protecting children’. Well, what about all the other parents that want their children to be exposed to ideas of all sorts so their children can grow?

“I do not actually assume that is what this nation desires. I do not assume so.

“That’s not what this country was founded on. And this governor is not for freedom for all people. He’s only for freedom for certain people.

“Years in the past, there have been hardly any books in libraries that confirmed black characters, African American characters, Hispanic characters.

“So as a librarian, as a teacher, I’m someone that wants to make sure that everyone in the class feels comfortable and knows that they’re accepted.”

She provides: “There’s no kindness in any of the bills that he is promoting at all.”