As grown-ass adults, we should be able to openly discuss public health policy. Not to hold executions of our public officials as Twitter suggests, but to determine the best way forward. And, we ought to be able to do that without fear of recrimination so that next time we are prepared to handle a public health emergency with a little more grace.

During the height of the pandemic, California and Florida presented two very disparate approaches to controlling the spread. California is the fifth largest economy in the world, so one might argue that their aggressive lockdowns were necessary. Florida is the 15th largest economy in the world. It remained largely open after the initial lockdowns. This is important because in about 15 minutes the governors of those states are gonna be in a slug fest for the 2024 Presidency. So, which state faired better?