Comments

DeSantis versus Trump — 90 Comments

1. Yes, this. But it’s also Trump’s audaciousness that makes him unelectable. So Republican choices are (i) nominate Trump and lose; or (ii) nominate someone like DeSantis and have Trump take pot shots at the nominee through the entire general election campaign.

   What the left is doing here is diobolical. They satisfy their own base by finally “getting” Trump. They raise Trump’s profile in the Republican party by giving him legitimate greivances. They make it harder for the Republican party to nominate a candidate who has a chance of winning next year. And even if the R team does manage to nominate a candiate with a chance of winning, Trump’s travails will turbo charge his inevitable sore loser tour.

   What a mess.

2. While being audacious is psycologically satisfying, it isn’t always the best strategy for persauding the persuadable.

   The reality is that there are a lot of moderate/swing/independent/low information voters whose votes are absolutely needed for a Republican candidate to win the presidency. And unfortunately for Trump and his supporters, many of that group will never, ever vote for Trump. But they might vote for some other Republican candidate… maybe.

3. Trump snd his supporters are absolutely bonkers absurd. This is only more evidence imho. Do they want good conservative leadership and values? Trump is none of these and is a danger to the right. It’s time to move on, from the geriatric foolishness and juvenile hack

4. Persuasion, character, “electability” have nothing to do with it. The elections are fortified, especially in the swing states. Can whoever fills R on the ballot get a majority of counted ballots in the handful of remaining swing states?

   The Dems can get the brain-damaged and the dead elected because they focus on getting ballots counted.

   The media loves to play “let’s you and him fight”; conservatives can choose to be distracted by the theater, or they can work on fixing up the states they control to have clean elections and limit the damage the Federal government can do to the citizens who live there.

   The states in play* are NV, AZ, MN, WI, MI, PA and GA. If the Republicans can get GA, then they have to get either Michigan, or Wisconsin AND Minnesota. Lots of luck. (Arizona and Nevada have already been fortified for democracy, you see–and Pennsylvania too, they’re the ones who elected the brain-damaged guy…)

   *Post-COVID a lot of people left blue states for red ones. Many or most of them will be taking their voting habits with them. Some purple states may now be blue and some red states now purple.

5. Forever Trump types and their idol love to dish it out but they cannot take it when their God gets punched in the face. I voted for Trump in 2020 but I will never vote for him again.

6. It’s unfortunate that the two main republican contenders will be squaring off in the Octagon Ring; the demonkrats cannot believe their luck.
   The winner will just have to re-enter the Octagon to take on, most likely, joke bidet.

   Anyway, if DeSantis becomes the nominee, get ready for the “news” folks to go thru his trash, locate females who will claim he molested / raped them in 1993 (if not earlier), discover that his ancestors were best pals with Il Duce, and that he approved and supervised the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo.

   So, any thoughts on who would make a good VP candidate for the republicans??

7. @John Tyler: locate females who will claim he molested / raped them in 1993 (if not earlier),

   There was already an episode of The Good Fight that had DeSantis accused of molesting/raping a man.

   It does not matter who the eventual R candidate is. The elections are fortified; the decisive ballots in the few states that matter that are counted will be cast by people who do not know or care who the candidates are or the issues. The “current_republican” = Hitler narrative will be run just like it is every four years, without any regard for the actual character or record of that candidate.

   Choosing the best man for the R side of the ballot is a waste of time. Leave it up to fate. Work on fixing elections where you live and making sure your state officials are people who will fight Federal overreach. Vote for the R guy in 2024 if it makes you feel better. That’s one more D ballot someone has to harvest from retirement homes or the inner city, so by voting for the R you may force the Dem political machine to pay out another $50, which they’ll get back from you at tax time.

   DeSantis would make a fine Republican President, but the people of Florida may end up needing him to protect them from the Dem President and the Deep State.

8. All of the above are great comments boiled down to:

   1) Who will appeal most to the MotR voters; if there are any of them left? I actually have some in my family and they voted for Trump twice, but will not a third time.

   2) DeSantis will be savaged by the MSM and the D’s in general. No GOP nominee is ever immune.

   3) most important: unless election laws are tightened, and it doesn’t look like that’s happening in the states where it needs to be done the most, then the election is already over. 2018, wash, rinse, repeat.

9. You are so right Neo. Divide and conquer. So fundamental. Do we vote for the person or the platform? For me it has always been the platform. Has it worked out like I’ve hoped and prayed? Seldom. But like so many things it’s the principle.

