I'll admit to being pleasantly surprised by the outcome of Thursday night's debate between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom. When you hear something enough, it's easy to start believing it, and I can't count how many times I've heard "DeSantis isn't a good debater" leave the lips of a Republican. What that was based on, I'll never quite know, but the myth has been completely dispelled. 

Yes, DeSantis managed to match Newsom's stage presence, standing up to his smarmy, slick demeanor, but his takedown of the California governor was about something more. It was about knowing the issues, but also throwing caution to the wind in arguing them. DeSantis did just that, and three clips perfectly illustrate what I'm talking about.  

(Related: The Shocking Moment Ron DeSantis Ended Gavin Newsom)

I'll build up to the most savage example by starting with DeSantis' description of the "freedoms" that California enjoys. The background here is an ad campaign in which Newsom claimed his state provided more of them than Florida. 

Ron DeSantis gave Gavin Newsom 'credit' for some of the 'freedoms' Californians enjoy, and it was both hilarious and epic. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/cOwQbcLeUc

— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) December 1, 2023

DeSantis: “California does have freedoms that other states don’t. You have the freedom to defecate in public. You have the freedom to pitch a tent on Sunset Boulevard. You have the freedom to create a homeless camp and even light it on fire. You have the freedom to have an open…

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 1, 2023

I almost felt sorry for Newsom in that exchange. I didn't, but I almost did. This is what happens when one man has undeniable facts on his side and the other man has hair gel and a quick tongue. Ultimately, the truth is going to win out, and the idea that California is a bastion of freedom in the sense most Americans desire is laughable. 

So yeah, if you like dangerous homeless encampments, every street being a toilet, and illegal immigrants getting better healthcare than you get, then California is for you. If you like not being locked down for two years and sending your children to school without them being forcibly indoctrinated, then I'd say look elsewhere, and hundreds of thousands of people are doing just that every year. 

That brings me to the next clip, which has to do with Newsom's claims of Florida banning books in schools. DeSantis was ready with a visual aid which ended the argument on the spot. 

DeSantis whips out one of the explicitly sexual gender books aimed at children as he defends FL's pro-parent bills: "This is a book that is in some of the schools in California called Gender Queer...this is pornography. It's cartoons. It's aimed at children. And it's wrong." pic.twitter.com/8oPqGmtAEF

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) December 1, 2023

Democrats are losing the parental rights debate so badly because there's no good defense for books like Gender Queer being in schools. Instead, they try to deflect with generalized claims of "book banning." When faced with that, a Republican can't just play it safe. They have to bring the receipts, and DeSantis did that, showing a national television audience exactly what Democrats are trying to show children. It was one of the best moments of the debate. 

It wasn't the best, in my opinion, though. That was reserved for this incredible exchange in which DeSantis whipped out San Francisco's "poop map" to show what a failure Newsom has been. 

This is a map of San Francisco. There’s a lot of plots on that. You may be asking ‘what is that plotting?’

This is an app where they plot the human feces that are found on the streets of San Francisco.

That is what has happened in one of the previous greatest cities this… pic.twitter.com/otOz7dQxei

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 1, 2023

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you defeat even the most polished Democrat. Newsom's face was priceless. There is no answer to abject failure when one is directly confronted with it. Republicans should learn from this debate. You can't go soft on Democrats. You can't listen to the consultants who say that certain topics are off-limits. DeSantis had no guardrails and he pulled a major upset, at least based on media predictions going in. 

Hopefully, this tarnishes Newsom's star just a bit. He is an ideological radical who must be defeated, and right now, he's on a fast track to the White House. That is why DeSantis accepting the debate was the right move despite the Republican detractors, likely with ulterior motives, who where claiming he'd get embarrassed. To not take a chance to dirty Newsom up and expose him would have been a massive missed opportunity. We should all be rooting for his downfall.