For position at of potential 2024 showdown. You have the two potential leading candidates both in florida. What are the strengths and weaknesses of both as president ial contenders. Guest you start with the former president , the strength is he has been there, done the job. The party base is still very firmly behind and excited about the former president. He now calls florida home. He used to brag that all roads to the white house lead to florida. It may actually be literally that in 24. In terms of the governor, Governor Desantis i think has the greatest story going, florida story. A sea of calm and positivity in the in covid. Hes on his job of managing the state, the recent budget had record amounts for not just education and the environment encoding 500 Million Dollars for the everglades but also tax relief and 20 billion for the rainy day reserve. His record is really good, but beyond that he is sending a message that the Republican Base is really liking. A message that shows that the party itself has moved from being a party of big business to americas working class. And you see that in microcosm for the viewers, take a look at miamidade. In miamidade, where President Biden one by seven points back in 2020, its been decidedly moving in miamidade towards their publican party. Registration in the state for the First Time Ever is majority republican their predictions miamidade could go for the Republican Party nominee in 24 and the reason that is significant is that the rule of thumb in Florida Politics for democrats to win statewide is they have to get big margins in certain places prayed miamidade is one of them. Right now it may be they would be lucky to actually carry that area at all. Host give us a snapshot of his rise, not meteor it may be, he was a backbencher in the u. S. House. What brought him to the governors chair. Host certainly the guest certainly the courage of his conviction. For some viewers got a taste of that was probably on fox news where he was a frequent cast. But they found that he didnt just talk the game, he walked to the game. And ran the game. Look what happened in terms of you might say the square off between the governor and disney. Disney is an american icon, admired around the world for entertainment and when they decided to step into politics, the dont say gay bill which technically allowed for the teaching of sex ed to kindergartners, he took on disney. To show what happened in that confrontation in december of 21, disneys ratings in florida were at 76 percent positive. 76 present floridian set a positive view of disney. Six weeks after the engagement was down to 54 . Theres something about with the governor is doing which doesnt come out of up a tent intentional playbook. Host in that instance in disneys case, was there every fear on the governors side the taking on disney like that could result in a drop in tourism in the state. Guest i think there are concerns for people looking on from the outside but the governor takes his own counsel. Its another sign of courage. I can tell you why maybe hes politically viable but should be counted all the way to the end. He does not consult polls to figure out which way he wants to fly. Hes very intellectual, harvard educated, veteran, has really good character and class but he is not taking counsel for the normal political advisors. Hes going straight forward. And so far, people around america seem to be cheering. Host headline from politicos 22 for intrigue. It seems a most at every turn, a policy wise, politically he is trying to separate himself from the former president in his own with his own stances on things. Guest what the governor is doing, hes kind of retelling the florida story and letting the story itself speaks for itself. And then beyond that what hes done in florida especially with parents of schoolage children and how excited and energized they become for the governor. He starting to develop support basis because of what hes done from tallahassee to miami as opposed to the rhetoric of a person seeking office. And i think hes being very careful and should be in focusing first and foremost on his reelection which is this fall and then after that we will see what the world looks like as we will his prospects. Host as applicable strategist, where are his weaknesses . Guest the weakness for the governor is kind of hard to find other than those who dont like the fact he is straight out tells it like it is and like it or not. I think hes ok and taking criticism which is rare for a public leader prayed hes ok to say i dont really buy that. What were finding across florida is floridians are. Theres never been a more optimistic point of view i think among most floridians about their economics, their jobs, about the state itself. The governor came into office not talking like you might expect Florida Governor to talk. The first thing was the environment. Very different than you mightve expected from someone from that party. Host our guest is adam, republican strategist talking about ron desantis, the future of the Republican Party. We welcome your calls and comments. 