10. Temperament, presentation, and management style distinguish DeSantis from Trump. The Trump presidency was barely-controlled chaos. Some of this was not his fault, but some of it was essentially Trump’s way of doing things. DeSantis, as he says, chooses competent team members and lets them do their jobs well.

    I’ll vote for Trump in November 2024 if he’s the nominee. I’d prefer a DeSantis-style conservative executive.

11. “I’ll vote for Trump in November 2024 if he’s the nominee. I’d prefer a DeSantis-style conservative executive.” Kate

    Me too.

12. To all of you who refuse to vote for Trump again in 2024. If you’re referring to the primary, then that’s fine with me. If you’re referring to the general election, assuming Trump is the nominee, then you are effectively voting for the Democrat, and I’m not fine with that.

    No matter what any of us think of Trump, I think we can agree that a Democrat would be worse. You only need to take a look at the corrupt, senile geezer in there now, and remember, he was the _best_ they could come up with.

    As for DeSantis vs. Trump. I think the only question that matters is which of them stands a better chance of winning. On that account, I couldn’t say. I think DeSantis has most of Trump’s positives, and almost none of his negatives, so in that regard, I would be very happy to vote for him. But most Republicans haven’t learned some very important lessons Trump has been trying to teach, and if it takes him being President 47 for that to happen, then I’m totally on board.

13. Neo says, ” . . . it strikes me that one of the things the Trump diehards who hate DeSantis very much like about Trump is his audaciousness.”

    As Nonapod points out, audacity may be emotionally satisfying, but it doesn’t always have a good outcome. Case in point: Georges Danton, one of the leaders of the French National Convention in August 1792, delivered a speech regarding war with the Austrians that concluded, Pour les vaincre, messieurs, il nous faut de l’audace, encore de l’audace, toujours de l’audace, et la France est sauvée. (“To conquer them we must dare, dare again, always dare, and France is saved!”) This speech is credited not only with stirring up French war fever, but also with inciting the September Massacres, in which the revolutionaries murdered between 1100 and 1600 political prisoners held in the Paris jails between September 2 and 6, 1792. Danton ultimately fell victim to the Reign of Terror even though he had called for an end to it at one point; he went to the guillotine on April 5, 1794.

    The political infighting among the various leaders of the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety between 1792 and 1794 contains some instructive parallels to the current situation in both major parties.

14. … it strikes me that one of the things the Trump diehards who hate DeSantis very much like about Trump is his audaciousness.

    Bauxite nails it from the jump. But to amplify:

    I have a friend who is a very smart semi-retired professional living in blue-land, but is not a liberal at all. Maybe a little bit of a MotR person though. She thinks audaciousness = divisiveness with Trump. I’m thinking that we are going to need her vote.

    Oh, wait … Her vote won’t count given where she lives. But the idea will have merit in other states.

15. DeSantis is getting ready to roll.

    Trump may eventually have to sit on his own middle finger.

16. I agree with Frederick. I hope you have sent your views to Rona McDaniel, the head of the Republican Party. She needs to hear from the grass roots.

    Being right on the issues, charisma, and masterful debates no longer matter. The fix is in in many places where the Democrats have control. Such as Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Detroit, Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Las Vegas – all key parts of possible swing states. There has to be a massive effort to spend the money and hire the people to try to clean up the voter rolls, oversee ballot custody, and closely monitor the vote counting in those areas.

    I wish Republicans would be more practical minded when it comes to our candidates. You love Trump, so you’d rather see four more years of Biden than a DeSantis or Nikki Haley or Mike Pompeo? Any of those latter three would be far, far better than Biden or any other possible Democrat candidate. Get over the teen-age histrionics and be loyal to the party.

    I prefer DeSantis because I see him as having less bad baggage than Trump. I’m not saying he won’t be viciously attacked by the MSM, but his foibles (whatever they can dream up) are not as deeply ingrained in the public’s mind. That said, I will support whoever the nominee is. I’m not a fair-weather Republican who goes off and pouts if my preferred candidate doesn’t win. Unity and teamwork are needed to win in any competition. We Republicans need to recognize that.

17. Bonchie: “So forgive me if I don’t think their whining is justified. If you throw punches, expect to get punched back.”

    Is it overly audacious of me to suggest that the Trumpkin whiners are . . . snowflakes?

    BrooklynBoy (1:36 pm) has it right.

18. I agree with BrooklynBoy regarding this Founier chap and other, rabid “only Trump’ers.”

    So far it seems very obvious DeSantis and his team have also figured them out and know there is no sense trying to win them over. Unless Trump drops out and endorses another candidate the zealots that follow him will not countenance anyone saying anything negative about Trump, no matter how severe or mild.

