DeSantis’ unwavering adherence to, and clarity regarding, a core set of conservative principles will continue to sell extraordinarily well among members of the GOP supermajority in Tallahassee, and could even make him the darling of Republicans nationwide in the run-up to the 2024 primaries.

And he has done it all while resisting the chum spread on political waters by the Mar-A-Lago middle-schooler. After all — at the risk of mixing a metaphor — there may be no more Splash Mountain at Disney’s U.S. Magic Kingdom parks, but the lesson of Br’er Rabbit sticks: Don’t poke your provocateurs, especially not now, during “silly season.” As DeSantis said in a visit with Fox News’ Jesse Watters:

“Well, look, Jesse, I mean, you know, he used to say how great of a Governor I was and then I win a big victory and all of a sudden, you know, he had different opinions and so you can take that for what it’s worth,” DeSantis said, referring to his re-election win against Democrat Charlie Crist, which was prefaced by Trump coining the “Ron DeSanctimonious” sobriquet.

“But, at the end of the day, I think one of the reasons I’ve been successful as Governor is I don’t really pay attention to a lot of the background. I mean, he’s obviously a big, big fish, but I get attacked all the time from every different angle and you either put points on the board or you don’t. And so I just focus on delivering the wins. And I think we’ve done a pretty good job of following through on our promises.”

Notice is being taken.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida will make his debut appearances in three early presidential primary states in the next several weeks, according to two people briefed on his plans, selling his performance in his own state as he lays the groundwork for an expected presidential campaign.

Mr. DeSantis is tentatively expected to appear in Iowa during the first half of March, making stops in Davenport and Des Moines, according to the people briefed on his schedule who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the plans publicly. Shortly after, he is expected to appear in Nevada, an early primary state, followed a few weeks later by an expected trip to Manchester, N.H.

An appearance in South Carolina is also being discussed, according to the people briefed.

In recent days, a relentless DeSantis has carried on loading his prelaunch platform with policy victories and freedom-driven legislative proposals, supported by meticulously detailed reasons for his positions, all linked to a central focus: The woke agenda’s days are numbered.

Lately on DeSantis’ radar:

• Corporations that prioritize environment, social and governance (ESG) policies, and investment managers that seek them out.
• State universities that offer degrees entwined with  Critical Race Theory, Gender Studies, or Intersectionality — in other words, the whole indoctrination smorgasbord of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
• Promotion of medical freedom policies, which includes preventing government from mandating non-school-based vaccinations and allowing citizens to challenge declarations of public health disasters.
• “Old-guard corporate Republicanism” in which Chamber of Commerce-style activism “confer[s] special benefits on entrenched corporate interests.”

This last was part of DeSantis’ op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (paywall), explaining the various reasons it was past time to end the Walt Disney Co.’s self-governing status over 43 square miles in Central Florida.

Sure, then-CEO Bob Chapek’s woke pandering to militant leftist employees last March after the Legislature passed the Parental Rights in Education Act might have shifted the House of the Mouse to the governor’s front burner. But once it was there, DeSantis couldn’t help but ask why the state continued to cater to Disney while Universal, Sea World, and Busch Gardens labored under Florida’s standard corporate arrangements.

When corporations try to use their economic power to advance a woke agenda, they become political, and not merely economic, actors. In such an environment, reflexively deferring to big business effectively surrenders the political battlefield to the militant left. Having private companies wield de facto public power isn’t in the best interests of most Americans.

Woke ideology is a form of cultural Marxism. Leaders must stand up and fight back when big corporations make the mistake, as Disney did, of using their economic might to advance a political agenda. We are making Florida the state where the economy flourishes because we are the state where woke goes to die.

That sort of action-backed rhetoric is certain to resonate with Republicans across the country, especially Republicans motivated to vote in primaries. An early question: Will a critical mass of general election voters line up to reject woke politics?

Here’s a clue and a reminder: Running on liberty and anti-wokism against a well-known Democrat who draped himself over the current White House resident last November in the mini-America created by mass immigration, DeSantis won by nearly 20 points.