About Last Week...

Someone Seems to be Listening...

So here’s the headline of a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that ran last Thursday:

Newsom vs. DeSantis: Bring It On

The U.S. needs a debate between the California and Florida Governors.

And here’s the headline from a piece I wrote five months ago:

The Nation Needs Newsom vs. DeSantis in 2024

A Cathartic National "Woke or Not" Vote is Crucial to America's Future

Spot the difference?

Now, I am not at all implying anything untoward - I’m just pointing it out.

As for the articles themselves, the WSJ talks about the idea of at least actually having the oft-mentioned debate between the two…and then see what happens from there:

Why not a public face-off between these two combative, young, upwardly mobile Governors? This could be the substantive argument the country needs, pitting Florida’s red-state model against California’s blue-state approach. Instead of catcalls in the media, they could make a case to the public, with evidence and data, for the country to follow their lead.

My piece focused more on how – due to their other baggage - neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden could be considered a poster child for either side of the debate roiling the nation, while Newsom and DeSantis are specifically and self-acknowledged such avatars.

In other words, woke is born in California but dies in Florida – it does not get much more clear cut than that.

It is simply untenable for the nation that the current state of affairs continue too much longer – tension without hope of resolution is a very grinding condition to be in and invades and distorts and minimizes ones vision of what can be achieved.

A Newsom/DeSantis contest would provide the clean break the nation needs.

But you can see for yourself – here’s the WSJ piece - https://www.wsj.com/articles/ron-desantis-gavin-newsom-debate-sean-hannity-florida-california-donald-trump-joe-biden-a746e8f7?mod=hp_opin_pos_2 – and here’s mine - https://thomas699.substack.com/p/the-nation-needs-newsom-vs-desantis