    Thus far I am very impressed with DeSantis and his communication team. They seem incredibly savvy. They are very adroit at avoiding entrapment in the snares their opponents set while going on offense.

19. Interesting that my comment, #2 I think, disappeared.

20. Trumps virtues

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-GAw1lLWJA&t=2s

21. Rick Gutleber,

    I don’t agree with this “not voting for one is a vote for the other” philosophy. Yes, in the U.S., as it stands, only the Republican or Democrat nominee has a chance of winning. But there are more than two scenarios for a voter.

    There are times when voting for neither is the moral thing to do.
    If the Republican nominee is literally Hitler and the Democrat nominee is literally Stalin I would not vote for either.

    No matter how we got here, Trump is ridiculously wounded now. Not to mention he is older and not the man he was seven years ago. A lot can happen in the next 22 months but based on where they stand currently I cannot envision Biden or Trump functioning as effective Executives.

22. Take away the 5 Battleground states that all seem now to be mail voting ballots and fraud, tell me how a Republican wins without them?

23. JJ,

    The fact the GOP re-elected Rona McDaniel rather than Harmeet Dhillon is a strong indication the GOP has no intention of doing what you suggest.

24. JJ:Get over the teen-age histrionics and be loyal to the party.

    If the party would have been loyal to its voters and its principles, a call to unity would make sense. Trump got the 2016 nomination because of 2 groups of people:

    People who would like to vote Republican but were disgusted by the way Republicans in Federal office betrayed the base on immigration, etc

    People who do not normally vote Republican but voted for Trump because he was an outsider

    Those people are not coming back for party insiders and appeals to party loyalty mean nothing to them.

    At any rate it’s academic. Votes don’t matter anymore. Counted ballots matter. Too many states have changed the rules so that the governing party can elect itself. Folks need to catch up.

25. PA Cat,

    DeSantis has been incredibly more audacious. And, unlike Trump, he pushed through his audacious reforms without the media circus winning the day.

26. So far no punching at the hair and face (anchorman reference) good grief this is silly. Not so silly

    https://twitter.com/proteinwisdom/status/1638596265121546240?cxt=HHwWgIDQjeOnu70tAAAA

27. It’s not quite apples to apples, maybe apples to pomegranates*, but DeSantis and Trump both barely won their respective Executive offices. They both squeaked in. Both faced tremendous opposition from media, the entertainment industry and academia.

    Four years later DeSantis won re-election by a record margin.
    Four years later Trump lost.

    Four years later Florida University administration is trending more conservative. Four years later one of the largest Entertainment companies has had its wings clipped in Florida.
    Four years later crime has decreased in Florida’s largest cities.
    Four years later Florida government investments in funds touting ESG has been eliminated.
    Florida managed the pandemic better than any U.S. state, and better than the Federal government.
    Florida dealt with one of its worst natural disasters so effectively it was barely a news story for more than two weeks.

    Like Trump, DeSantis has been audacious.
    Like Trump, DeSantis punches back.
    Unlike Trump, DeSantis is effective.

    *I deserve credit for avoiding the obvious, “orange” pun regarding DJT. 😉

28. Sure comfy chair

    https://twitter.com/BryanDGriffin/status/1638580007437049861?cxt=HHwWioC99bn1s70tAAAA

29. Results matter. Events, too.

30. I was at my county GOP convention last night. We’ve been losing elections in this county, although not in North Carolina in general. There was a contentious battle for new leadership (I left early, right after voting, and still don’t know who won). One of the candidates for the slate I voted for is an attractive young black woman. Her speech was about 20 seconds. She said, “I’m running because I have a young child and I don’t want our county to turn into a hellhole.” That’s the message we need to take to the swing voters around the country.

31. @Rufus T Firefly: Unlike Trump, DeSantis is effective.

    In fairness, DeSantis’ wins in Florida are due to a large population, both voters and in government bureaucracies, who are largely in sympathy with his aims, willing to execute his directives and vote for more of the same.

    I do not think that will transfer to DC. Trump of course had the same problem, and more so. We can’t know that DeSantis would have done better in 2016-2020 given the Federal government is staffed mostly with his enemies.

    Not an argument against DeSantis, just don’t be disappointed. He will get shanked repeatedly by the government officials who supposedly report to him and his so-called allies in Congress, just as Trump did.

32. Rufus T. Firefly, I would argue that Trump was effective for the first three years of his term, despite all the stuff thrown at him and all the turmoil.

    To add to the list of DeSantis’s effective actions, he led a group of nineteen states who have agreed to prevent ESG investing by their state pension funds.

