Viable? Yes. Suitable? Possibly.

Rich Lowry ably dissects the latest blatantly dishonest left-wing attack on Ron DeSantis, a 60 Minutes hit piece about his plan to work with the state's most popular grocery chain to help distribute Covid vaccines.

We do need someone who fights back, but we don't need another strongman. The media won't help us know the difference, because they'll label either as "combative." (Image by Hermes Rivera, via Unsplash, license.)

Florida turned to the widely popular Publix chain because, as Florida's emergency management director (a Democrat) explained, other pharmacies weren't ready to start distribution yet. The mayor of Palm Beach County, another Democrat, has said the county specifically requested that the state expand its Publix partnership to Palm Beach. 60 Minutes left this out.

It also deceptively edited an answer DeSantis gave to a question from a 60 Minutes journalist about Publix at a press conference, removing his persuasive and detailed explanation why the supposed scandal is a nonstory, but leaving in his angry denials.

The downside for DeSantis is that he's been smeared by the most iconic news magazine show on American television; the upside is that this latest, swiftly debunked media attack contributes to his ongoing ascent in the Republican political firmament. [format edits, bold added]

I am not sure I agree with him, but Lowry goes further to assert that DeSantis is "what the post-Trump GOP should look like." What I do agree with is that DeSantis has the political ability to appeal to Trump voters and better conservatives. For example:

DeSantis has navigated the Trump years with a deft political touch. He hasn't gotten tripped up trying to walk a tightrope on Trump, the way Nikki Haley has, or seemed constantly to be trying too hard to please Trump voters, the way Senator Josh Hawley has, or told Trump partisans to pound sand, the way Senator Ben Sasse has.

And, later:

The governor checks key Trumpian boxes. Trump's supporters want someone who is a fighter, who gives as good as he gets with the media, and has the right enemies.

These things are both true.

Like him or not, or agree with him or not, these things make DeSantis important to pay attention to.

The Biden Administration and the media, all far-left, tone-deaf, and anti-American, are likely to pave the way for the GOP in the 2024 race. Advocates of freedom should be aware of what we might get, and so we should pay close attention to Florida's governor.

-- CAV

P.S. Two things bother me already, because they are less-than ideal reactions to bad positions from the left: (1) The governor, by adhering to the Great Barrington Declaration, apparently fell for the false lockdown vs. national chickenpox party dichotomy of pandemic response alternatives. Good on him for not wanting to destroy the state's economy, but still... (2) His form of opposition to statist proposals for a "vaccine passport" imperils free speech and freedom of association. Prohibiting a business from inquiring about vaccination status is not the same thing as forbidding government from forcing us to register as such. The government should neither force nor prohibit speech.

Updates

4-14-21: Corrected a typo.