The EconomistApril 4th 2020 United States 35T
homas jefferson’sdictum that good governance comes “not
by the consolidation or concentration of powers, but by their
distribution” has never looked more apposite. While the adminis-
tration has floundered against the coronavirus, most state gover-
nors have stepped up.
Andrew Cuomo of New York is the pandemic’s breakout star.
His grimly informative press briefings are a reminder of what san-
ity in high office looks like. His approval rating is nearly 90%. But
Jay Inslee of Washington state, Gavin Newsom of California, Larry
Hogan of Maryland and Mike DeWine of Ohio, two Democrats and
two Republicans, have been similarly impressive. All were shut-
tering businesses and enforcing social distancing while Donald
Trump questioned whether the pandemic was much of a thing.
Mr Newsom’s prompt action may have spared California the
level of crisis Mr Cuomo is facing. Mr Hogan, chair of the National
Governors’ Association, suggested he would keep Maryland
locked down even if Mr Trump ordered him not to: “You can’t put a
time-frame on saving people’s lives.” Yet there is an exception to
this pattern. In Florida, a state with a large, unusually mobile pop-
ulation and more old people than almost any other, Ron DeSantis
seems to have taken his public-health advice from the president.
The image of American hubris against the coronavirus is of
Florida’s beaches packed with Spring Breakers. Mr DeSantis had re-
fused to close them—thereby drawing instant comparisons with
the mayor of Amity Island in the “Jaws” films. A heat map of the
cell-phone signals emitted by a crowd of fun-seekers on Fort Lau-
derdale beach—almost two months after America had recorded its
first coronavirus case—suggests they have since fanned out all
across America.
Florida alone had over 7,000 confirmed coronavirus cases at
the time of writing and the number was doubling every three-to-
four days. But most of its businesses were still free to operate, Mr
DeSantis having refused to lock the state down. Under mounting
pressure from anxious Floridians, he said he would do so from
April 3rd, fully two weeks after Mr Newsom.
To idle millions of workers is no small decision. Yet the 41-year-
old Mr DeSantis has denied himself the benefit of the doubt with a
wretchedly political performance. His daily messaging has been
neurotically in step with the White House, not Florida’s public-
health experts. This makes his slowness to act look designed to
placate a president who—until this week—was liable to take any
economy-dampening measure as a personal affront.
Mr DeSantis meanwhile aped the president’s histrionics by or-
dering senseless roadblocks to catch infected New Yorkers, warn-
ing cruise ships not to land sick “foreigners” and lambasting criti-
cal journalists. In one way, his tactics worked. Where Mr Cuomo
claims to have received a fraction of the medical supplies he has re-
quested from the federal government, Florida has got every mask
and ventilator it has asked for. Even so, Mr DeSantis’s pandemic re-
sponse has looked increasingly reckless. It also indicates how Mr
Trump is—and is not—changing his party.
The contrasting performances of Mr DeWine and Mr DeSantis,
both of whom took office last year, are no accident. The 73-year-old
Ohioan won election based on a record for pragmatism accrued
during four decades in public life. Mr DeSantis entered Florida’s
Republican governor’s primary as an undistinguished, little-
known congressman. He won it by proclaiming his devotion to Mr
Trump, who promptly endorsed him, thereby knocking out the De-
Wine equivalent, Florida’s respected agriculture commissioner.
Eschewing dull policy talk (to the extent that some questioned
whether he even had a platform), Mr DeSantis copied Mr Trump’s
campaign tactics, too. He warned Floridians not to “monkey this
up” by electing his African-American opponent, Andrew Gillum.
He derided Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a hate-fig-
ure on the right, as “this girl...or whatever she is”. His obsequious-
ness towards Mr Trump was so extreme that he made a joke of it in
a campaign ad that depicted him teaching his infant children
Trump slogans, while building a wall out of toy bricks.
Anyone might think he was a diehard economic populist. On
the contrary, Mr DeSantis is a pretty standard-issue small-govern-
ment conservative, albeit with a pragmatic streak of his own. For
example, he has sought to redress the environmental vandalism of
his predecessor, Rick Scott, by appointing high-level science and
climate-resilience advisers and investing in watershed conserva-
tion. This has won him plaudits across the political divide—even
as he has praised Mr Trump to honour his debt. Last year Mr DeSan-
tis passed legislation to ban havens for illegal immigrants known
as “sanctuary cities”. In a state where a fifth of the population is
foreign-born, this was divisive—and also unnecessary. There were
not any in Florida.DeSantis Spiritus
For all the disruption to conservatism he promised, Mr Trump has
changed it at an elite level remarkably little. He has promoted op-
portunists such as Mr DeSantis, willing to ingratiate themselves to
him, not populist firebrands. This is at least better than it might
have been (remember Steve Bannon?). So, it must be said, is Mr De-
Santis: his pre-pandemic governorship was far better than his
campaign gave reason to expect. Even so, the virus has exposed the
weakness of a patronage system with Mr Trump at its apex.
Mr DeWine is able to compensate for Mr Trump’s shortcomings
because he owes him nothing. Mr DeSantis owes him everything—
which forces him to accentuate them. Much good may that do him.
Floridians appear to be turning against him. They of all Ameri-
cans recognise a bungled disaster response. Meanwhile Mr Trump,
having at last recognised the disaster America faces, is making
nice with all the governors. He says they are America’s front line.
This suggests he means to blame them for what is to come. 7Lexington A shadow over the Sunshine State
Ron DeSantis is Donald Trump’s and the coronavirus’s favourite governor