A RON DESANTIS MASTER CLASS IN ROPE-A-DOPE:

An aside on claims that DeSantis was absent from his job: This is, ultimately, a process story. Process stories, though much beloved by the political media, tend to break through to the greater public and do real damage only if the voters actually think the politician is doing a bad job, or if they think the politician is hiding because they are actually unwell. Then again, ever since Mark Sanford’s absence from office turned into a sexual-affair story that ended his career in statewide office, people in politics have taken the view that a missing politician might be hiding something bigger.

But it was foolhardy to go after DeSantis on this for related reasons: It was the Christmas holidays. DeSantis has young children. He’s likely got a busy reelection schedule in 2022, perhaps followed by a presidential campaign. And his wife is battling breast cancer. Nobody would really begrudge the man spending a little more holiday time this year with his family.

Still, Florida Democrats are nothing if not fools. And the DeSantis haters nationally only loathe and fear him all the more for the sheer number of times they thought they had him only to see him, like the Road Runner, sprint away undamaged while his pursuers wiped the shrapnel off their own faces.

So, Nikki Fried (vying with Charlie Crist to be DeSantis’s hapless opponent this November) pushed hard on the “where is Ron?” theme. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, when caught vacationing in Florida, played that card as well: “Hasn’t Gov. DeSantis been inexplicably missing for like two weeks? If he’s around, I would be happy to say hello.” MSNBC’s Joy Reid claimed that DeSantis was “not governing during a crisis; and sunning his belly on vacation instead.”

There Is Ron

After letting this go on for two weeks, DeSantis answered his critics: He had been busy instead accompanying his wife to her cancer treatments. As he explained:

“I just looked at my wife. I’m like, ‘going to the hospital with you is not a vacation for you, I know that,’” DeSantis said. “This is something that as a husband, I think I should be doing. I’ve accompanied her to all her chemotherapy treatments. She’s there for a long time. I’m there most of the time.” “But it’s a draining thing,” the Governor added. “When she’s done with it, it’s not something that’s great to see.”

DeSantis said that for many people, including those who had gone through breast cancer treatments, “the notion that would be considered a vacation is offensive to a lot of those folks, and they understand what you’re doing.”

This was a textbook example of a perfect rope-a-dope. DeSantis could have shut down his critics earlier; instead, he let them wallow in their “trend this on Twitter” antics and increasingly overwrought rhetoric before finally wading in to present a reason for being out of the public eye that is beyond public criticism.

DeSantis then turned the knife on Ocasio-Cortez and other critics of his relatively unrestrictive COVID policies who nonetheless enjoy decamping to Florida for vacations:

“If I had a dollar for every lock-down politician who decided to escape to Florida over the last two years, I’d be a pretty doggone wealthy man, let me tell you,” DeSantis said Monday. “I mean Congresspeople, mayors, governors, you name it.”

“It’s interesting, though, the reception that some of these folks will get in Florida because I think a lot of Floridians say, ‘Wait a minute. You’re bashing us because we’re not doing your draconian policies and yet we’re the first place you want to flee to, to basically to be able to enjoy life,’” the Republican governor added. “So I’m not surprised to see that continuing to happen.”

Related: DeSantis Delivers Smackdown to Reporters One-By-One Best of 2021 (Video).