A Vote for Ron DeSantis Is a Vote for Racism

The race for Florida governor is the most heated in the history of Sunshine State politics. Why? When the black man runs against a white man, all hell breaks loose. It shouldn’t be that way. Voters should be colorblind when it comes to electing the best person for the job.

Skin color certainly didn’t influence me. In the Democratic primary, I backed former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine because I believed he offered Floridians the best hope. But he lost to Andrew Gillum, the progressive mayor of Tallahassee who is now up against the racist Donald Trump political machine.

It’s really no contest. Gillum is an intelligent man who has run a city well. His opponent is an ex-congressman whose only career accomplishment is brown-nosing the president. Ron DeSantis is not fit to be governor because he surrounds himself with racists and is a Trump Republican, part of a new breed of Tea Party conservatives that doesn't care about anyone. He has no regard for women, blacks, Muslims, immigrants, or anyone else with a dark complexion. He and his president only rev up their followers to shoot up black churches and synagogues. One of them, Cesar Sayoc, is accused of mailing pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and Trump critics.

DeSantis and Florida Republicans are harping on an FBI investigation into lobbyists who were close to Gillum. But every city in America goes through some type of ethics and public corruption investigation. And every politician has to hobnob with lobbyists. Shit, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has a lobbyist son who has parlayed his father's ties to working for Donald Trump. He gets less criticism than Gillum. And when politicians leave office, many of them start second careers as lobbyists.

So far, all DeSantis can come up with is an undercover FBI agent giving Gillum tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway. Meanwhile, while he was in Congress, DeSantis did everything he could to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Trump campaign. That probe has resulted in the conviction of four former Trump campaign advisers and 26 Russian nationals.

As far as policy initiatives, DeSantis has none. And he is afraid to challenge the National Rifle Association. Gillum wants a $15 per hour minimum wage, Medicare for all, and a ban on assault rifles.

Many people who voted for Trump are now embarrassed by him. They justified their vote by saying they didn’t want Hillary Clinton to continue four more years of Obama. Yet, Obama saved the country by bailing out the automotive and banking industries, among other accomplishments. So they were really just voting for Trump because he is white.

It’s the same situation in the governor’s race. There is no reason to vote for DeSantis. If you do, it's because he's white. Do I agree with everything Gillum says? No. Is he clearly the best candidate for the job? Yes.

Follow Luke on Twitter: @unclelukereal1