The Morning Briefing: DeSantis Day at CPAC Was a Lot of Fun

Top O’ the Briefing

Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. I have no idea why there’s a quesadilla on the ironing board.

The first day of CPAC Disneylando went a lot better than I thought it would. Oddly, it seemed as if there were fewer outlandish costume types around. One would have thought that Florida Man might show up in a variety of disturbing incarnations, but he was nowhere to be seen.

In these contentious and often tedious political times, it’s difficult to find glimmers of good to catch our eyes, especially when hanging around on the internet all day. There is something refreshing about meeting up with like-minded people in person. It’s the right kind of booster shot.

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) wasted no time flexing its star power this year. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke yesterday and, as Matt writes, he brought it:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got a rock star welcome at CPAC 2022 and delivered a phenomenal speech, in which he mocked the left’s hypocrisy and their efforts to curtail liberty.

“Let me welcome you to the freest state in these United States,” DeSantis began. “We were lucky enough to have CPAC in 2021, and I’m happy to inform you in 2021, Florida set an all-time record for domestic tourism coming into our state. And those record numbers include a number of lockdown politicians who locked down their own people, restrict their own people, mandate — governors, mayors, big TV hosts — they criticize Florida, and the first chance they get, what did they do? They escaped to freedom in the state of Florida.”

As a New York resident who has been in Florida the past five days, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of which DeSantis spoke. Of course, unlike the left, that doesn’t make me a hypocrite.

Well, almost the freest state; we can’t get hard liquor at the Publix near our condo. In the great state of Arizona, I can buy a bottle of Jameson at a 7-11.

Priorities, people.

CPAC’s move to Florida is one of the few positive things to have happened because of the pandemic. Throwing 10,000 or so conservatives into the Swamp was always an odd fit. Also, we shouldn’t be bringing a financial boon like this to a commie state like Maryland.

Back to DeSantis. Jeff writes that the man of the hour/week/month/year seems focused on the bigger prize:

He then gave a devastating rundown of President Joe Biden’s failures, sending a clear message that he’s paying attention to the national political scene. He said Biden’s first year was the worst first year of any president since the 1800s. As both governor, and as a potential front-runner for the GOP nomination for president in 2024, DeSantis said he has a duty to push back against an out-of-control federal government and create a “beacon and bastion of freedom” in Florida. He noted a man from Australia who emailed him, thanking him for giving people around the world the hope that freedom still exists somewhere in the world.

And, of course, he said he would re-route the illegal aliens Biden has sent to Florida in late night flights — to Biden’s home state of Delaware.

Applause line after applause line.

During the heyday of the Tea Party movement, I often talked and wrote about the importance of taking the movement offline and getting energized by working together face-to-face. The up-close and personal stuff is even more important after the dispiriting couple of years we’ve just endured.

The future is never certain, but it does seem to be a little brighter here this week.

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