Lifelong conservative-turned-Democrat here.
(Though I certainly can’t call myself a conservative anymore; I don’t really believe in anything being pushed by anyone who publicly calls themselves a “conservative” today.)
He doesn’t have to run as an independent to ruin DeSantis. All he has to do is declare that he got millions more votes that Desantis in the primary but that they were stolen by Lithuanian hackers hired by DeSantis with dark money from his Mexican puppy mill (which they use to grind up puppies into hair care products). If he can make a moderate percentage of Republicans think DeSantis is a traitor, it will be just as harmful to him as Trump running as an independent.
I think Donny has to be careful not to go there.
The results of the Mid-terms play well into DeSantis’ hand and not so great for TFG:
“How could you look at these results tonight and conclude Trump has any chance of winning a national election in 2024?” tweeted Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist who has advised Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) past campaigns.
“Despite the fact that 70 percent of the country thinks we’re on the wrong track, two thirds think we’re in a recession, people are pessimistic about the future, and people largely believe Biden’s policies are hurting, not helping, they still opted to stick with that over the alternative, which I’m afraid they associate with Trump,” he said.
Yeah, that definitely makes me wonder what DeSantis will do, and I just don’t know enough about him. Is he patient? Is he the type to step aside and let Trump have the nomination, for any reason (whether it’s in the best interests of conservatism, the party, or his own political ambitions)? Could he be convinced to do so, if he didn’t want to?
If DeSantis has any ambitions of becoming President, he’s probably never going to have a better opportunity than 2024. He’s coming off a big win, he’s demonstrated himself to be a prodigious fundraiser, and Florida term limits mean he’ll have to vacate the Governor’s mansion after his upcoming term. There’s little advantage to waiting and significant risk – American political history is littered with rising political stars who decided the timing wasn’t quite right to launch their Presidential bid only to be considered yesterday’s news when the next Presidential election rolled around.
Trump is fun. He’s like the blowhard sales guy at work. Can’t really stand him but he’s entertaining and liked by customers.
DeSantis is not fun, he’s smart and mean. He has the charisma of a urinal cake. He has no accomplishments and unlike Trump can’t get away with inventing them. I do not see DeSantis being successful on the national political stage. Trump already owns it.
Right, but remember neither of them right now need to appeal to a national audience. And the audience they need to appeal to have shown they don’t care so much for legislative accomplishments (unless it hurts “those” people), political positions (unless it riles-up the libs), or electability.
Agreed. Both of them are donor magnets, so they are sucking up dollars. There are some subtleties at play here though. McCain was a National hero and an established politician, but he bombed as a candidate. He couldn’t draw a crowd until he teamed up with Palin.
What’s the draw for DeSantis? How he’s banned math books? Not very exciting, right up there with his freedom to not wear protective masks or get COVID shots.
And, DeSantis is not news. Trump will fight with the DOJ, maybe get indicted, call for Biden’s impeachment, whatever it takes to dominate the media.
Right. With TFG it’s like an overflowing toilet - you are not sure what to focus on. With DeSantis, other than the spat with Disney, Martha’s Vineyard immigrant stunt, Hurricane Ian, and getting some headlines this week, I am not sure I can recall any other national-level news involving him.
IMHO this “in the headlines” situation plays into DeSantis’ hand for the time being - with little to no effort he can sit back and let others mash-out the '24 possibilities, which will get under TFG’s thin skin.
Don’t forget his “election police” debacles. They chill me to the bone.
He’ll try to replicate this on a national scale, if he wins.
I wonder how many of these cases will wind up being republicans who voted for him? I seem to recall after 2020 most of the voter fraud cases that popped up in the media were Trump voters.
True, but I think the bigger takeaway will be how few cases there are, period (and of those few, only a VERY few – maybe one or two – are deliberate attempts, rather than good-faith mistakes brought on by the confusing felon rules). Fraud on a scale to change an election just isn’t possible without the (extremely legally risky with very little potential gain) collusion of many officials AND just-your-regular-neighbor-folks-trained volunteers. It. Just. Doesn’t. Happen.
He also gerrymandered Florida so that 3 congressional house seats flipped from blue to red. If the Republicans retake the House of Representatives, DeSantis will be able to take credit, and that can only shore up his loyalty amongst insiders.
So, from a party standpoint, I have to think that he’s who they want.
And I agree with others that Trump is playing Into DeSantis’ hands by bringing up his name, even as a foe. It gives commentators a reason to discuss him and make him familiar to their viewers/voters.
My guess is that by ‘24 the right wing networks will be playing up Trump’s age (probably in connection to how old Biden - if he’s the Democratic nominee- is) as Desantis is promoted.
Look to see lots of stories about Desantis’ wife and 3 young kids. She’s beautiful, and a cancer survivor, and this is the sort of “family man” message that will contrast to “retired” Trump, who by that point will be either dead, hiding away due to the dementia that plagued his father, or is just a ranting old man yelling on social media.
For those of you who fear the sociopath DeSantis (who seems to thrive on political spectacle), I’m afraid to say that I solidly expect that he’s the 2024 GOP nominee.