Florida Ascendant

John Hinderaker writes in Powerline. This article is two years old but Geoffrey Clarfield feels it is well worth bringing forward again. 

People vote most sincerely when they vote with their feet. One of the basic realities of our time, transcending and perhaps ultimately overwhelming many of our current political debates, is that people are fleeing blue states and moving to red states. What states are in decline? California, New York, Illinois, Minnesota. What states are prospering? Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah. And above all, Florida.

Current Census Bureau data speak for themselves:

Florida’s growth isn’t mainly retirees. It is a great place to do business: I have been to Florida four times in the last four months, and can attest that the state is booming. You pretty much have to see Naples, for example, to believe it. It isn’t just economic prosperity, either–Florida has an atmosphere of fun, activity, and freedom that draws people from across the country.

Florida benefits, obviously, from excellent leadership. Governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s Republican legislature have scored another win with the state’s anti-grooming law, which protects small children from being indoctrinated with LGBTQ+ theories in the public schools. Remarkably, liberals have chosen grooming as a hill to die on, as in the Oscars … even though polls show the Florida law is supported overwhelmingly by Florida Democrats, let alone Republicans and Independents.

The exodus of voters from blue states to red states is one of several demographic trends that bode well for conservatives in future decades.