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[img]https://i0.wp.com/split-ticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/desantis-2.png?resize=2048%2C1159&ssl=1[/img]

[h2]The DeSantis Decline[/h2]

Only1% of voters listed wokeness/transgender issues as the most important issue facing the country. It is not clear that these angles will meaningfully move the needle towards DeSantis, and they are certainly not ones that we think are likely to close a 30 point gap between him and Trump. His controversial policy stances extend to other issues too; he has taken the unpopular position of [link=https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-republican-president-2024-tucker-carlson-446e5c4aab7fd1f077f3ce453144d24a]downplaying the Russian invasion of Ukraine[/link], has endured significant criticism for [link=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/22/books/book-ban-florida.html]banning books[/link] in Florida schools, and has faced serious [link=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-metals-magnate-sabin-sours-desantis-backs-scott-2024-race-2023-05-12/]pushback[/link] over [link=https://floridapolitics.com/archives/615076-exclusive-donors-fret-whether-ron-desantis-abortion-ban-will-turn-off-pro-choice-backers/]his six-week abortion ban[/link].
 
These policy missteps are not free from consequence. In fact, they have compromised DeSantis electability angle significantly via a raft of [link=https://rollcall.com/2023/03/31/republicans-fixation-on-trans-issues-could-backfire-pollsters-say/]negative headlines[/link] and some extreme [link=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-metals-magnate-sabin-sours-desantis-backs-scott-2024-race-2023-05-12/]donor unease[/link]. In a worrying sign for the governor, key GOP backers [link=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ron-desantis-donors-donald-trump-uncertainty-1234716875/]have both publicly and privately expressed major concerns[/link] regarding his flailing candidacy, his refusal to attack Trump directly, and [link=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/17/ron-desantis-republican-donor-thomas-peterffy-2024]his aforementioned policy positions[/link]. While there is time for him to turn things around, the sheer size of his disadvantage should not be understated to reiterate, DeSantis currently trails Trump by nearly thirty points in GOP primary polls and lags badly in endorsements and small-donor fundraising, with his own spokesperson calling Trump the [link=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/desantis-pac-official-twitter-spaces-talk-calls-trump-runaway-front-runner-way-behind]runaway front-runner[/link].
 
DeSantis now faces a troubling reality: the more people see of him, the less they seem to like him. His myopic focus on culture war wedge issues and his campaign missteps have helped lead to a marked polling decline and a tremendous endorsement deficit, and there is little sign of this changing anytime soon.
 

[/QUOTE]
 

[btomba_77]

Conservative columnist Bret Stephens on DeSantis:

He makes Trump seem tolerant, Ted Cruz seem likable, Mitch McConnell seem moderate, Lauren Boebert seem mature, and Rick Santorum seem cool.

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[b]Murdochs Start to Sour on DeSantis[/b]

Less than two months into Ron DeSantis declared run for president, his most important backers in conservative media are already starting to lose faith, Rolling Stonereports.

Since the beginning of the Biden presidency, the powerful Murdoch family has favored the Florida governor in the 2024 presidential primary, largely due to a conviction that DeSantis would be a more electable, and less chaotic, evolution from Donald Trump. But in recent weeks, the Murdochs have grown increasingly displeased with the DeSantis campaigns perceived stumbles, lackluster polling, and inability to swiftly dethrone Trump They have also seriously questioned whether the governor is capable of defeating Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.

Said one Fox insider: They are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away.

[btomba_77]

[b]DeSantis Finds Murdoch Empire Not So Supportive[/b][/h1]  
[link=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/12/us/politics/desantis-fox-news-rupert-murdoch.html]New York Times[/link]: Over the last week, he has confronted noticeably tougher questions in interviews with two of the networks hosts, Will Cain and Maria Bartiromo, who pressed him on his anemic poll numbers and early campaign struggles. It was a striking shift for a network that for years has offered Mr. DeSantis a safe space as a congressman and a governor.
 
Other outlets in Mr. Murdochs media empire have also been slightly less friendly of late.

 

[btomba_77]

[h1]The Great Ron DeSantis Train Wreck[/h1]  
[link=https://www.ft.com/content/966af78d-2294-4156-b8b3-fa363b466b13]Edward Luce[/link] in the FT: It was often said that when Bill Clinton walked into a room, each person thought he noticed them in particular. Clinton was the ultimate retail politician: he liked people and they knew it. When Ron DeSantis shows up, even those who want to support him feel that he harbors a special dislike for them. Being a black hole in terms of charisma is not automatically fatal to a candidates prospects. When your target is the diabolically charismatic Donald Trump, however, you are working at a big disadvantage.
…

In theory, the case for DeSantis was very good. Republicans would embrace Trumpism without Trump: in Floridas youthful governor, they could have their war on woke before breakfast, lunch and dinner without the personality flaws of its namesake. DeSantis was Trump without the indictments and future jail sentences. He was Trump minus the drama. He would offer the kind of Trumpism that college graduates could vote for without apology.
 