33. To show that I’m older than you, I think of them as Dewey Republicans and Taft Republicans. I wonder if Taft would regret pushing “Federal aid to education” if he saw what it turned into?

34. Frederick,

    They are NOW in sympathy with his aims because he and his staff did a brilliant job explaining those aims to them, IN SPITE of a cacophony of false opposition from media, including one of the world’s largest entertainment conglomerates.

    Four years ago that same electorate cast 0.4% fewer ballots for a Democrat who was found in a motel room with a male escort who died of a drug overdose, and is now under Federal prosecution for 19 counts of election fraud.

    Florida looks like it does now because DeSantis, like Ronald Reagan, has been very, very effective at communication. And, like Ronald Reagan, DeSantis has effectively communicated to his constituents in spite of a very hostile press.

35. Well lets see in the last two years hundreds of supporters have been arrested or proscribed advisors including have been arrested or otherwise inpaired your abode has been broken into on spurious grounds now this kangaroo tribunal (as chris rock might say, i understand the sentiment)

36. Kate,

    I would not argue that. Trump’s Executive orders did a lot of good, but since he was awful at wrangling the Legislature none of those actions stuck once he was voted out of office.

    He was completely ineffective at quelling the Deep State and the Media.

    Trump’s foreign policy was effective. His supreme court picks were effective. He managed the border and immigration well, but he failed to build the wall and his changes have been easily reversed.

    Trump’s Presidency did some incredible good for our nation. Things I doubt any other person could have done. And he taught the GOP fighting back and a strong offense can work. Much of the GOP has not adjusted, but some, like DeSantis and McCarthy, have.

37. Most of washington is either on a destructive path or complicit so does thd tentacles represented by tech companies lawfare factories and the media

38. I don’t see how anyone who has paid attention to what DeSantis has done, and the manner in which it was done, could consider anyone else. Especially Trump. Well, I would certainly consider Pompeo; but don’t think he will be an option.

    Trump was fun for a while, and seemed to be accomplishing some stuff. The fun faded as the act grew stale, and the stuff did not last long.

    I am sympathetic to the abuse that Trump endured from multiple fronts. It was despicable. I am also conscious that he brought a good bit of it on himself.

    The enduring legacy of his tenure is a level of divisiveness that is virtually unbridgeable. Now, Trump is a serious distraction; and I fear that he will cause irreparable harm in 2024. I do not want him as President again–and I don’t think there is a “snowball’s chance in Hell” that he will be. As I have said, I wish that he could enjoy a peaceful retirement; and spend his time trying to build bridges and repair his legacy.

39. Rufus T. Firefly said, “If the Republican nominee is literally Hitler and the Democrat nominee is literally Stalin I would not vote for either.”

    Yeah, that has never happened, and it’s _extremely_ unlikely it ever will. Are you trying to suggest Trump is so horrible that you wouldn’t vote for him?

40. I keep reading that the DeSantis approach will be able to “persuade the persuadable”. Perhaps. But when the unpersuadable control the Progressive “Build A Vote” machine, will the DeSantis approach be any better? Whoever runs will be relentlessly and every where labeled a “Racist Nazi Hater”.

    Many will throng to the side of the nominee (DeSantis, Trump) good. But when the machine final step of the “Build A Vote” machine kicks in and 100,000+ votes appear in the most critical districts, one or two or three days after the election, what then? Trump attempted to point this out and of course it was viewed with horror by the GOPe.

    We need to address this BEFORE, DURING and AFTER the 2024 election. Who will have the intestinal fortitude to do that? I admit that DeSantis (and Florida legislature) did make the Florida elections relatively clean. But what about the other states?

41. “Four years later Trump lost.”

    Um, er, gosh, really?
    Actually, I guess you have a point; but I prefer looking at it like this: “Four years later Trump’s opponent won by a RECORD number of votes, eclipsing Trump’s own record number of votes after the ballot counting was suddenly STOPPED for several hours at about THE SAME TIME in the early morning in SEVERAL KEY STATES where Trump was leading by a significant margin, only to see that lead dissipate after ballot counting RESUMED a few hours later; such that Trump lost EACH of those states by only a minimal number of percentage points.”

    Um, that’s the short version(!)
    Here’s the short version of the short version: “…after ballot counting RESUMED, Trump lost EACH of those states by only a minimal number of percentage points.”

    Here’s the short version of the short version of the short version: “…EACH of those states…”

    Yup, every.single.one.
    (I suppose one COULD ask…”Hey, what’s so unusual about that?” Suppose one could ask a lot of things…)

    So why do I actually prefer looking at it like this?
    Beats me. I find it “fortifying”, I guess.
    OMMV.

