Suarez makes refreshing pitch of unity — and describes a Miami that sounds a little unfamiliar | Opinion
In a well-crafted, sharp and uplifting 37-minute speech, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez officially announced his run for president of the United States Thursday night.
The two-time mayor made an impressive debut, as he cast Miami as one of Ronald Reagan’s cities “on the hill.”
“My name is Francis Suarez, and I’m here to help,” Suarez told attendees at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, as his father, Xavier, Miami’s first Cuban-American mayor, and his wife, Gloria, were among a small audience at the library in Simi Valley.
Suarez made his announcement on the other side of the country, but Miami was very much front and center in his sales pitch that he is the “candidate of the times.” In fact, it’s obvious that on the campaign trail, Miami will be pitched as a model for the entire nation.
Suarez tried to press all the right buttons. He began by paying homage to his father and his two other heroes: Reagan and Pope John Paul II, who both made famous visits to Miami. He deftly wove together religion and conservatism. And took obligatory swipes at the Biden administration.
Suarez took credit for helping almost end homelessness, lowering property taxes and crime, and also educating Miami’s children.
He left out the city’s housing crisis and his own brush with scandal, including the $10,000 a month payments from a developer, which is under investigation by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust.
Starting many sentences with “In Miami . . . ” he painted a picture of an idyllic Magic City, not one where many people can’t find a place they can afford to live, because the California tech bros he invited with his “How can I help” tweet have sent prices skyrocketing; or where poverty is high and the city is known as one of “haves and have-nots.”
Suarez made Miami sound like the land of sugar plums, rainbows and a chocolate fountain, to boot. We wish.
But Suarez effectively awakened a yearning to be proud to be of this country, though flawed, just as Reagan did in the 1980s.
“America’s greatest power is Americans,” the mayor said. Nice to hear talk of unity. His speech was optimistic, not angry. Given Donald Trump and Gov. DeSantis’ campaign rants of an America about to crash and burn, angry and dehumanizing words of who’s worthy and who’s not, Suarez’s vision was refreshing.
The mayor is off to a promising start, but the campaign trail is long and grueling. Plus, frontrunners Trump and DeSantis are ahead in the polls — way, way ahead. Pretty words aside, Miami’s mayor still is a long shot.
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This story was originally published June 15, 2023 at 11:34 PM.