'Top Gov': Tom Cruise meets Ron DeSantis

Not literally about a stand-off between the state of Florida's governor and his movie-star compatriot, this one-minute, tongue-in-cheek political campaign in the USA is being hailed as one of the best - if not THE best - ads of the upcoming mid-term elections. Ron DeSantis, 43, hit and held the headlines throughout the Covid situation for his straightforward 'freedom first' approach supporting local business and keeping society - including schools - as open as possible. In October 2021, the governor said: “Without mandates or lockdowns, COVID-19 cases in Florida have decreased 90% since August. In addition to cases, hospitalizations have plummeted in our state. This has been accomplished by making monoclonal antibody treatments and vaccines widely available throughout our state while protecting Floridians from government overreach.” Despite inevitable criticisms and challenges over that, DeSantis is gathering impetus as a potential candidate in the 2024 US presidential elections. The Republican has shrugged off talk of 2024 to focus on the 2022 mid-terms in November 2022, when all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested. As well as determining how many politicians from each party - Democrats or Republicans - are in Congress, influencing control over passing laws, the mid-terms are generally seen as a weather-vane for the incumbent administration's performance, in this case President Joe Biden's Democrats. DeSantis has put out more than one feisty campaign featuring fearlessness in the run-up. What do you think of this one? This year's new 'Top Gun' movie, 'Top Gun: Maverick'. saw actor Tom Cruise, now 60, reprise his 1986 role as a daredevil military pilot and get to fly various aircraft - except for the F-18 which also stars. The blockbuster became the highest-grossing film of Cruise's career on June 17, 2022 after crossing $800 million worldwide, and had taken $1.4 billion at global box offices at time of writing. A good omen for DeSantis' success, or just a good ad?

Keywords: Top Gov Ron DeSantis, political campaigns, US midterms 2022, Florida governor and corporate media, US political ads, DeSantis and media, DeSantis 2024