A top-of-Sunburn welcome to the world — Ethan Noah Giery arrived on June 2 after a quick delivery by Elyssa Giery. New dad, Adam Giery of Strategos Group, says mom is “feeling great and recovering smoothly.”
“It is without a doubt,” he adds, “women are amazing.”
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Another top-of-Sunburn congratulations — To Sen. Danny Burgess, promoted Monday to Major in the United States Army Reserve.
“It is an honor to wear the uniform and reaffirm my commitment to my country with my family by my side, said Burgess, who represents parts of Tampa, Thonotosassa, New Tampa and Zephyrhills.
Burgess also gave shoutouts on Instagram to newly appointed Florida Department of Veterans Affairs Executive Director (Burgess’ old job) Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James “Hammer” Hartsell, Senate President Wilton Simpson, Major Mike Wilson, and Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Luis Visot for “being there to support me, promote me, and put on this event.”
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A decade ago, before he was even a Congressman, Gov. Ron DeSantis published a book.
The book aimed to counter the book former President Barack Obama released in the mid-1990s, “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance,” and it had a similarly long-winded title.
Unlike Obama’s book, “Dreams From Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama” was not a bestseller. It’s more of a collectors’ item, really — signed copies of it are going for $500 to $550 on eBay right now.
If the Governor has a few boxes of them in his garage, he could whip out a Sharpie and make a few bucks. The publishing company could probably do a second run and make bank.
Even better, DeSantis could capitalize on his newfound stardom by writing a second book.
DeSantis is a — or, to some, the — rising star in the Republican Party. His brand of politics has captured eyes and ears across the country. He’s on the radar of every American who isn’t a fan of masks, vaccine passports, so-called “woke corporations,” or Big Tech.
DeSantis is a lot of things, but let’s be honest, wealthy isn’t one of them. He’s been in the public sector for his entire adult life — from Navy JAG to Assistant U.S. Attorney to congressman to Governor. Those positions are prestigious, sure, but nobody gets into them for the paycheck.
According to DeSantis’s most recent financial disclosure, his net worth is $291,449.
Politician-penned books, however, generate a lot of cash.
Maybe he won’t get Obama-level sales, but he doesn’t need to. Just look at U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio — he cashed an $800,000 check before his book, “An American Son,” landed on shelves in 2013. He’s earned plenty more since then through royalties. That put him in the black and then some.
DeSantis doesn’t need a Time magazine cover hailing him as the “Republican Savior.” Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts got a $700,000 advance for his book.
DeSantis is arguably more popular now than Rubio was at his zenith, and like the Senator, he also has an interesting life story. He didn’t come from a family of means, but he ended up with Ivy League degrees that East Coast elites drool over. His Yale J.D. didn’t land a cushy job in Big Law; it landed him in Iraq and Gitmo.
DeSantis won’t allow himself to think this, but there’s also the possibility that his star could fade. Were he to turn out to be this decade’s version of former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, DeSantis’s leverage negotiating a book deal could fall apart.
Now is the time for DeSantis’s to get behind the keyboard!
Plus, a book release is essentially a rite of passage for would-be presidential contenders. With all the 2024 talk surrounding DeSantis, now is time for him to start a second book. Or, at the very least, get some publisher to give him an advance.
In other notes:
— What Charlie Crist doesn’t want you to read: Crist has lost two elections — in 2010 to Rubio in his first U.S. Senate bid and 2014 to then-Gov. Rick Scott. FiveThirtyEight crunched some data to highlight why most don’t go for a third attempt, finding that among even among candidates who ran after just one loss, only 33 of 121 who ran for U.S. Senate, Governor or President since 1998 have won second bids. After two failed bids, only 20 have run, with just one finding success — Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy. Read more about why Crist faces an uphill battle here.
