Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom. (AP Photo)

Dear Commons Community,

As voters continue to express their distaste at the prospect of a 2020 presidential rematch next year, two fresher-faced governors provided the current contest with a sideshow that could preview a future race.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California have been polar opposites since taking office and often use each other as public foils when making their political arguments.

Billed as a red state versus blue state debate, the discussion comes at a time when DeSantis’ 2024 campaign has fallen short of expectations as the chief rival against former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary and Newsom has repeatedly denied that he’s waiting in the wings on the Democratic side.

“The one thing we have in common is neither of us will be our party’s nominee in 2024,” Newsom said Thursday night.

But DeSantis’s struggles seven weeks ahead of the Iowa caucuses cannot fully eclipse troubles on the Democratic side.

Prominent liberals are openly questioning President Joe Biden’s fitness with many progressives saying he should bow out due to lingering questions about his mental and physical capabilities.

“And you know, Gavin Newsom agrees with that,” DeSantis said during Thursday’s debate. “He won’t say that. That’s why he’s running his shadow campaign.”

Below are five takeaways from yesterday’s clash courtesy of USA Today.

Tony

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Gen-X leaders tussle over Biden, Trump

Given the role age is expected to play in the 2024 presidential contest, the two governors — when compared to the 81-year-old Biden and 77-year-old Trump — are young, rising stars in their respective parties.

Almost every question asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity, who moderated the conversation, will be viewed through the lens of the current presidential race as the two jousted over whose state is doing better.

Newsom, 56, regularly defended the Biden administration and stiff armed suggestions that he will run while regularly scoring digs against DeSantis, 45, who has struggled since entering the GOP primary.

“Joe Biden will be our nominee in a matter of weeks,” Newsom said. “And in a matter of weeks… (Ron) will be endorsing Donald Trump as a nominee for the Republican Party.”

But Florida’s leader struck back by regularly calling attention to how voters remain pessimistic about higher costs and many don’t believe the president is up to the job.

“(Gavin) says Joe Biden is 100% up to the job,” DeSantis said. “You know that’s not true. He wants you to believe him over your own lying eyes.”

COVID-19 differences: ‘You even wore a mask’

One area where DeSantis and Newsom arguably couldn’t be more different is their philosophy on how the country handled the coronavirus pandemic, which was a defining issue for many governors in 2020.

DeSantis has hung much of his popularity among conservatives on resisting COVID-19 restrictions. He boasted about that during Thursday’s debate, claiming the California governor hurt the economy and students by refusing to release certain closures.

“I had Disney opened during COVID and we made them a fortune. We saved a lot of jobs,” he said. “You had Disney closed inexplicably for over a year. You are not following science. You were a lockdown governor, you did a lot of damage to your people.”

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Newsom fired back, however, by pointing out the negative health consequences and how DeSantis embraced restrictions in the early days of the crisis when Florida declared the pandemic an emergency and imposed closures at beaches, bars and restaurants.

“You even wore a mask,” Newsom said. “He did all of that until he decided to fall prey to the fringe of his party, and as a consequence of that, Ron, tens of thousands of people lost their lives.”

Mispronouncing the VP’s name

During one tiny exchange during the COVID-19 portion of the debate, Newsom called out DeSantis over the pronunciation of Vice President Kamala Harris’ name.

Newsom interrupted DeSantis, saying the Florida Republican was insulting her on purpose.

“It’s Madame vice president to you,” Newsom said. “Stop insulting.”

California vs. Florida: Crime, gun safety and homelessness

Much of the debate also touched on how differently red and blue states address problems from taxes to violent crime.

At the outset, DeSantis and Newsom battled over why Americans are leaving more liberal-leaning states for more conservatives ones, according to Census data.

DeSantis, who at one point held up a map documenting human feces in San Fransisco, noted how even Newsom’s father-in-law moved to the Sunshine State in recent years.

New population data has shown roughly 29,000 Floridians moved to California in 2022, compared to about 51,000 Californians flocking to Florida.

“He’s the first governor to ever lose population,” DeSantis said. “They actually, at one point, ran out of U-Hauls in the state of California because so many people were leaving.”

At various points when Hannity contrasted the two states, Newsom defended the Golden State’s achievements and huge population, saying his state “has no peers.”

Abortion marks deep contrast

A sharp disagreement was predictably on abortion, an issue where Democrats have scored consecutive wins in various statewide ballot initiatives.

Newsom was pressed by DeSantis and Hannity on what restrictions, if any, he would support in the final months of pregnancy. He declined to engage with the question of at what stage the procedure should be prohibited, however.

“I trust the mother and her doctor to make that decision,” Newsom said.

Abortion-rights protesters rally at the Alabama Capitol in Montgomery on June 26, 2022.

Newsom returned fire by pressing DeSantis to explain if he would sign a 6-week national abortion ban similar to the legislation he signed into law in Florida, which he said, “even Donald Trump said it was too extreme.”

DeSantis dodged Newsom’s question, however., instead telling Hannity he supports the “culture of life” and pivoted to how Democrats won’t say if they support any regulation on abortion.