The Catharsis Candidacy

In the middle of his campaign kickoff speech in Iowa, Ron DeSantis was ticking through a seemingly endless list of legislative accomplishments he has had in Florida as governor. But then he suddenly stepped aside from the microphone and invited his wife Casey DeSantis to speak.

The decision to hand over this part of the introduction seemed to have a specific purpose. More easily than her husband, Casey DeSantis summons genuine passion in her political oratory. She was there to talk about the governor’s leadership during Covid and to emphasize that this crisis was a test of political leadership, a test that Ron DeSantis alone passed.