42. Rick,

    As I wrote, a lot can happen in 22 months. I’m not a never anyone when it comes to politicians, but if the election were tomorrow I would vote for a candidate other than Trump or Biden (I’ve written in candidates in two Presidential elections).

    With the current state of affairs I believe Biden or Trump would result in a miserable 4 years.

43. atlas hercules perseus could not do it,

44. I dont know what it is about everTrumpers that makes “the Donald” so personal for them, Any attack on Trump is an attack on them. I nearly left this blog because of it. It got personal. If you werent on board 100%, youre a cuck and a Romneyite. I dont know what Trump possesses that they see so much of themselves in him.

45. there are some who think so, as we say it’s still sort of a free country,for now, (in some places) now that fat alvin has struck out, its jack smith’s shot at whackamole,

46. There’s always a tension between campaigning and governing. What excites during a campaign may have little relevance to performing well once in office.

    We know how Trump’s term in office progressed, and how he handled staffing of his administration. Should he win another term, who will want to work in his second administration? Are there enough competent loyalists out there who would take the jobs and do the necessary uprooting of the permanent government classes? Would they be third and fourth tier talents watching their backs constantly in the drama and chaos around them? Would their efforts be overturned as quickly as this current administration has trashed 45’s accomplishments?

    To make real change in our system requires Congress to act in a somewhat positive fashion, and sufficient public pressure brought to bear. All the Trump haters would be in overdrive in another term, as the Great Man ages into his eighties.

    Trump is too divisive to be successful in the absence of an overwhelming Congressional majority, which ain’t gonna happen in 2024 and 2026. I just don’t see any upside to a Trump renewal, regrets.

47. Barry Meislin,

    With his three years in office prior to the next campaign and election DeSantis ensured the next round of elections would be proper and fair. Neo has written extensively how the GOP (and, as President, Trump was the de facto head of the GOP) failed to do that in the run-up to 2020.

48. Oldflyer,

    Well said.

49. fat alvin removes all doubt

    https://twitter.com/alx/status/1638659200724217865

50. I hope I’m wrong but I too see no basis for expecting the 2024 election to be any less fraudulent, than was the 2020 election.

    Upon what political basis could Trump have gotten rid of Fauci?

    I’d like to know what position DeSantis will take on the issues Trump brings up in this video?
    https://youtu.be/NcMVdh915AE

    Of course, in the video above Trump declares war upon the Deep State. But there’s no way that Congress will support Trump’s promises. Trump doing it by executive orders would create a massive amount of political blowback.

    Were DeSantis forthright enough to speak out in this area, I would be much more confident in him as my choice for President. The Deep State and Congress are the two primary obstacles to any reforms that a conservative President might support. Still concerned about the DeSantis’ liberal donors as I haven’t seen any updates on that issue.

    Trump is leading DeSantis in the polls and I don’t think he can successfully challenge Trump for the nomination unless he speaks out as forcefully as Trump does in the video above.

    But were DeSantis to speak out as forcefully, would he continue to enjoy the full support of the GOPe?

51. Harry Mallory-
    Trump was not at all politically connected when he ran, served as POTUS, and NO president can do anything to reign in the Deep State, almost all Democrats, because of the well-intentioned CivilService laws enacted more than 100 years ago.

    Trump was lied about incessantly (e.g., Russia, the Steele file which was generated by Hillary and DNC) by the MSM, which many Americans still regard as sources of news, rather than as Democratic propaganda.

    Trump has been, and is, a very brave man. Like Nathan Hale.

    However, too many voters’ minds have been poisoned by our Democratic MSM for him to be the GOP nominee. I hope for Pompeo or DeSantis, either one of which will be more acceptable to the stupid and/or ignorant electorate than Trump, who has taken more shit than any major political figure in American history while doing a good job for us.

    If you do not see Democrats as malign, look at their man, Dopey Joe, and his horrible Cabinet, his horrible policies, and the wilful destruction of our constitutional Republic.

52. it seems lying ‘is much like breathing for them’ now that doesn’t stop fat alvin, probably,

53. Cicero, how would my wondering why Trump supporters take Trump criticism personally effect on how I see democrats? How does that always seem to work itself into the equation?

    Yes, Trump was lied about throughout his Presidency. Its also true he tends to step on his own johnson quite often in ways I dont see DeSantis doing to himself.