It turns out there was a serious flaw: Maga voters cannot get enough of the Trump drama. The case against Trump in 2016 was that he was not electable. His base nevertheless recklessly voted for his nomination, then he went on to win. If part of the thrill of backing Trump is precisely because he is not electable that he is unsafe and not respectable it takes some brass to announce yourself as the electable version of Trump. It is now clear that the DeSantis hypothesis is a fatal misreading of what Maga wants.
 
Unfortunately for DeSantis, he is doubling down on his theory. I have seen some bad campaign advertisements in my time. But the latest DeSantis offering, which accuses Trump of being a friend of the LGBTQ community, takes first prize. The ad has be watched a couple of times to digest its full awfulness. Plenty of things can be said about Trump. One of them is decidedly not that he is too woke. The ads message, spliced with the oddly homoerotic images of oiled body builders, is that DeSantis is the answer to Americas alleged crisis of masculinity. Running to the right of Trump is one thing. Doing so in this manner is surpassingly strange.
 
 
DeSantis is setting himself up to be the most promising also-ran of US politics. He would join an august list of diminished former hopefuls. The names Scott Walker, Howard Dean and Bill Bradley spring to mind. As the only candidate who could have ejected Trump yet failed, DeSantis would top that list.

…

Disbanding this cult cannot be done by focus group or contrived positioning. You have to slay the dragon or die trying. In this regard, DeSantis has it all wrong. His pretence at being a macho man indeed a fearless superhero is belied by his instinct to tiptoe around the dragon. The point is not to get to the right of the dragon. It is to plunge your spear into its heart.
 

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[link=https://www.axios.com/2023/07/13/desantis-minnesota-swing-voters-reject]https://www.axios.com/202…ta-swing-voters-reject[/link]

[h1][b]Focus groups: Swing voters reject DeSantis culture wars[/b][/h1]

No one said they’re more likely to vote for DeSantis after being shown a video, shared by his campaign online, that portrays him as [link=https://www.axios.com/2023/07/02/desantis-lgbtq-video-buttigieg-republican-2024-candidates]an anti-LGBTQ crusader[/link].
[ul][*]All but three described the video as “troubling.”[*]Four voters admitted they simply didn’t know enough about the governor to offer an opinion, but the rest who knew him didn’t like him.[*]Minnesota swing voters fall into two camps; either they dont know what DeSantis is saying, or they dont like it, said Rich Thau, president of [link=http://www.engagious.com/]Engagious[/link], who moderated the focus groups. [/ul] Respondents described him as a “wild card” and “unpredictable,” with some, like Felipe I., dismissing his campaign attempts as inauthentic: “It looks like he’s just trying to get the Trump base.”
[ul][*]Others had a harsher view of the governor: “We saw what happened in Germany 80 years ago,” said Jeff D., making a reference to Hitler’s rise.[*]Amber H. echoed the voter who called DeSantis a “wannabe dictator” after watching the video and likened his vision to that of a dictatorship. “He just wants to take over and not work for the people, is really isolating and he’ll do what he wants how he wants it.” [/ul] [ul][*]”The video makes it seem like DeSantis is proud to be anti-trans,” said Mike K.[*]Another, Mark B., was disturbed by what he saw as “pure hate” from DeSantis toward the LGBTQ community. [/ul]
[/QUOTE]
 

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[h1][b]DeSantis Shakes Up His Campaign[/b][/h1]  
Ron DeSantis presidential campaign has fired roughly a dozen staffers and more are expected in the coming weeks as he shakes up his big-money political operations after less than two months on the campaign trail, [link=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-fires-roughly-dozen-staffers-campaign-shake-rcna94470]NBC News[/link] reports.
 
Sources involved with the DeSantis campaign say there is an internal assessment among some that they hired too many staffers too early, and despite bringing in $20 million during its first six weeks, it was becoming clear their costs needed to be brought down.
 
Some in DeSantis political orbit are laying the early blame at the feet of campaign manager Generra Peck, who also led DeSantis 2022 midterm reelection bid and is in the hot seat right now.
 

