Stand on Principle and Win
Remember Ron DeSantis.
To achieve political victory by deceiving the public about who you are and what you will do once in office is no victory at all. It will not be a win for the candidate who will be eventually exposed as a fraud once elected, and in such a case, it is no win for the people who will be left suffering the consequences of policies they did not really want.
And the truth is that, usually, people can detect and will be attracted to authenticity. But, more important yet, a battle-tested leader who stands by his convictions in support of American families is nearly impossible to beat.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ overwhelming victory in Florida is an excellent example of this longstanding principle. The incumbent governor of The Sunshine State won reelection over Democrat Charlie Crist by almost 20 percentage points (57.7% to 41.3%), with 95% of the votes counted by the time of this writing. He won 62 out of 67 counties, and NBC exit polls showed a big shift of support towards him among Hispanic voters (among Puerto Ricans, it was an incredible 21 points shift from 34% to 55% support).
This, in a traditional “purple” state with a governor who boldly supports the sanctity of every human life, stands against leftist woke ideology, including the early sexualization of children in schools and men competing in women’s sports, stands against big tech corporations censoring speech, who stood firmly against the hysterical reaction to the COVID pandemic, and who decidedly fought to keep the state safe by fighting against the federal government’s effective promotion of illegal immigration.
But DeSantis was not playing the polls when he stood for these policies. He was courageously standing on principle, and it showed. His policies worked. People’s lives were made better, and the people rejoiced (see Proverbs 29:2).
So don’t buy the political pundits saying abortion was a major factor for some of their preferred candidates to lose—it’s nonsense. Remember Ron DeSantis.
The problem is those candidates who don’t want to talk about “abortion” so as not to alienate voters. Guess what? Voters can see right through you. I do not know which is worse, a candidate who doesn’t really care about the pro-life issue but pays it lip service to appease the base or a candidate who is genuinely pro-life and who cowardly disguises it to attract “pro-choice” votes. They both lack the conviction necessary to be effective leaders.
J.D. Vance also won his senate seat decisively in Ohio while standing firmly on his pro-life, pro-family convictions. To be sure, he was viciously attacked because of it, but he did not waver, stood by his convictions, and won. He will have a chance now to show the effectiveness of his public policy positions by standing by those convictions and making people’s lives better—à la Ron DeSantis. The proof will be in the pudding, as they say, by the time reelection comes.
That goes for the expected GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives as well. As they look towards 2024, the political consultant class will inevitably counsel them to temper their professed pro-life, pro-family convictions. “Stay away from social issues,” they always say, and this will therefore become an important test of their collective character.
Will they stand on principle or play the political “polls”? They should know which way to go if they want to win. And if they still have doubts, they should call Gov. DeSantis—he knows.
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