Governor Ron DeSantis currently is the only credible rival to Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.  As such, his State of the State address on Tuesday was a de facto part of a campaign that has not even been announced.

Compared to the normal State of the Union addresses of recent years, DeSantis's oration was short: a merciful 33 minutes.  He's been accused of being a rather flat speaker, tending toward monotones and lacking the flourishes of, say, Donald Trump.  But he also conveys facts in a plainspoken manner that may have appeal to some.

The complete video of the speech is embedded below.  The complete text is here.  To me, the most interesting part was early on, where he listed Florida's stellar standing among the states on several important measures:

Rumble video screen grab.

Florida is number one and working together we will ensure that Florida remains the number one state in these United States.

Florida is the fastest growing state in the nation.

We rank number one for net in-migration.

We rank number one in the nation for new business formations.

We are number one in economic growth among large states.

Florida has more people employed today than before the pandemic. Our unemployment rate is one of the lowest on record and it is significantly lower than the national average.

And of course, as many of you know in this room, the last two years we've seen the largest budget surpluses in the history of the state of Florida.

And we do that with having the lowest per capita state tax and lowest per capita state debt burdens amongst all large states.

We rank number one in the nation in tourism and we just experienced yet another record-breaking year for visitors to the Sunshine State.

We are number one in law enforcement recruitment and support. Florida's crime rate stands at a 50-year low.

We rank number one in the nation for education freedom.

We rank number one in the nation for parental involvement in education.

We rank number one in fourth grade reading and math amongst all large states.

And we have the number one public higher education system in the country.

We are number one among large states for the quality of our roads.

And Florida has the top three cruise ports in the entire world. We rank number one for space-related development, manufacturing, and flight.

And, maybe most famously, we rank number one for protections of our citizens against the biomedical security state, from prohibiting "jab or job" mandates to banning vaccine passports to ensuring hospital visitation rights.

We defied the experts, we buck the elites, we ignored the chatter, we did it our way, the Florida way. And the result is that we are the number one destination for our fellow Americans who are looking for a better life.

Working together we have met big challenges and we've led the nation on many big issues.

We don't make excuses, we don't complain, we just produce results.

These comparisons will be the heart of his campaign, if he does run for president.

Here is the video:

Hat tip: Ed Lasky.