oh, yeah: about that debate

For over 24 hours, I wasn't hearing anything about the debate between governors Ron DeSantis (R-Florida) and Gavin Newsom (D-California). There were some scattered clips on YouTube, tailored to the perspectives of the people putting the clips together ("DeSantis owns Newsom!" "Newsom obliterates DeSantis!"), but I wasn't seeing any commentary from my usual sources (including Styx, who probably thinks the debate didn't move any needles). Then, finally, there was this, linked from Instapundit.

Headline:

DeSantis DOMINATES in Red State-Blue State Debate With Newsom

This brings us to tonight's Red State/Blue State debate in Alpharetta, Ga., moderated by Sean Hannity on Fox News. 

Hannity promised at the beginning of the debate that he would not tip the scales in favor of one candidate, but the questions he asked and the graphics he displayed definitely favored DeSantis. He debated Newsom several times, which I wish he hadn't done. DeSantis proved more than capable of handling Newsom on his own. In fact, he wiped the floor with Newsom, who wouldn't know a truthful statement if it hit him in the head. Over and over again, the Florida governor used facts to back up his claims and called out Newsom for saying things that were not true. 

The first question was about net migration from California to Florida. DeSantis explained why people are leaving and coming to Florida. "You almost have to try to mess California up," he quipped. 

When it was Newsom's turn to answer, he completely ignored the question and rambled about all the great things California has, like Silicon Valley (which no doubt carts a truckload of cash over to Newsom's campaign every other month). 

Hannity tried a second time to get Newsom to answer the question. Newsom claimed that more people have moved from Florida to California over the last two years, which contradicted the graphic Hannity posted from the Census Bureau. 

DeSantis called Newsom "slick and slippery." 

California has "failed because of his leftist ideology," he added. "We must choose freedom over failure." 

I almost want to see the debate now. For DeSantis, at least, this is good because it gives the public a chance to see him without a crowd of other GOP contenders, allowing for a more focused evaluation of his policies and priorities. It won't be enough to push DeSantis's numbers up to Trumpian levels—Trump clearly has the nomination in the bag—but it still might benefit DeSantis in some way. Only time will tell.