PITTSBURGH – While it is always disturbing for a political movement to lose power when its party loses power, the reality is that the movement’s coalition will not necessarily collapse or disappear. Sometimes it even gets stronger. Coalitions last longer than the failure of a candidate or party because a coalition is always more about the people who are in it than any single person.
Coalitions are also often about a sense of place. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis understands this. His message during a visit to this Pennsylvania city and neighboring Youngstown, Ohio, shows that he realizes that those attending his rallies are interested in more than just him; they are interested in how well he “understands” this sense of place, which for conservative populists is everything.
This explains why so many of those attending his speech welcomed his message, even though many reporters, as usual, misunderstood it.
Tickets for DeSantis’ Rust Belt events – all coordinated by Turning Point USA and all free – were snapped up within moments of their release. His visit here was in connection with Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. In Youngstown, he acted on behalf of Senate candidate J.D. Vance.
DeSantis has lived in Florida for most of his life outside of the military and college, but he has roots in both areas. His father is from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, and his mother is from Youngstown. The couple met while attending Youngstown State University. At the beginning of his 40-minute speech, he showed a photo of himself as a toddler dressed head to toe in black and gold Pittsburgh Steelers uniforms.
“Not many people know that I was born in the late 1970s to a Steelers fan,” he said as the crowd went wild.
“I think that’s probably when they won the Super Bowl,” he said, laughing at the image on the screen.
The only thing he didn’t do throughout the speech was refer to his victories in any way with an “I.” This is critical: Nearly every mention of his administration’s accomplishments began with the word “we,” as did every mention of Republicans winning races and coming together.
It is also obvious that some of the press does not understand him or the people who support this movement or even who would consider him the Republican candidate. The coverage was as expected: attendees were ridiculed and his speech was called “barely disguised fascism” with almost no intellectual curiosity to understand.
It’s like clockwork. Few reporters learned anything not only from 2016, but from down-ballot races in 2020 in this state and states across the country where Democrats and the press wrongly assumed there would be a blue wave. Nor did they learn anything from the gubernatorial elections in Virginia, where Republican Glenn Youngkin won, or in New Jersey, where Democrats narrowly won a race they expected to win much easier.
The establishment media is treating DeSantis, like everyone else with the letter “R” in their name, treatment similar to how they treated former President Donald Trump – meaning it was never really about Trump; it was always about the establishment losing power and rank. They also plan to play whack-a-mole by trying to destroy or weaken every Republican candidate that comes up from now until the cows come home, as well as belittle Republican supporters.
We’ve now reached the point where former Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who is currently the Democratic candidate for governor against DeSantis, began his speech to voters by saying, “Those who supported the governor should stay with him and vote for him, and not I want your vote if so This hate in your heart, keep it there.”
If you have any doubt that Democrats or parts of the press still harbor contempt for conservatives or have learned from calling them deplorables, Crist has proven that sentiment still prevails.
Youngstown State University political science professor Paul Sracic says DeSantis’ trip here and to Youngstown shows his message is gaining traction in the Republican Party and that he has every intention of becoming president in 2024.
“Assuming Vance wins, he will probably remember who was there to help him in 2022,” Sracic said.
More importantly, Sracic said it shows the captivating place DeSantis currently holds in the Republican Party.
“Former Democrats from northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania were a large part of the conservative base that put Trump into the White House in 2016,” he explained.
Sracic said that while voters in these regions still like Trump for his policies, not everyone is thrilled with Vance yet, but he said they are indeed excited about DeSantis.
“He has the same political traits and approach as Trump,” said Sracic, an expert on the Rust Belt and conservative populism.
“The fact that DeSantis is able to attract Trump voters to Vance is further evidence that he is a potential successor to Trump,” Sracic continued. “Of course, if Trump runs in 2024 and DeSantis wants to challenge him, voters like those in Youngstown and the Pittsburgh area will become key swing votes in the GOP primary. DeSantis will be wise to travel here to remind these voters of the common roots he shares with them.”