54. Rufus T.: “Four years later DeSantis won re-election by a record margin.”

    A big part of that was that DeSantis got rid of the election supervisors in the Miami Dade and Tampa areas. Mentink’s there was a lot of vote fraud there.
    In DeSantis’ re-election people were amazed that he won in those two formerly Democrat areas. 🙂

    That’s why I say the GOP needs to raise a large amount of money (like the $400 million Zuckerbucks the Dems used in 2020) to true the vote in the swing states. Republicans have jobs and lives, so it’s hard to get volunteers to do the necessary jobs. We need to hire election law attorneys, young GOP activists, and organizers who can do the work that needs to be done. That includes cleaning up the voter rolls, harvesting ballots (where it’s legal), overseeing ballot chain of custody, and vote counting. I don’t claim this would be easy, but I see it as the only way to win in 2024.

55. Pompeo was head and shoulders about his predecessors at State, and his successor. I’d love to see him at State again. I doubt that he has the momentum to win the presidential nomination.

56. @ miguel > “fat alvin removes all doubt”

    Looking at the Tweet and replies, no one seems to know how to read lawyerese.

    BREAKING: A 2018 Letter from Michael Cohen’s lawyer states that Cohen used his own personal funds to pay $130,000 to Stormy Daniels and that the Trump Org[anization] nor Campaign was a party to the transaction did not reimburse Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly.

    Mr. Donald J. Trump, acting in his personal capacity, is NOT either the Trump Organization (his public business accounts IIRC) nor the Trump Campaign.
    Most of the stories I’ve seen are obscure about who actually gave money to Cohen, but some indicate that the checks were cut on Trump’s personal accounts.

    Am I missing something here?

57. Geoffrey Britain: DeSantis has spoken forthrightly on many topics that affect his state; and others have followed his lead. I expect that he will speak on topics of more national concern in due time.

    Of more interest at this time is what his actions tell me.

    Kate, I agree. Pompeo is certainly a long shot; but so was Trump. I also would love to see him at State, or SecDef. I doubt that he would serve in another Trump Administration.

58. People that don’t like Trump it always comes down to style and not accomplishments. They can’t argue accomplishments because there is none. Unfortunately I think the American voting public prefers soft lies to hard truths. Sucks to be us. I don’t take criticism about Trump personally….been following him for 50 years. He has a New Yorkers attitude. I like DeSantis too but no one is explaining how the nominee will succeed with a Republican party that has no back bone….at all….and the rest of Washington the simply wants to see him dead.

59. oldflyer on March 22, 2023 at 4:36 pm said:
    I don’t see how anyone who has paid attention to what DeSantis has done, and the manner in which it was done, could consider anyone else. Especially Trump. Well, I would certainly consider Pompeo; but don’t think he will be an option.

    I see a lot of anti-Trump hostility here today. Tonight Laura Ingraham had some good advice for both candidates. DeSantis focuses too much on culture wars issues. This is going to be an election (unless vote fraud wins) about economic issues. Trump has some advantage here because he has a record. The US economy was booming until China unleashed the virus on us. Trump needs to stop the personal attacks and nicknames. That was OK in 2016 but things are serious now. By the same token, DeSantis needs to stop the sly comments about porn stars and focus on the political attacks on Trump. It would not hurt him to voice some sympathy about the weaponization of DOJ and the misuse of grand juries in the war on Trump. He is in danger of alienating millions of Trump voters who may just stay home. Some of us are concerned about his GOPe donors.

60. I caught Ingrahm’s advice to Trump and DeSantis, and it was relevant. She played a little of the DeSantis’ interview and his comeback to Trump’s name calling was very adroit. He used humor to deflect, taking a page from Reagan’s playbook.

    To paraphrase he said, ‘I kind of like DeSanctimonious– don’t ask me to spell it, but it’s got a lot of syllables. I don’t care what you call me as long as you call me a winner…”

    I think if he just laughs it off– maybe even saying how clever Trump is with it– it will make Trump seem childish in comparison.

    Also either they eq’d his sound, but he seemed to be speaking from a lower register. That will make him seem to have more gravitas.

    I think he’s going to have to clarify his position on Ukraine. I think a lot of conservatives don’t like politicians– and based on how his statement could be interpreted different ways seems to squishy.

    It’s maddening how Washington works. Politicians can vote for a bill, then vote against funding it. This conservative wants honesty in politics– I’m not going to agree with everything any politician says, but I want them to articulate a rational reason for their position.
    That is one of Trump’s strengths– he spoke his mind.

    As to Pompeo– his position on Ukraine and what DeSantis implied are about a world apart.

    Trump for Secretary of State in a DeSantis administration.

61. “That is one of Trump’s strengths – he spoke his mind.”

    Ah, nope.

    IMO he figured out the right things to do and what needed to be done. But, execution was often the problem, and what he said often got in the way.