2027488001, republican line. Democrats 2027488000. Others, 2027488002. You mentioned this is the reelection year, who is he facing on the democratic side. Guest former governor Charlie Crist to a lot of floridians are still very fond of from his days when he was not just governor. Hes kind of run the gambit there. Very skilled and very experienced. But he was a former republican who became a democrat. I think the Democrat Party is still not maybe 100 sold on charlie in this incarnation as they were in previous runs. And then nikki freed whos the commissioner on the cabinet, done a very good job on the candidate her big push is on abortion and on legalization of marijuana. That tends to be something that could generate in normal years to build some voter enthusiasm but that is the issue. What they call the Enthusiasm Gap in florida between republicans and democrats its become not a gap, but a chasm. Host whats the governor said about the Supreme Court ruling on abortion and is there likely to be abortion legislation in the florida legislature. Guest abortion legislation is being discussed in states across the country. How far they go im not sure. I do know florida still is a center, a right of center state ideologically. I think anything that moves forward on that front and other contentious issues, other than guns. I think that will be done with great discussion. Host you mentioned the florida story. Talking about ron desantis in the future of their publican party, however the president ial winner in 2024, what does the future of the party look like with ron desantis either is the standard bearer, certainly one of the key figures in the Republican Party. Guest its a Different Party. Part of this you have to look at how people are voting. There are now 22 million floridians. Thats a big gain from 2. 5 years ago. People kind of like this brand of government and i think thats what republicans are trying to line up behind more than anything. What should government do or not do. I think they kind of like where the governor is going. Friendly theyve liked where President Trump went, a lot of different. Host we will first go to our florida caller on a democrats line. Good morning. Caller good morning. I just have a couple of things, i hope i dont get cut off. I first thing was im torn between Governor Desantis and former governor crist. I like both of them and im an undecided voter. My second thing is i received my absentee ballot in the mail yesterday and on the back of it where you put the stamp on it and mail it, my name is actually written on the back of my ballot which i thought was my civic duty but i thought was also private. I didnt think my name was going to go to the post office and all that. Ive never seen a ballot like that. Those were my two concerns. I appreciate you talking about this today, thank you. Guest first of all, i really appreciate the attitude. Which is rare when you said you like both Governor Desantis and Charlie Crist. Thank you for remaining openminded which i hope most voters across florida and the country will be. In terms of your name being on the ballot, call your election supervisor or call the Election Supervisors Office and make sure that was not something that was inadvertent or wrong. Im not really clear on that part of balloting. But in terms of what florida is looking at moving forward, if you have Governor Desantis and Charlie Crist who were the last two standing in the governors race, both of them have experience right now as i said before on the show, the florida story is just awesome. And if nothing else cheer for continued gains of movement in that direction that florida more and more becomes a laboratory of what works in america. Host independent line. Caller hello . Host you are on the air. Go ahead. Caller yes. We have several issues. Sadly to say for a couple of decades before you get negative feedback. Starting with the military. My daughter is a major and i dont want her why are veterans starving. I want to know about that computer chip submitted into congress and legislative. Stopping these professor and students from hacking into our computers. Host i think shes talking about some legislation thats been stalled in congress on computer chips. Weve been asking our viewers about the top issues of the 2022 campaign. What are the top issues in florida in that governors race into the down ballot races . Guest the economy. Literally when you see the polls, its the economy, abortion, crime and immigration. Those seem to be the top four nationally. In florida its mostly about prosperity, continuing prosperity and like a lot of america. Floridians are concerned about inflation run amok, the u. N. Secretary general said four weeks ago that we are facing a global food crisis. That we may not be able to rectify. We are concerned about that, the price of gas at the pump is still very high. Its not as high as a couple weeks ago but still very high. Thats whats really driving this as opposed to other issues in other years. Abortion i mentioned is one of the top four issues. A poll came out of the Washington Post recently that said that even though the majority of americans favor some manner of choice, those voters are 12 less likely to show up this fall as our prolife voters and the others. Its an issue that could have become more of a comeback trail issue for democrats it doesnt seem to be playing as it may have in the past years. Host it is Hurricane Season in florida. How is the issue of Climate Change, you touched on the environment, how important of an issue is the issue of Climate Change to Governor Desantis. Guest increasingly important. As i said, made a major investment in the environment which had to do with water. Host youve got 250,000 new residents in the state and you have to address that. Guest we understand we have to be deliberate about this. And because of insurance, property insurance which is skyrocketing. At a special session addressing just that issue because of things like hurricanes and because of the advance of sealevel rise which concerns not just floridians but everybody. Host what is the state doing about those rates . Guest for the insurance rates they are trying to create a market. The problem is when you have fewer and fewer providers of property insurance, rates tend to go up or in this case, the state backed guaranteed property insurance starts getting millions of new customers and thats a bill that ultimately goes back to the people. Host political strategist, we are talking about florida, specifically about Governor Ron Desantis in the future of the Republican Party. 2027488001 four republicans. 