Early in his career as governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie was a superstar. He took on the ed unions, school boards, and left-nuisance nonsense in general. He was a YouTube star, and they called these confrontations Chris Christie Porn. Not long after, he was exposed as a stooge of the Left riding the Republican brand.
For years, Ron DeSantis has been too good to be true as he challenged the COVID-CULT, the Grooming CULT, and other progressive nonsense. But cracks are beginning to show in the carapace of his Republican armor.
I have it on good authority that his campaign will not allow anyone armed to attend any speech he gives.
I guess he’s not going to campaign for President in New Hampshire, then. The average “republican” event during the long primary season, except for those with secret service protection, is at least a one-third to one-half armed law-abiding citizens (if not more).
Granite Staters won’t support DeSantis if he insists on disarming them so they can listen to him speak in person. Sure, there have been candidates who skipped New Hampshire, but none, to my knowledge, won the nomination. So, one of his “consultants” had better fill him in on the policy (if he is unaware) or on how badly it will distort his chances in the Granite State if he runs.
We’ll call that strike one (though for many, he’s already struck out if that’s true), so is there strike two for the rest of you?
Today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis picked Joe O’Dea as his only 2022 endorsed senate candidate {link}, recording a robocall for O’Dea that says, “Hello this is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. America needs strong leadership and desperately. That’s why I’m endorsing Joe O’Dea for U.S. Senate. Colorado, please vote for Joe O’Dea.”
So what, you say? Well…
A week ago, Colorado senate republican candidate Joe O’Dea said on CNN, “I don’t think Donald Trump should run again.” He quickly added, ” I’m going to actively campaign against Donald Trump and make sure that we have got four or five really great Republicans right now; Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Tim Scott.”
O’Day is a Never-Trumper, and there’s nothing wrong with that except for this. Trump filled the notorious big tent with blacks, Latinos, gays, women, and blue-collar workers; he did exactly the opposite of what the Left and the Never Trumpers claimed. The Donald is not the captain of a ship full of rich, angry white men. His legacy is peopled by one of the most diverse Republican parties in history.
And so what, you say. Trump has several albatrosses around his neck, most of them hung there by his detractors. But his supporters like his policies more than him. That was what drew them to Trump’s Tent. That translates into defacto support for candidate Trump because (almost) no one else is willing to carry those banners and take on the machine.
We thought DeSantis could be the next guy, but it looks like he is making many of the same mistakes national-level Republican politicians always make. The people who run campaigns on that scale are part of the swamp, too. Their advice becomes toxic, the candidate crashes and burns, or they embrace the ideas and taint their brand.
You can decide if the machine is trying to take him out or if he’s doing it to himself, but it’s a bad look.
Gov DeSantis has plenty of time to right his ship, but he’s still anchored in the harbor and taking on blue water.