With DeSantis' miserable polling numbers, yet, his continued campaigning, do you think he's playing the "long game," almost hoping Trump gets further into legal trouble? Call me slow, but I just thought of this.
But is he MAYBE hoping something else happens? Like, what IF Trump were NOT the candidate. DeSantis would be next in line, right?Nope. DeSantis is dead in the water. No charisma and the blank stare of a burnt meatball. Trump will win nomination. He will appeal convictions hoping to win re-election and thus pardoning himself for the federal crimes. Any state crimes is another matter but he will obfuscate and delay as long as possible.
It's an interesting question, he's proudly parading around the blatant fascism so many clearly desperately want, but the power brokers may have concerns about how that actually plays out in the general election, and it may not be so easy to walk back the amount of it he's done. But I'm not sure who else would be viable to step up instead.But is he MAYBE hoping something else happens? Like, what IF Trump were NOT the candidate. DeSantis would be next in line, right?
Doesn’t matter. He is Trump 2.0 with no “charisma”. Biden would crush him so bad that DeSantis will feel like a leper .., waitBut is he MAYBE hoping something else happens? Like, what IF Trump were NOT the candidate. DeSantis would be next in line, right?
That three way would increase his polling. between the three they may equal HunterHis easiest road and probably only one is if Trump dies. If Trump actually gets found guilty of anything other than being in a 3-way with Ted Nugent and Kid Rock that won't change the status quo a bit. He'll still win the nom
Yeah, what a fine--shitty--line to have to walk, huh?I think that is indeed his game, either that or he's just burning money for name recognition. Problem is, people outside this shithole state are seeing what a combination clod and wanna-be fascist he is and want no part of it. He has made zero attempt to go after the dude stomping him in the polls, so the only thing that makes any sense is that he hopes Trump will just "go away". But he's smart enough to know he has to look like he doesn't want Trump to go away, or the Trump cult will turn on him.
Isn't that kinda--not really--messed up??His easiest road and probably only one is if Trump dies. If Trump actually gets found guilty of anything other than being in a 3-way with Ted Nugent and Kid Rock that won't change the status quo a bit. He'll still win the nom
Well, there is this….Doesn’t matter. He is Trump 2.0 with no “charisma”. Biden would crush him so bad that DeSantis will feel like a leper .., wait
Moderate and Republican in the same sentenceDeSantis isn't playing any long game, because he has one shot at this. He's coming up against the term limits in Florida, so if he misses 2024 then he's out of power during the next election cycle, and his track record in Florida is his big supposed selling point. So that's the bigger picture: he's running now because this is his shot.
As for the stuff vs Trump, i don't think that could properly be called the "long game" for DeSantis. He might have been better off delaying his announcement, but I get it how American politics is weird and it's normal for campaigns to drag on for a year and a half.
Another thing I keep in mind is that in 2016, Trump was an outlier so the moderate Republicans split the vote and he won. In 2024, we have at least two "MAGA" Republicans fighting over the position, so it could be a reverse of 2016, if moderate Republicans are outnumbered then one of them might end up with the nomination due to MAGA infighting.
It's plausible that someone in the Republican Party is playing the Long Game, but it's not DeSantis. They just haven't announced their campaign yet and are timing it more carefully.
Doesn’t matter. He is Trump 2.0 with no “charisma”. Biden would crush him so bad that DeSantis will feel like a leper .., wait
Have you seen the other GQP candidates besides Ron? If it's not Trump, then it's Death Santis. Sure his stock seems pretty low right now, but even if he loses in 2024 the "long game" means he'll be back in 4 years.He absolutely NEEDS Trump to be out of the race (one way or another) in order to get the nom. Even then, I'm not so sure he would pick up the MAGA vote. I haven't seen any polling on the "what if Trump weren't in the primary?" space. Only in the "what if it were Trump and Desantis?" case. And Ron doesn't fare well in that one either. He basically picked up no ground on Trump over the full primary list.
Trump governed like a hard right fascist but his campaign in 2016 was actually the most moderate of all the Republican candidates. For example he jettisoned the hugely unpopular ideas of cutting social security and Medicare. In fact in 2016 he was viewed (incredibly) as more moderate than Hillary Clinton.Moderate and Republican in the same sentence
The Kavanaugh confirmation showed there is no such thing. The Barrett confirmation also.
Have you seen the other GQP candidates besides Ron? If it's not Trump, then it's Death Santis. Sure his stock seems pretty low right now, but even if he loses in 2024 the "long game" means he'll be back in 4 years.
Obviously charisma matters to voters, but I'm not so sure that Trump is more "electable" than RDS in a general election. Trump owns the MAGAt base, but is likely to lose swing voters. Now you might say that Trump will sabotage the GOP if somehow he's not the nominee. But if not for that effect, I actually think RDS has much less "baggage" than Trump in a general election. Remember Trumpism has been pretty shitty at elections since 2016, whereas RDS ran away in Floriduh by 20 points in 2020.