2027488000 for democrats. For others, 2027488002. You mustve seen the ad that Governor Newsom of california ran on television in florida over the july 4 weekend perhaps our viewers havent. I want to show that and get your reaction to it. [video clip] is Independence Day lets talk about whats going on in america. Freedom is under attack in your state. Republican leaders are banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms , even criminalizing women and doctors. I urge all of you living in florida to join the fight or join us in california where we still believe in freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom to choose and the freedom to love. Dont let them take your freedom. Host two questions. What do you think the purpose was and how did that play in florida. Guest you see me laughing a little bit. My First Response is consider the source. Youre getting this from the governor of california talking about freedom and things going well or would be going well if it werent for the fact florida has certain policies. California is out of control. Their budget is out of control. Newsom is actually a think auditioning to become a National Figure if you ask with the reason was for this. He wants to become more national. But when you show the classroom of students talking about restrictions on what they could be taught, is talking abut the dont say gay bill that democrats named that allowed for sex ed to kindergartners. If you were to tear this if you were to look at it and parse it and one claim after another you say its clever, disingenuous and coming from a place where people are leaving in droves. You look at all the outmigration of people from california versus the in migration into florida you pretty much have the reviews for the consuming public. Host lets hear from brian up next in michigan on the independent line. Host lets get to the real deal on this. Going back to world war ii and all tie in to santos at the end. We set up the u. N. So that we didnt have to be fighting wars in europe again. We set up nato, we helped to set up the european union. The European Unions gdp is that of the united states. We are nothing more than an enabler. We have become the ultimate enabler, i guess it makes us feel better, give me a break. The european union, those fine people are perfectly capable of other threats. They have to step up. Im an older brother, i would never fight my younger brothers battles and those have happened on playgrounds and such when you are growing up. If the other kid was my brothers age. If he was older and taking advantage of the situation i would solve it. The same thing at the southern border. We have become the greatest enablers. We are not showing respect, all we are doing is just trying to prop them up a little bit. These are fine people, they need to do it on their own. We need to get off this thing that we are the greatest, the toughest, we are this or that. They have to do it themselves just like we do. Guest let me see if i can distill this point on the southern border into one thing. People right now are looking for certainty, more certainty, control and stability. What are the two real issues paid not what pollsters ask. The two real issues i would say in america there inflation and instability. The instability, the pillars of society that still seem to be shaking a bit from Public Schools to the Supreme Court. If we have a lack people are uncertain, they are nervous about everything. We have a border, there is a line in the sand, a real line in the sand its not some active human cruelty, but of human salvation and National Sovereignty which most other countries around the world wouldnt secondguess for a minute. I think thats what people are really looking for and we have to get back to a steadier course to get back there, maybe all things are possible and if theres anything missing right now in america, more and more widespread way, optimism. People on that proverbial shot in the arm. What can you do moving forward that can make a difference. Host does ron desantis strike you as an optimist . Guest he is a realist. I think the optimism comes from what hes been able to execute as governor of the state, but the realism is good. People want genuine and real in their leaders. They find very little of that these days. I think that plays big for him. The fact hes not an overly charismatic messenger i think actually stands well for him as opposed to some who grade, on performance and say he could be a bit more flashy, i think it doesnt work for the governor that way and people are just fine with that. Host lets hear from nadine in new york on the republican line. Caller good morning. I would just like to state that i am very appreciative of the state of florida for the legalization of marijuana. I think a lot of patients need that and they also believe Abortion Rights Movement is absurd. I believe every woman has the right to abort or conceive as she wants to or not. I believe the wall should be built immediately. I feel very harassed in the state of new york and when trump was in office i believe he had everything under control. Thank you. Host touch on her comments on marijuana. What is the law in the state and how has ron desantis been part of changing that . Guest i appreciate the caller. She got it half right. Medical marijuana has been legalized. Recreational marijuana is probably headed to the ballot as soon as 2024 and will likely pass. Is it trendlines across america. In terms of her talking about the wall, needing to build the wall again. That goes back to my next comment comment which is people are looking for a sense of control, stability, certainty. I think the wall or lease the southern border, represents that. Host to buffalo, new york. Democrats line. Caller how are you doing. Thank you for taking my call. Im wondering what you think is going to come out of the sentencing this week. Doesnt that have a lot to d