[Hoot Gibson]

https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/flo...01893.html

Florida is the only state where more people are dying of COVID now than ever before. What went wrong?

“Vaccines are working to prevent deaths in many other countries that have seen post vaccine spike in cases, and most other states in the U.S. as well. Florida is different,” Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, recently explained on Twitter. “What’s different in Florida is that, relative to the vaccination rate (~50%), the relaxation of distancing and masking was disproportionately high. Leaders expressed disdain for masks and mask mandates. The total number of people unvaccinated is high. And hospitals got overwhelmed.”

Are you aware of why Democrats are criticizing DeSantis's handling of the pandemic and why they chose to compare Florida's record to California's record in such a way to make it seem like he is doing a poor job compared to Democrat governors? The states at the top of the rankings of COVID deaths per capita have Democrat governors and Florida has a far better record than New York and New Jersey. Florida also has one of the nation's highest average age because it is such a popular destination for retirees. In addition, the fact that Florida is also one of the nation's most popular tourist destinations is an additional challenge during a pandemic.

The only reason Democrats are going after DeSantis is that he is among the top presidential prospects in the GOP for 2024 and beyond. He has kept Florida in the middle of the pack, as measured by COVID deaths per capita and he has done so without destroying Florida's economy. He is among those most responsible for bringing an influx of people and businesses to his state that have fled states with Democrat governors.

If you pay attention to the COVID statistics, it seems like the variability between states has been shrinking with time. In other words, over the long run, I am not sure that there will be a huge difference in states at the top and bottom of the lists, regardless of what actions their state's governors have taken. If that is true, then states that have made efforts to preserve jobs will deserve far more credit than Democrats like you will ever give.