Why the DeSantis-Newsom clash is the best debate of the year

By Charlie Mahtesian

Presented by the Consumer Credit Card Protection Coalition

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are set to debate tonight. | AP

MARS VS. VENUS — At first glance, tonight’s Fox News “Great State Debate” between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom seems like must-avoid TV: Two of the thirstiest pols on the planet engaged in a televised, 90-minute spectacle designed to remind us how our nation is tearing itself apart.

Yet there’s good cause to watch it, and not just for the bloodsport.

The event, billed as a debate over the future of America, is the conversation we almost certainly won’t get in next year’s presidential election, between two big-state governors who figure to be on the national stage for years to come.

It is Mars and Venus in action, with each defending and promoting the values of distinct American civilizations. DeSantis carries the red state banner; Newsom represents the blue states. Abortion, tax policy, education, immigration, crime, the role and size of government and all the culture war staples will be front and center.

Boiled down to its essence, American politics has always been a story about population migration and its after-effects. And that’s what makes a debate between the governors of California and Florida so compelling. They represent two of the three biggest states in the nation, one seemingly in eclipse, the other in ascent, both shaped by tidal waves of newcomers seeking the latest iteration of the American Dream.

California’s growth was once so rapid that it picked up new House seats by the handful, decade after decade. Decennial reapportionment gave the state eight new House seats after the 1990 Census; after the 1960 Census, it picked up seven seats. To read historian Kevin Starr’s vivid accounts of California at mid-century is to be reminded of the power of the American experiment.

Today, for all its natural beauty and promise, it increasingly looks like a sclerotic, one-party state that is hemorrhaging population — it lost a House seat after the most recent census, for the first time in its 173-year history. DeSantis has seized on California’s woes as an indictment of Democratic governance.

His own state is growing at a fast rate, but seems to lack the aspiration of California at its zenith. Increasingly red Florida is too often in the national news for the wrong reasons, frequently appearing small-minded, cruel and intolerant, as Newsom has been quick to point out.

Implied in the very creation of a debate between two governors who aren’t running against each other is a truth about the two likely presidential nominees, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump: Neither is capable of articulating a compelling vision of governance or their party’s principles.

The face-off between the two Gen X governors is so gripping precisely because each is capable of making those arguments, and is cocksure in his ideological views. DeSantis looks west toward California and sees Woke Mordor; Newsom’s idea of Florida is The Hunger Games’ Panem, but with more sunshine. They have spent the better part of the past two years in mutually advantageous conflict — attacking each other in the media, fundraising off each other, even appearing on their rival’s home turf to disparage one another.

“We have had a great experiment, a great test in governance philosophies,” DeSantis said in a March speech at the Ronald Reagan Library in California’s Simi Valley. “If you look over the last four years, we’ve witnessed a great American exodus from states governed by leftist politicians imposing leftist ideology and delivering poor results.”

The prior year, amid DeSantis’ successful reelection run, Newsom took out ads over the Fourth of July holiday in Florida saying “freedom is under attack in your state.”

“I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight,” Newsom says in the spot, “or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom: freedom of speech, freedom to choose freedom from hate, and the freedom to love. Don’t let them take your freedom.”

In the run-up to tonight’s debate, the two camps have haggled over logistical details to ensure neither has even the slightest hint of an advantage. Newsom’s camp has primed the media — and his party — by reminding them that part of his mission is to defend Biden, and that the deck might be stacked against him since the debate is being moderated by Fox News’ Sean Hannity. For DeSantis, the goal is different: His flagging presidential campaign is in need of an adrenaline shot.

It looks increasingly unlikely that the 2024 general election will have a series of robust, substantive presidential debates — or perhaps any debates at all. For that reason alone, the “Great State Debate” is not to be missed.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at cmahtesian@politico.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @PoliticoCharlie.

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— New York court reinstates Trump’s gag orders in civil fraud case: A New York state appeals court reinstated the gag orders issued by the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial today, lifting a pause on the orders that was put into effect earlier this month by one of the court’s judges. In its two-page order, the appeals court didn’t explain its decision for reinstating the gag orders, which bar Trump and his lawyers from commenting on staff working for the trial judge, Justice Arthur Engoron.

— Meta files suit to kneecap the FTC: Meta is suing the Federal Trade Commission, challenging the constitutionality of its in-house enforcement powers in a bid to stop the agency from unilaterally changing the terms of a 2020 privacy settlement. The tech giant argued in its suit filed late Wednesday that the agency has “structurally unconstitutional authority” in how it enforces cases against companies through its in-house administrative court. On Monday, Meta lost a bid to bar the FTC from reopening a 2020 enforcement order against the company, in which the agency accused Meta of privacy violations against children. Meta filed an appeal to that decision on Tuesday. Meta is also seeking to pause the FTC’s case while its lawsuit and appeal play out.

— Former N.J. Trump golf club worker says she was sexually harassed, forced into signing NDA: A former server at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster alleges she was sexually harassed and coerced into sex by a supervisor, then tricked into signing an illegal non-disclosure agreement by Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba. The former server, Alice Bianco, made the allegations in a lawsuit against Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster filed Wednesday in New Jersey’s Middlesex County Superior Court. Trump is not named as a defendant in the suit.

