Posted on 01/21/2024 8:46:33 AM PST by conservative98
Iowa was supposed to be make-or-break for Ron DeSantis.
The Florida governor essentially moved his campaign there late last year, and Never Back Down, his allied super PAC, spent tens of millions of dollars knocking on doors in the state.
“We’re going to win Iowa,” DeSantis declared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Dec. 2.
But in the week before the all-important caucuses, Scott Wagner, the recently installed head of the super PAC, was doing something that aides found puzzling: He was literally doing a puzzle.
In the headquarters of Never Back Down in West Des Moines, Iowa, Wagner was, according to some of his staff, spending a significant amount of time in the precious final few days constructing a peaceful 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a landscape.
In a photo taken on Jan. 9, shared with NBC News by a Never Back Down team member, others in the room were hunched over their laptops.
“Staffers are putting their dedication and devotion to electing Gov. DeSantis and they come in and the CEO, the chairman of the organization, is sitting there working on a puzzle for hours,” said a Never Back Down staffer who was there.
Another Never Back Down staffer also said Wagner worked on it for “hours” in the week before Iowa.
The fact that one of the top people in charge of securing a win for DeSantis in Iowa was spending time on something unrelated to the caucuses was emblematic of the mismanagement and wasted efforts that many of DeSantis’ own supporters say have plagued the campaign from the very beginning.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
I guess the strategy of I will scoop up the MAGA voters once President Trump gets convicted of multiple crimes in multiple jurisdictions didn’t work?
DeSantis was doomed because he’s competing with Trump for the same set of Trump voters. He styled himself after Trump thinking that Trump’s successor would need to be able to motivate Trump’s base. But an implicit assumption in that strategy is that Trump would not run. But then it turned out that Trump did run. DeSantis is not able to out-Trump Trump, so Trump is clobbering DeSantis.
“It is actually hard to achieve failure at this scale.” Maybe DeSantis’ Operatives are undercover Trump 5th Column and Trump surrogates?
I don’t participate much on these threads but gotta say these desantis thread make me chuckle as I see them in the main page. .. someone needs to bring that Steve Martin pic from The Jerk into Photoshop and put desantis’s face on it!! ...and title it The Boulevard of Broken Dreams...!! LMBO...
To top it all off DeSantis can’t even sue the super stupid SuperPAC for damages since that would be an admission they worked for him which would be a violation of Federal Election Law.
Lol.
This is very “puzzling” behavior.
It is good that Scott Wagner is practicing on puzzles—because if that SuperPac is indicted and convicted for blatant violation of election laws it will be a hobby that will serve him well in prison.
I know we have not talked a lot about this topic but the DeSantis campaign has been begging to be indicted for election law violations from day one. They would be such low hanging fruit for the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department—really hard to resist.
There have been several mainstream media articles on this situation so it is not exactly a secret.
`28 would have been his coming out party. He did a great job of establishing a glidepath to the `28 nomination. But, he was convinced otherwise.
Now, he’s dead meat to the right. He played every card exactly wrong and he will never recover.
What could have been.
Actually the slide began after he left meeting with the GOPe and waffled on Ukraine. It just got worse and worse. Before that l believe he had a shot because some of the base was thinking Trump is too polarizing. Well Ron took a flametorce to his chances
DeSantis was doomed from the start. His behavior after the Mar-a-lago raid was abhorrent. Dissing Trump in the face of the purely political raid was the death knell for ol’Rob as it showed his political tone deafness.
Is that the “New Meme” tough guy. Never seen you post here before. Nice try though.
Maybe your Reno 911, Golden Shower, or Drews Mom. LOL!
Clowns.
Trump 2024.
That’s NOT why DeSantis failed from the start.
He failed from the start for the same reason any Republican other than President Trump failed from the start: President Trump had already secured the nomination in 2020. Republican voters had already clearly and overwhelmingly made their choice four years ago, and nothing at all has happened to change their minds. If anything, all that has transpired has only strengthened their resolve. The world has gone to hell since he left office, and everything he said has turned out to be true.
Perhaps there was a time in early 2021 when Republican voters could have questioned whether or not President Trump would be willing to run again in 2024 - but he quickly removed all doubt by strongly hinting at a comeback.
The minute President Trump officially threw his hat in the ring for 2024 - the nomination was his. After that moment, any Republican who decided to challenge him may as well have put an “I’m an idiot” sign on his back, donned the dunce cap, and sat in the corner.
I guess all that super donor money can blind an otherwise smart politician from seeing reality - but these Republican challengers have really taken stupidity to the next level.
This is an astonishing article. I am floored by the picture of the chief of a campaign operation doing a picture puzzle in the middle of a campaign — in the office no less. I worked for the Republican Party of Florida in the years in which we wrested control of the state from the Democrats. In the closing weeks of the campaign season, the HQs was open 24/7, with staffers working at all hours and at times napping on the floor.
“But in the week before the all-important caucuses, Scott Wagner, the recently installed head of the super PAC, was doing something that aides found puzzling: He was literally doing a puzzle.”
Probably the most PRODUCTIVE work he’s done during this election cycle.
What am I missing? From your link it looks like DeSantis’s campaign has spent just $5M so far in all the early states combined. (SuperPACs backing him have spent more.)
In the NH market, from what I’ve seen, Nikki is all over the airwaves, but DeSantis isn’t.
He was just following in Jeb!’s footsteps.
I love what he’s done in Florida, but the first time I watched him speak in public I got an overwhelming “politician” vibe.
I try to refrain from ad hominen attacks on fellow Freepers, but I really have to ask:
Were you born an idiot, or do you take a pill for that?
Obviously, your reading comprehension is at the 2nd grade level. I stated that DeSantis would have done better to wait until 2028 to run for president—in the mean time be a torch bearer for President Trump for the 2024 campaign. If for whatever reason Trump were unable to be on the ballot, then he—as a supporter of President Trump would be better positioned. THis means that DeSantis would not run in the 2024 primaries, as he stated that he would not run against President Trump.
Calling me a tough guy? Never ever seen me post on Free Republic? Son, I have been a member nearly ten years before you ventured onto this place.
BTW: Weren’t you a feverent Cruz supporter the last time around?
And son, quit posting like a Ding-Dong...
I’ll save you thinking about your questions:
“Would that have been different had he been the first one in?” Nope. Trump was the last to enter in 2016, didn’t do the 15 Dwarfs any good.
“And would it have made a difference had he been more proactive pointing out Trump’s shortcomings?” Would have made him lose by even more. Trump supporters know about all his shortcomings, thanks to the DNC, Biden’s people, and the media. They get pissed off listening to other Republicans use the talking points of the DNC, Biden’s people, and the media.
The bottom line was that the nomination was Trump’s for the taking if he wanted it, and he wanted it. Even Reagan, at his prime, would have had trouble this year against Trump.
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