62. Mike K:

    DeSantis spoke at length about what Bragg was doing and how wrong it is.

63. DeSantis made an error here, probably donor driven.

    DeSantis has now walked back his statement on Ukraine. Not a good look.

    I did not see the whole interview but he may have canceled out any good it did. I am not devoted to Trump but I see some pretty quick turnabouts.

64. I just read Governor DeSantis’ clarification Mike K linked to, and wow, I don’t think that helped.

    “Former Vice President Mike Pence poked at the Florida governor, a potential DeSantis presidential rival, said there was no room for ‘Putin apologists’ in the GOP. ‘We support those who fight our enemies on their shores, so we will not have to fight them ourselves.'”

    I hope Pence doesn’t speak for the GOP.

    Washington is going to allow no dissent– no nuanced positions here. It reminds me of the Stalin/Hussein purges– unless you show the correct amount of ‘loyalty’ to the regime you will be taken outside and dealt with.

    What is puzzling is the statement he gave Carlson was written. He had all the time in the world to correctly state his position with all the nuance he wanted. This wasn’t an off-the-cuff misstatement. What’s going on?

    This was The Telegraph. Possibly there was a translation error. Or maybe this is where American politicians go to make outlandish statements. In a recent interview, The Telegraph had this headline: “Exclusive: Republican party must ‘cleanse itself’ of Donald Trump’s damage, says John Bolton”

65. Neo: “Who benefits from all of this? As far as I can tell, it’s the left.”

    And we all know that is exactly why the MSM exaggerates it when one Republican criticizes another.

66. Mike K:

    DeSantis made an error here, probably donor driven.

    Correct, and yes, bad optics. Might be for the best. He’ll recover in time for 2028.
    Gov Ron has big potential, but now’s not the time.

67. So Banned Lizard, you would prefer that DeSantis win the nomination at the end of the second Biden administration?

    I don’t think you Trumpers understand. There is absolutely no path to a second Trump administration. None. Trump’s greatest victory in 2016 was a fluke during which he won 46% of the vote and pulled an inside straight in the Electoral College against the worst major party nominee in American history. That’s not going to happen again.

    The right has gotten off easy with the backlash against Trump. Democrats had very small Congressional majorities in 2021 and 2022. The R team won back a small majority in 2022.

    Nominate a boat-anchor Trump candidicy in 2024, and we will end up with 2008 all over again.

68. Mike K on March 22, 2023 at 11:45 pm said:

    THIS^^^

    DeSantis is a GOPe Flipflopper.

69. There won’t be much that DeSantis or anyone else can do if Democrats have real congressional majorities for even two years.

70. Oh noes, DeSantis is Mittens without the Temple, a GOPe/flip flopper, and DeSantis identified a problem in the right (Putin apologists). And worse he isn’t rich enough to have his own convictions (an empty suit controlled by donors)?

    Well at least he isn’t being accused by the “right” of being a space alien sociopathic fugative from juctice. (sarc) At least not yet.

71. This will be interesting. The GOP is fragmented with no one on the bench other than Trump and DeSantis. The Democrats are fragmented but has the appearance of unity due to the media suppressing the cracks or focusing on the GOP and misdirection. Hmmm..,…

72. Pence is worthless and thats being charitable his staff was a full 40 acres of swamp he enabled the fraud against general flynn and gave fauci and birx free reign (see olivia toye)

73. “Thinking about this, it strikes me that one of the things the Trump diehards who hate DeSantis very much like about Trump is his audaciousness.”

    Shipping illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard and vigorously taking on Disney, CRT, and Wokeism

    —-DeSantis is pretty damn audacious!

74. Well, maybe a few of you realize why I have questions about DeSantis. As to whoever talked about Trump’s failures in the legislature, I saw no mention of Ryan and McConnell. Trump can be his own worst enemy but a lot of the hostility sounds like an echo of 5 years of media malpractice.

75. “Who benefits from all of this?”
    – The Republican Party, and the future nominee.
    Whatever attack is used by Trump or DeSantis on the other, the Dems will reuse with lies and exaggerations, so the nominee better be ready for it. Including attacks on the family, as Barron Trump was attacked – I suspect Trump won’t be doing much, but the Dems will against DeSantis.

    I still think there’s some 60% chance DeSantis waits one more cycle before trying for President, with more chance to be a VERY successful Rep. Florida Governor. I’m still supporting Trump – and think Trump wins the primary.

    On twitter, unknown but declared Rep candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has lots of good OANN interviews and ideas – I particularly like his 8 year term limit on Federal employees (public servants? ha!).