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WRITE IN JOE — President Joe Biden’s name won’t appear on New Hampshire’s primary ballot, but top Democrats are now organizing a grassroots write-in campaign aimed at preventing an embarrassing loss for the president that might fuel concerns about his chances in 2024, reports Reuters.

Thousands of voters have already committed to the effort along with county and local party chairs, said California Congressman Ro Khanna, who is leading a call with organizers tonight on the effort.

The effort has just a $100,000 budget, but plans to put a volunteer to explain the process at each of New Hampshire’s over-300 polling stations, and distribute pamphlets and printouts.

OPEN QUESTION — The Republican National Committee’s rules for next year’s nominating contest and convention were released this week without addressing a question the GOP could well face next summer, reports the Associated Press: Can the party’s delegates vote for a different candidate if the presumptive nominee is convicted of a felony? 

Bound delegates must vote for a particular presidential candidate at the convention based on the results of the primary or caucus in their state. As in past years, every state party must bind its delegates to vote for their assigned candidates during at least the first round of voting at the national convention, with limited exceptions for a small number of delegates. A candidate wins the nomination if they clinch a majority, which is 1,215 delegates.

At next year’s convention, which starts July 15 in Milwaukee, there will be opportunities to tweak the rules when they are adopted or to suspend them, which can require two-thirds of delegates to approve on a vote.

‘ELECTORAL CORRUPTION’ — Florida Democrats are planning to cancel their presidential primary in an effort to take Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) off of the ballot, POLITICO reports — and Phillips is mad. The Minnesota congressman – who is running a longshot bid against President Joe Biden — accused the Florida Democratic Party of rigging the primary and threatened a lawsuit.

Under Florida state law, the parties decide what names get to be on the ballot and if only one is submitted, the state does not hold a primary. The Florida Democratic Party submitted only Biden’s name as a candidate up for nomination, practically expelling Phillips name from the ballot and canceling the presidential primary.

Phillips called the handling of the process by the Florida Democrats a “blatant act of electoral corruption” and demanded Biden “condemn and immediately address” it.

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Hostages are transported in International Committee of the Red Cross vehicles from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah land crossing today. | Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images

EXTENSION AGREEMENT — Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their temporary cease-fire for an extra day today, as two gunmen killed three people in a shooting in Jerusalem, reports POLITICO EU.

The cease-fire — which had already been extended by two days earlier this week — was set to expire today at 7 a.m. local time (6 a.m. CET), but was extended in a last-minute announcement. It is now due to run until Friday morning local time.

“The Palestinian and Israeli sides have reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip for an additional day under the existing conditions,” said the Qatari foreign ministry in a statement, minutes before the truce was due to expire.

Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel has halted military activity and allowed humanitarian aid to enter into the Gaza strip, in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages its militants kidnapped from Israel during the Oct. 7 mass attack. Israel has also released Palestinians held in Israeli detention.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today that the truce “has demonstrated success in securing the freedom of hostages and in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza” and that the U.S. wants “to see it continue.”

Shortly after the extension of the cease-fire, though, Israeli police said two gunmen had opened fire at civilians at a bus station on the outskirts of Jerusalem, reportedly killing three people and injuring at least 16 others. Police said the suspects, who were residents of East Jerusalem, were “neutralized on the spot.” Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, calling for “an escalation of the resistance.”

COP 28 KICK OFF — Two weeks, at least 100,000 attendees and a major oil producer serving as host country — with the Earth’s future high on the agenda.

The COP 28 United Nations climate talks that began today in Dubai aim to get nearly 200 countries to agree to actions to limit the worst impacts of global warming. They come at the end of what is likely the hottest year on record, as study after study shows that planet-warming pollution is still rising, along with the fossil fuel production that drives it.

Delegates meeting in the United Arab Emirates will make decisions about issues including the fate of coal, oil and natural gas, along with the trillions of dollars needed to avoid and respond to catastrophes. They’ll do so amid hardening divisions over trade, wars on two continents and economic instability.

Want to follow along with the conference like an expert? Here’s POLITICO’s guide.

GET A BACKSTAGE PASS TO COP28 WITH GLOBAL PLAYBOOK: Get insider access to the conference that sets the tone of the global climate agenda with POLITICO's Global Playbook newsletter. Authored by Suzanne Lynch, Global Playbook delivers exclusive, daily insights and comprehensive coverage that will keep you informed about the most crucial climate summit of the year. Dive deep into the critical discussions and developments at COP28 from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12. SUBSCRIBE NOW.

SPOTIFY TAPPED — Millions of Spotify users got their Spotify Wrapped yesterday — a summary of their most listened to songs and artists compiled into a fun little video. But for some people, opening their Spotify Wrapped brought a musician they had never heard before: Lil Durk. The Chicago rapper’s appearance on many people’s annual music summaries comes from an apparent hacking earlier this year. In May, many Spotify users complained on social media about the unknown rapper filling up their playlists and charts despite never having listened to Lil Durk before. Now, come the end of November when their yearly data is compiled, Lil Durk is back making their top artist and song lists, despite thousands of hours listening to other music. In VICE, Matthew Gault looks at how a hacking campaign ruined some people’s Spotify Wrapped with no comment or acknowledgement of it from the music listening company.

On this date in 1981: 24 members of a Muslim extremist group go on trial for the October 6 assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Five in the trial were ultimately sentenced to death, 17 others were convicted and two were cleared. | Bill Foley/AP

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