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[h1][b]Is DeSantis in a Death Spiral?[/b][/h1]  
[link=https://www.semafor.com/article/07/17/2023/ron-desantis-runs-for-president-take-two]Semafor[/link]: The bad DeSantis news doesnt mean hes dead. But hes entered a familiar cycle that often ends in collapse: A candidate is hyped up as a top contender, struggles in the polls, and then scrambles to reset a flagging campaign as donors and voters alike parse every move for signs of weakness or strength.
 
Donors are a key group for DeSantis, who is more reliant on big Republican money than Trump. And while the weekend shakeup placated some, its caused others to grow even more uneasy.
 

[kayla.meyer_144]

Best wish for DeSantis’ campaign:
 
DROP DEAD!

[btomba_77]

I dont think its true. The proof is in the pudding.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, [link=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ron-desantis-pudding-jake-tapper_n_64b78e8de4b0ad7b75f613e1]in a CNN interview[/link], when asked if hes alienating voters by taking extreme views.

…

[b]Ron DeSantis Said Pudding In An Interview And You Know What Happened Next[/b]
 

[kaldridgewv2211]

I didn’t really catch any of it but Tapper take him to task?  He was supposedly iterviewing him yesterday I believe.  I’m sure they talked about the woke in the military, educations, insurance, landscaping etc…

[btomba_77]

Quote from DICOM_Dan

I didn’t really catch any of it but Tapper take him to task?  He was supposedly iterviewing him yesterday I believe.  I’m sure they talked about the woke in the military, educations, insurance, landscaping etc…

Didn’t make news. Didn’t move the needle.  Trump new target letter led the cycle.
 
[link=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/ron-desantis-cnn-interview-defends-trump-1234791062/] DeSantis Goes on CNN to . . . Defend Trump

[/link]
 
I dont want him to be charged, DeSantis told Tapper. This country is going down the road of criminalizing political differences. And I think that is wrong.
 
DeSantis denied that the former presidents actions (or inaction) merited criminal liability. We wanna be in a situation where you dont have one side just constantly trying to put the other side in jail, he added. 
DeSantis has been leaning heavily into his record as Florida governor as a cornerstone for his campaign, but voters have responded with [link=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ron-desantis-donald-trump-covid-vaccine-polling-2024-1234789843/]little more than apathy[/link]  if not [link=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-learning-not-every-state-wants-florida-rcna85138]outright hostility[/link]  towards having Florida-style governance become the law of the land. Tapper questioned the governor regarding whether or not as president, he would make the six week abortion ban he signed into law in Florida a national policy. 
I am pro-life, I will be a pro-life president, and we will support pro-life policies, DeSantis responded. If we lose the election, [Democrats are] going to try to nationalize abortion up until the moment of birth, DeSantis said, going on to repeat a [link=https://www.factcheck.org/2019/03/the-facts-on-the-born-alive-debate/]false claim[/link] that some Democratic states allow post-birth abortion. 
 

[kaldridgewv2211]

And I’m sure tapper asked him what states, and where’s his proof.
 
If J6 was just political differences then someone should bear spray him.  It’s just political differences.

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[b]DeSantis Is Hemorrhaging Support from Key Voters[/b][/h1]  
Republican voters with a college degree and a built-in skepticism of Donald Trump were supposed to form the backbone of Ron DeSantis strategy to win the 2024 GOP presidential primary, the [link=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article277479768.html#storylink=cpy]Miami Herald[/link] reports.
 
Instead, theyre leaving his campaign in droves.
 
A trio of Republican primary polls, including previously unpublished data obtained by McClatchyDC, show that Floridas governor has suffered steep declines in support among GOP voters with at least a bachelors degree, an erosion that threatens to undermine his candidacy.
 
Their defections which started in the spring and have continued this summer are disproportionately responsible for DeSantis overall decline in the race, where polls show he now sits a distant second place to Trump.

 

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[b]DeSantis Is to Trumps Right on Everything[/b][/h1]  
 
 
[link=https://www.slowboring.com/p/desantis-is-to-trumps-right-on-everything?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=159185&post_id=135305165&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email]Matthew Yglesias[/link]: Donald Trump has a lot of flaws as a person, as a policymaker, and as a politician.
 
But the only criticism Ron DeSantis seems to have of him is that Trump isnt a totally dogmatic ideologue. As criticisms go, this one does have the virtue of being true: Trump governed as a conservative who moved the policy status quo to the right, but he hasnt spent the bulk of his career in the conservative movement, isnt particularly steeped in the canon of conservative thought, and has from time to time been willing to toss aside conservative ideological dogma to advance his own purposes. If youre looking for the most rigid right-winger in the universe, DeSantis is right Trump is not your guy.
 
