DeSantis Gets Told Brutal Truth

Sometimes you just need to hear the truth. And as the saying goes, “The truth shall set you free!” Or does it.

Because DeSantis seems to be ignoring the truth. And watching his campaign is like watching a rerun of a mediocre movie to which you know the ending. 

The Florida governor appeared on Sunday Morning Futures with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. Sadly for hims, she doled out the truth:

“Let’s face it, governor, Donald Trump is ahead of you by a significant margin. I think the last poll was 52 percent, above, right now, for Trump. How are you going to cut into Trumps lead? What truly is your path to victory?” 

Short answer: hope the Uniparty convicts Donald Trump on nonsense charges. Because outside of that, DeSantis has no real way to beat Trump.

Trump is destroying DeSantis in all polls. Worse, Trump maintains his leads after being a no-show to not one, but two debates.

Perhaps worst of all, DeSantis’ poll numbers appear to drop after each debates. In the end, he’s allowing competitors in the Jayvee race to gain ground. Rumors are that even the governor of Virginia may join the fray.

The Florida governor is feared by no one. Because everyone can read the tea leaves.

DeSantis has trailed Trump the entire year in an average of national polls. As of the time of his Sunday interview with Bartiromo, DeSantis trailed Trump by over 40 percentage points, according to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.

Back to the question asked by Bartiromo. DeSantis answered with a platitude.

“You show up, you make the case, you don’t mail it in, you don’t go missing in action, you meet voters on the ground in the early states, Iowa, New Hampshire, in particular, and tell them about the future of the country and why you’re the best candidate.”

Ok, I’ll bite.

Does Trump show up? Obviously not to debates. As it turns out, this was a brilliant move. Trump’s numbers hold steady while his competition falls by the wayside. Essentially Trump says to the field,

“I’m the rightful president, and I did a fantastic job. Why should I need to debate my stellar record of achievement with slogs?”

DeSantis has been a decent governor, though likely not as good as his resume suggests. But to displace a president with Trump’s performance will take more than doing a good job in Florida.

DeSantis continued,

“And so I think that I’ll be the guy. I’ve been the most dependable leader the Republican Party has had in recent years. I’ve delivered. I haven’t just talked. And that’s what we need in Washington. The time for excuses is over. 2024 is make or break. We’re not getting a mulligan on this one. We either get the job done or we’re going to be in a hole in this country for the next generation.”

Please distinguish what DeSantis said he did at the state level from what Trump did at the national and international level?

Perception among DeSantis detractors is that he follows the prevailing thoughts. Politically convenient thoughts. And mostly of the wealthy.

I’ve been told that in many of DeSantis’ best decisions, he was dragged by the Florida legislature kicking and screaming.

If that’s the case, one can still argue that he acted. And his actions were in the best interests of Floridians. To some degree, DeSantis put Florida on the map.

But I think DeSantis’ biggest problem surrounds his disloyalty to Trump, ergo Trump supporters. It would be different if Trump performed like Biden. But if we go down that path, consider how Democrats show loyalty to inarguably the worst president in history. Imagine if Republicans supported Trump in anything close to the support for Biden?

Instead, DeSantis disrespects Trump. He thinks he can sidestep Trump by debating Gavin Newsom. Clearly the Uniparty exposed its hand with this matchup. Yet, Trump remains undaunted. He even took a shot at the competition, saying that he didn’t think he saw his 2024 running mate among the “job candidates” on the debate stage.

DeSantis, when asked if he’d “partner up” with Trump and be his vice presidential pick in 2024, dismissed the possibility.

“No, I’m running for president. We need somebody that can serve two terms. We need somebody that can win states like Georgia and Arizona, which President Trump cannot do or did not do, even though candidates like McCain and Romney had no problem winning those states.”

I predicted much earlier that Trump would choose DeSantis as his running mate. Though I’m a lot less sure of that now, I wouldn’t rule it out.

The absolute best thing for DeSantis would be to bow out, and pay homage to Trump. Get the VP slot, and serve one term under the tutelage of the best president in the modern age. That strategy is the only way DeSantis gets the MAGA vote.

 

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