Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

DeSantis is a Republican establishment win-win
The Spectator ^ | 8/22/22 | Daniel McCarthy

Posted on 03/01/2023 5:31:57 AM PST by cotton1706

What’s left of the Bush-Cheney wing of the Republican Party doesn’t like Ron DeSantis. But it’s eager to see him run for president anyway. For if DeSantis challenges Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination, the old establishment stands to gain no matter who ultimately gets the nod. The Florida governor certainly seems to be ideologically closer to Trump-style populism than to the neoconservatism that prevailed among elite Republicans from the end of the Reagan era to the defeat of Mitt Romney in 2012. Why, then, would those who pine for the likes of Bush and Romney want to see a choice between Trump and DeSantis, both right-wing populists, two years from now?

snip

Thus, even though DeSantis may indeed be closer to Trump than to the old guard, he may prove to be an instrument for reducing the sway of populism within the party. And that’s true whether or not he actually beats Trump in the race for the nomination. What is important for the ideological future of the party is that there be an anti-Trump pole around which the old guard can coalesce. It may even be optimal for Trump’s GOP critics if DeSantis falls short of the nomination, so that he can be discarded in the favor of a more thoroughly conventional Republican in 2028, assuming (as the old guard generally does) that Trump loses in 2024 or for one reason or another cannot complete his term even if he wins.

DeSantis as a hybrid candidate, part-populist, part-conventional, holds promise for those who want to roll back the GOP’s turn toward populism.

(Excerpt) Read more at thespectator.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-70 last
To: ConservativeInPA

Because they don’t like DeSantis but they REALLY HATE TRUMP.

They are kind if locked into the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” mindset!

Even if DeSantis is really not a true enemy of TRUMP, the old faggots of the GOPe see it as a way to injure TRUMP in a political race.


61 posted on 03/01/2023 1:00:11 PM PST by 5th MEB
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: jimwatx

Well said. Seems elections are always about the lesser of two evils. I’m not sure our votes will matter anyway with the rampant fraud and nothing having been done to remedy it.


62 posted on 03/01/2023 1:14:51 PM PST by KierkegaardMAN (I never engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed man.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: wildcard_redneck

“But, you’re good with Lindsay Graham endorsing and campaigning for Trump, right?”
No, I despise Linda Graham.

By your logic Trump is allied with the GOPe because of Graham’s endorsement.


63 posted on 03/01/2023 1:39:05 PM PST by TiGuy22
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: TiGuy22
Read Sundance at the Conservative Treehouse for why I oppose DeSantis. DeSantis has picked all the wrong friends.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/02/20/dc-report-team-mitch-mcconnell-worried-desantis-might-be-taking-too-long-to-enter-2024-race-fl-legislature-needs-to-change-election-laws-quickly/

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/11/06/desantis-megadonor-billionaire-head-of-citadel-investments-ken-griffin-explains-why-he-purchased-ron-desantis-for-2024-and-what-he-expects-from-his-investment/comment-page-3/

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/11/30/rupert-murdoch-pays-ron-desantis-undisclosed-sum-with-book-deal-ahead-of-2024-announcement/

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/11/05/hitch-yer-wagon-the-club-branding-of-ron-desantis-continues-and-the-transparency-is-a-little-funny/

64 posted on 03/01/2023 1:48:51 PM PST by wildcard_redneck (Biden will mess up the Ukraine worse than Afghanistan.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: wildcard_redneck

They’re as reliable as Gateway Pundit.


65 posted on 03/02/2023 4:33:28 AM PST by TiGuy22
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Comparing DeSantis to GWB may or may not be an apt comparison. From what I recall, DeSantis' actions over the last few years far ourstrip what GW did as far as conservativism goes. Desantis has stated "Florida is where woke goes to die". And his deeds have given iron to his words.

As far as "DeSantis should remain in Florida and continue being a great governor, rather than being led astray by his elitist backers", well, taking their money doesn't mean he's listening to what they are saying. His actions sure don't indicate that he's taken one iota of their 'advice', a bit of reality that folks around here need to pay more attention to. And Donald Trump had and still has some questionable backers. Doesn't appear that he takes their advice much either.

The fun part from where I sit -- I really don't have a dog in this fight besides seeing either Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis winning the GOP primary and ulitimately the general election for 2024 POTUS. If DeSantis doesn't run (something which too many people here have been jumping up and down about as if it's already happened), we get to keep the best governor in the United States. I can certainly live with that.

66 posted on 03/02/2023 5:26:58 AM PST by Joe Brower ("Might we not live in a nobler dream than this?" -- John Ruskin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: cotton1706

Bingo. What the RINO Establishment fears is 4 years of Trump, followed by 8 years of DeSantis - and a thorough housecleaning of remaining RINOs. So they want to try to use DeSantis to destroy Trump.

Its unlikely to work, but at the very least, they would get DeSantis to fatally damage his political future by running against Trump so he would be out of the way. As it is, if he were either Trump’s VP or if he got Trump’s endorsement in 2028, he would be very tough to beat.


67 posted on 03/02/2023 5:58:55 AM PST by FLT-bird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jimwatx
If the GOP turns away from Trump’s populism they will become irrelevant as a party and unlikely to win the presidency ever again. Populism just means Trump is doing the will of the people who support him, while “conventional” Republicans do the will of the donors/elites. You can’t have it both ways.

Exactly. If the RINOs were to prevail in the power struggle for control over the Republican Party, then it would be just as dead as the Tory party is in the UK now. The Tories are going to be completely wiped out in the next election. Conservative voters in the UK have utterly no time for them and have all been saying how useless they are as a party. They are DONE.

68 posted on 03/02/2023 6:01:38 AM PST by FLT-bird
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: momincombatboots

You’re forgetting that it was individual states that implemented lockdowns, not the federal government. I live in Florida, and I can assure you we had lockdowns during that period. And DeSantis was Governor then, if you remember. I lost my father to COVID during that period. He was in a nursing home at the time and we were prevented from seeing him for months. DeSantis eased Covid testing requirements for nursing homes in September of 2020. My father contracted it in November. Maybe he still would have contracted it even with the more frequent testing that had been in place previously, but he would have had a better chance had they remained in place, at least until the vaccines became available. For all the talk of the vaccines being death jabs, they have also reduced Covid mortality among those who have taken it.


69 posted on 03/02/2023 4:41:17 PM PST by mbrfl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: wiseprince

Excellent post. Well said.


70 posted on 03/02/2023 5:01:57 PM PST by mbrfl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-70 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson