Posted on 10/23/2022 2:25:57 PM PDT by Alter Kaker
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is recording a robocall for underdog Senate contender Joe O’Dea, a boost for the Colorado Republican after former President Donald Trump urged grassroots conservatives to abandon his campaign.
“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,” DeSantis says in the robocall, a recording of which was provided to the Washington Examiner on Sunday by the O’Dea campaign. “I’ve watched Joe from a distance. And I’m impressed.”
In endorsing O’Dea, DeSantis is charting a course separate from Trump in the midterm elections and stoking speculation the two Republican heavyweights are on a collision course in the upcoming 2024 GOP presidential primary. Just days earlier, the former president lashed out at O’Dea, calling him a “RINO,” which stands for “Republican in Name Only,” and criticizing him for speaking openly about their disagreements.
Running in a blue state that rarely elects Republicans statewide and trailing Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) in public opinion polls despite a favorable political environment, O’Dea’s strategy of distancing himself from Trump and taking centrist positions on certain issues is sensible. Bennet led O’Dea 49.5% to 42% in the RealClearPolitics average and has topped his Republican challenger in all six of the most recent surveys.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Fine, but then why ding him for supporting the ONLY Republican Senate Candidate in this race? It's not as if it's a Primary, and there's a Real Conservative DeSantis could've endorsed, instead.
It's counterproductive to punish DeSantis for advocating that Colorado Republicans settle for half a loaf, instead of pouting, going on a political hunger strike and staying home. Conservatives cannot afford to pitch a potential Republican Senate seat to the Democrats just because the only Republican running is a RINO. THAT IS NOT a viable action plan for setting up Congress to help a GOP President come 1/20/2025. YES, we'd like to quash Mitch's undermining, but to cut off our nose to spite our face won't get us there, and DeSantis is acting as clear-eyed about this as anybody.
If Conservatives in the GOP are ever going to gain a more dominant voice in Washington, it's going to have to be an incremental strategy that will necessarily include some RINOs who get elected ONLY to secure GOP majorities so Conservatives cannot be TOTALLY silenced a la the Jan 6 Committee. Until there are no RINOs anymore, that's a Reality we'll have to cope with in a NON-DESTRUCTIVE fashion.
Until they are driven to extinction, a RINO here and there will be a necessary evil.
How is Desantis thinking for himself, being disloyal to Trump?
Lol.
Trump is mad because the guy he didn’t endorse for Senate isn’t endorsing him for President in 2024?
He needs to stop. Who is going to not vote for someone because Trumps feelings are hurt? I’m sorry but we’re trying to feed our families out here.
People are getting Trump burn out. It’s ALWAYS something.
Burn out? Hardly. The Trump wave will begin in earnest after the mid terms.
Desantis is making too many mistakes. He is not reading the room correctly. He is not ready to be President.
This is telling. I just showed this to a few people. They had no idea.
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