76. @Mike K:a lot of the hostility sounds like an echo of 5 years of media malpractice.

    Yeah, way too many people on the Right say they know the media is biased, and then uncritically accept media framing of people and events without even realizing that they are doing so.

    Michael Crichton called this “Gell-Mann amnesia”. William Shirer experienced it in Germany in the 30s:

    “…my job necessitated the spending of many hours a day in combing the German press, checking the German radio, conferring with Nazi officials and going to party meetings. It was surprising and sometimes consternating to find that notwithstanding the opportunities I had to learn the facts and despite one’s inherent distrust of what one learned from Nazi sources, a steady diet over the years of falsifications and distortions made a certain impression on one’s mind and often misled it. No one who has not lived for years in a totalitarian land can possibly conceive how difficult it is to escape the dread consequences of a regime’s calculated and incessant propaganda. “

77. Pence has no chance of winning and he and his team must know this. Trump fans hate him for certifying the electoral college vote. Democrats hate him because he was Trump’s V.P.

    Is there some reason he would run, other than trying to get the nomination and win the Presidency; neither of which are within the realm of possibility? I know Sanders makes a lot of money off running, but Pence won’t get a big war chest, will he? Is he there to knock someone else out?

78. Pence has no chance of winning and he and his team must know this. Trump fans hate him for certifying the electoral college vote. Democrats hate him because he was Trump’s V.P.

    I don’t think “certifying” the 2020 results will be blamed on Pence. The unwillingness of the courts, including the USSC, to hear any challenge to a pretty obviously flawed election, will be a long time remembered.

    Pence was a squish as governor of Indiana. He caved when the NBA objected to the RFRA as passed by the legislature and signed by Pence. The NBA threatened a boycott and Pence and the legislature caved.

79. “I don’t think you Trumpers understand. There is absolutely no path to a second Trump administration. None. Trump’s greatest victory in 2016 was a fluke during which he won 46% of the vote and pulled an inside straight in the Electoral College against the worst major party nominee in American history. That’s not going to happen again.”

    Absolutely! I would love to hear from the Forever Trump crowd what is his pathway to winning the White House in November, 2024?

80. Brian E.

    “Trump for Secretary of State in a DeSantis administration” – completely delusional! DeSantis would not and should not nominate him and the Senate would never, ever confirm him. Trump needs to just go away. He is as Bauxite posted a “boat anchor” who will sink the GOP ship.

81. You need a member of the maga coalition in some capacity

82. So the question, is or was DeSantis ever a “Putin apologist” seems appropriate at this point.

    This smear is right up there with “election denier”. It’s just lazy.

    If you don’t say enough bad things about Putin, you wear the scarlet P on your chest.

83. BrooklynBoy, I can wish. Along with the Justice Dept., the State Dept. is a co-equal branch aiming to undermine American nationalism. Heads would explode.

    As to 2020 election, if Trump had been declared the winner (which he was) in Arizona and Georgia and had won either Wisconsin, Michigan or Pennsylvania he would be president right now.

    As to 2024, while it is going to be difficult for any Republican to win, but the scenario is the same.

84. @BrooklynBoy:I would love to hear from the Forever Trump crowd what is his pathway to winning the White House in November, 2024?

    I’m not a member of that crowd, but Trump’s path is no different from DeSantis’s. The election is not about who the nominees are. It is not about character or issues. It is about who gets ballots into the boxes and who gets to determine which ballots count once they are in there.

    This is not 1980 or even 2000. The voters are not in charge of who wins.

85. If you don’t post voluminous comments rationalizing Putin’s motives or volumes just trying to fully understand the fine nuances of the painfully obvious, because, reasons, well you may be a Putin apologist.

86. The Globetrotters always win.

87. > I dont know what Trump possesses that they see so much of themselves in him.

    It’s a cult of personality. We saw it with Obama and we saw it with Trump. Now, I’m a yuge supporter of Trump, but I’m not in the cult. I will vote for DeSantis in the primary if I think he ultimately has a better chance of winning, but I will absolutely vote for the nominee whoever it is, because it’s impossible for either of these men to do worse than any Democrat.

    And I am perfectly willing to discuss Trump’s many flaws, and don’t get annoyed or upset by honest criticism of the man.

88. I admit when trump says stupid things i dont make a federal case out of it. I loom at the big picture though

89. “If you don’t post voluminous comments rationalizing Putin’s motives or volumes just trying to fully understand the fine nuances of the painfully obvious, because, reasons, well you may be a Putin apologist. – om

    I have just reported on where the facts lead. I don’t think that qualifies as an apologist.

90. From what I can see DeSantis gets results. And results count

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