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The states are becoming two of the nation’s biggest ideological rivals. Superman has Bizarro, a powerful antagonist who resembles him from afar but has the opposite instincts. Florida and California have each other.
Advisors to Newsom and DeSantis, who are coming off landslide reelection victories, expect competition to escalate between the two governors, who could at some point run for president. But their differences are greater than one contest between two men. They also reflect widening national schisms over culture, lifestyle and the definition of freedom — between those who see institutions as forces to lift people up and those who see them bearing down on people.
From a distance, the two coastal states look similar: beaches and natural disasters; kitschy theme parks full of tourists; orange groves paved over by housing developments; and populations that swell with people from elsewhere seeking to remake themselves in places unburdened by their pasts. But their differences have often come to dominate the national conversation in recent months.
“California represents to the right: high taxes, Hollywood, strange parades in San Francisco where the drag queens not only read stories, they prance,” said Diane Roberts, a Florida-based author and DeSantis critic who writes about her state’s culture and history. “Whereas in Florida, we’re investigating a drag queen Christmas show.”
Florida is the toxic waste dump for Blue State undesirables.