He didn’t even act like a conservative on the issue. It wasn’t that he himself didn’t ask for mandates - he actively interfered with localities, school boards, and even private companies who wanted to implement vaccine mandates. Certainly IMO, he is one of the primary drivers of the very clear, evident political divide in vaccine uptake. Not that Trumpistan is the only group in general that had that problem, but theirs has been based on nothing but politics.

If DeSantis had only been silent on local and private mandates I’d agree with you. He became a poster boy for anti-vaxxers IMO. I understand that he tried only to be anti-mandate, but we should all understand how that can can easily drift to anti-vax, especially in the political sphere. Personally, I believe DeSantis has played as prominent a role as any pol in driving vaccine hesitancy. In making it a way for Trumpistan to own the libs.

Whether or not that political case can be successfully made is a different question. I would not bet on it.