The resident DeSantis obsessive (onetruephilosoraptor) made me think about this with his latest Trump-critical post. On one hand, Jeb Bush has been seen at DeSantis events. On the other hand, Caitlyn Jenner has been seen hanging out with Trump's kids/niece. Neither have officially endorsed any candidate but their feelings are clear.
On one hand you have a dude who, through his very public existence, helps in some way to normalize trannies. On the other hand you have a GOP, Inc dweeb who wants to bring America back under the control of the uniparty. It's a very tough choice, but I have to say Jeb is worse. People like the Bushes and Rupert Murdoch have megalomaniacal visions and still exercise significant influence over the country, whereas Caitlyn Jenner's delusion is personal and far less impactful.
So first, it's my understanding that that whole process is still being fought out and it may end up ultimately being a token gesture on DeSantis' part, accomplishing nothing.
Second ... I don't really give a damn about some dispute over some taxing authority in a chunk of land in Florida. And all we've seen DeSantis do so far (because it's all he has power to do) is some decent things in Florida that have no effect on the DC bureaucracy, except that the DC bureaucracy currently opposes them ideologically. He and Trump are both slinging campaign mud about who was worse in the covid response department, when an honest assessment of the situation is that they were probably equally "bad," but they occupied different positions so there's no way to gauge their responses equally.
Of course the only relevant people in the race are Trump and DeSantis, that's not my point. In fact, I'll one-up you and say that Trump is the only relevant person in the race. But you've attacked pretty much everybody else as a grifter with uncharitable or misleading posts about them and questioning their motives.
If DeSantis is the candidate you say he is, he will be up against the same uniparty "most votes and most legitimate election in history!" establishment that Trump was, except DeSantis has the charisma of a wet paper bag. He has no shot. RFK Jr. is more charismatic than he is and RFK can barely speak.
If he's the candidate that I (and many others) worry he is, then he'll only be up against the Democrat side of the establishment, and has a legitimate chance to win despite the GOP's incompetence, but I have no interest in voting for more neocon/neolib bullshit. If he doesn't come out hard in support of Trump voters and Trump himself after the primary instead of distancing himself from those "MAGA extremists", I'll be voting 3rd party.
I cut him slack for now because he's in a primary fight with Trump so I don't expect either of them to say nice things about each other and I ignore almost all of it, but that ends after the primary is over. Even if he wins the primary somehow, there's a huge MAGA base that he can not ignore if he wants a chance in hell to win. That would be the true tell, IMO, about whether he's an establishment shill or a genuinely populist candidate.
And, FYI, people like you (and Dave Rubin, who I listened to for years) are the ones that have made me extremely skeptical of DeSantis. So good job on that.
The main difference between you and me is that you approach your assessment from a lens that Trump is still an anti-establishment force and that it makes him the best candidate.
I will argue that Trump is not even anti-establishment these days. In 2015 he could credibly say that he was an outsider. Today things have changed.
He has created his own establishment in the GOP and conservative movement that I would call Populist Inc. You have grifters like Rogan O'Handley(DC Draino), Sebastian Gorka, Raheem Kassam, Alex Bruesewitz and Laura Loomer who have created their entire careers off Trump's brand. They spend more time attacking fellow conservatives, fomenting outrage and viciously attacking anyone not for Trump. It is a campaign that will fail to win swing votes.
It is tragic that the Trump 2024 campaign is being run by these populist Inc grifters.
You seem to be skeptical of DeSantis because you dislike Dave Rubin and you think that i am coming off too strong.
Meanwhile you don't seem to care about the rise of Populist Inc where they don't even care about winning elections and enacting policy. They only care about grifting off Trump. They would still be happy if Trump becomes the nominee and loses the general. They can just yell it was rigged again and the grift continues.
I see how the Trump 2024 campaign is being run and I have no honest hope that he can win a general election because he absolutely repulses swing voters and the campaign is making terrible optics by vicously attacking his own fellow hires like Jenna Ellis for merely dissenting with them.
Meanwhile DeSantis 2024 can appeal to swing voters and get enough populists to win a general. Clearly DeSantis won't be getting the most extreme OnlyTrumpers like TheImp, DoritoPence and a few others on this board but those people are certainly less in quantity than swing voters.
There is a path to victory for the DeSantis campaign and a likely defeat for the Populist Inc run Trump 2024 campaign.
DeSantis has a good record in Florida that makes me believe he would be a good conservative President and not a Bush retread.
I believe DeSantis has demonstrated he is great on policy and I just think he is much more electable than Trump.