Posted on 01/18/2024 6:02:20 AM PST by River Hawk
Donald Trump won Iowa decisively Monday night. Despite spending little money and time in the state (especially compared to his rivals), Trump won the caucus by 30 points. This was a humiliating defeat for his closest competitor, Ron DeSantis. Despite spending over $30 million on ads and visiting every county, DeSantis only eked out 21 percent of the vote. The Florida governor bet his whole campaign on Iowa, and he came up well short.
However, he’s not dropping out. His campaign still insists he’s going to be the next president, but there’s no strategy or plan besides massive amounts of copium. Everyone not on DeSantis’s payroll realizes it’s over.
Some will say his campaign failed in how it wasted money. Others will say he should’ve gotten in the race earlier. Many will argue he should’ve attacked Trump more. But the obvious reason will receive less attention. The fact is that nobody was going to defeat Trump in this primary. Trump sealed the race when he first announced his candidacy. The vast majority of conservative commentators didn’t get it. They deluded themselves into thinking another candidate could take down Trump. And no one was more delusional than Ron and his supporters.
It was evident from the very beginning that Trump would easily win the primary. The base is fanatically loyal to the former president. Thousands of people travel hundreds of miles to hear him speak. MAGA merchandise dominates flyover country. There’s enough MAGA rap to be its own genre of music. Polling always showed Trump as the dominant favorite of Republican voters. There’s a deep emotional connection between the base and Trump. Flyover Americans see the former president as their great champion. No one can replace him.
(Excerpt) Read more at highly-respected.com ...
DeSantis is like an understudy at the Metropolitan Opera waiting for his big break.
The Democrats are determined to get Trump, by hook or by crook.
“No one can replace him.”
The Republican Party needs to have a strong bench.
“dominant favorite of Republican voters”
The “independent” voters will be the deciders later this year.
Only if that understudy at the Met was actively verbally backstabbing the lead and campaigning to remove the lead. Otherwise what you wrote is incorrect.
Social conservatives have traditionally been the red-headed stepchildren of the Republican Party.
Probably. But even independent voters remember when they didn’t get sticker shock when they went to the grocery store or filled up their fossil fuel guzzling vehicles. They remember the hope when the Abraham Accord were signed. The independent and even democrat mothers breathed a sign of relief as they looked at their military aged children.
“The Republican Party needs to have a strong bench.”
Yes, and as it turns out, DeSantis is not sitting on it.
Ryan, McCarthy, Cantor such a disappointment. Keeping the losing streak going: DeSantis, Johnson, Cheney, Rona
President Trump already won re-election in 2020. Any Republican politicians who thought running against him for 2024 would be a good idea - completely missed the point of everything.
Your job was to stand up for Trump and MAGA - not to work against us!
His Donors were paying him to lose. The didn’t want to deal with him in 2028.
DeSantis has done a good job running Florida. If he had just stayed on the job in Tallahassee, he would have been a good choice to follow Trump. But by going out on the campaign trail now with his clown show, he has self destructed.
I think you summed up the situation quite well.
No desantis was not “always going to lose”
Desantis lost with his robotic mechanical performance during the first 3 debates
I know because as a Desantis supporter myself , I and millions like me was left with “omg this is not good, hope he can be more aggressive during the second debate and then again during the third debate “ by the third debate I knew it was over
He performed excellent against greasy newsome and the last debate with Haley
But it was too late.
He looked uncomfortable during all his debates. When he is comfortable is when he comes out aggressive unscripted, when he is scripted he is awful
He is a smart man no matter what people say on this board
DeSantis is a victim of listening to the wrong people. This is a self-inflicted wound, but it shouldn’t be fatal to his future aspirations if he drops out, supports Trump, and polishes his image and public persona. Aligning himself with the Bushes wasn’t smart as they are done as a political entity.
Ouch.
Honestly, at least now we know what we got with him, a terrible candidate and a decent FL governor.
First, for me, to support anyone beside Trump is to accept the 2020 election as legitimate, which I do not. As long as Trump doesn’t self-destruct, he remains the only candidate for me.
Second, DeSantis misunderstood his strong support prior to announcing for president. Most of his supporters were also Trump supporters. Which meant the very moment he declared his run against Trump most of his support evaporated. He would have done much better to have endorsed Trump; if for any reason Trump had been forced out of the race, he would have been the natural alternative, and would no doubt have had Trump’s blessing. But he threw that away. He’s still a good governor, but he has damaged himself and it was unnecessary.
DeSantis was running as a trial run for 2028, he has learned a lot, Trump will be the nominee for the GOP in 2024. Trumps VP will also have a leg up in 2028
I think it was always De Santis best play to have stayed out of the 2024 race and avoid a 2023-24 primary campaign contest with Trump. Had De Santis followed that route I think his 2028 chances would have been better than I believe they will be now.
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