As the basis for a presidential campaign, though, its not very persuasive, and I think DeSantiss inability to articulate any other critique is one reason his campaign is flailing.

 

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[link=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/i-didn-t-do-it-desantis-distances-himself-from-florida-s-new-teaching-standards/vi-AA1egRzs?ocid=socialshare&pc=U531&cvid=a3e19f9e32fc4c019db287767553b2c7&ei=8]https://www.msn.com/en-us…287767553b2c7&ei=8[/link]

“‘I didn’t do it’ and ‘I’m not involved in it’ are not the words of leadership.” ~ Chris Christie commenting on Ron DeSantis distancing himself from his state’s educational standards discussing the benefits of slavery.

Yes, Ron DeSantis, you did.  You have actively and aggressively turned the leadership of your state government over the most hateful, right wing, anti-science, anti-education whackadoodles all in hopes of bolstering your national political career.

Own it, you autocratic white nationalist douche.

[kaldridgewv2211]

how deep are they digging the hole on the whole Florida’s new teaching standards on slavery.  The rest of us are like sure Ron.  The slave retired from slaving to be a blacksmith and raise a family.  Florida is where stupid goes.

[stlmchenry_510]

Florida is where the pedos go.

[btomba_77]

“The campaign is in deep, deep trouble. At this point I would actually be surprised if he makes it to Iowa. I think the campaign is on life support and, unfortunately for DeSantis, there are others who are running … who just seem to be in a much better position.” 

~ Teagan Goddard, on the Julie Mason Show, discussing the candidacy of Ron DeSantis

[satyanar]

He was supposed to show up this weekend in front of a bunch of mega donors. He must have heard he was going to be ridiculed across the board. Never made it.

[kaldridgewv2211]

I was listening the POD save cast and they were saying his campaign blew through money like it was nothing.  Casey would only fly private.  Best hotel rooms.  Just torched money.  Now big donors aren’t lining up to give him more money.  They already gave once.

[btomba_77]

[b]DeSantis Floats RFK Jr. as Head of the FDA or CDC[/b][/h1]  
 
Gov. Ron Desantis [link=https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1684249033768857600]said he would not choose[/link] Robert F. Kennedy Jr as his running mate, but would consider him to be in charge of the FDA or CDC if hed be willing to serve.

 

[btomba_77]

[h1][b]DeSantis Cancels Two Hamptons Fundraisers[/b][/h1]  
Ron DeSantis scrapped two Hamptons fundraisers last weekend due to a lack of interest, the [link=https://nypost.com/2023/07/26/ron-desantis-fundraisers-flop-while-rfk-jr-trump-rake-it-in/]New York Post[/link] reports.
Said a source: The DeSantis experiment is dead. Donors arent coming to his events because they dont see any return on investment.
[link=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook-pm/2023/07/26/plea-deal-or-no-deal-00108296?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=0000014e-f0ed-dd93-ad7f-f8edad790000&nlid=964328]Playbook[/link]: It seems especially notable that this piece was reported by the NY Post. Could it be another sign that Rupert Murdoch is cooling on the Florida governor?
 

[ruszja]

Quote from dergon

[b]DeSantis Floats RFK Jr. as Head of the FDA or CDC[/b]  

Gov. Ron Desantis [link=https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1684249033768857600]said he would not choose[/link] Robert F. Kennedy Jr as his running mate, but would consider him to be in charge of the FDA or CDC if hed be willing to serve.

 
He made a witch doctor his state health commissioner. Anything is possible.

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[h1][b]DeSantis Reboots But Still Avoids Attacking Trump[/b][/h1]  
Hes cutting costs, shedding staff and swapping big speeches for intimate diner stops, [link=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/28/desantis-trump-campaign-strategy-2024-00108647]Politico[/link] reports.
 
But the reboot of Ron DeSantis flailing presidential campaign is still avoiding the Florida governors biggest hurdle of all: taking on Donald Trump.
 
Faced with lagging poll numbers in national and state surveys and a string of missteps Team Trump has capitalized on, DeSantis continues to struggle with how to topple the former president and frontrunner, who appears to gain support with each indictment. And interviews with 17 people who work in and around his campaign revealed little appetite to dramatically change that strategy.
 

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[h1][b]DeSantis Wont Say If Trumps Legal Woes are Disqualifying[/b][/h1]  
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis [link=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/desantis-trump-legal-woes/]told CBS News[/link] its up to voters to decide whether Donald Trumps legal woes are disqualifying, as Trump faces the possibility of a third criminal indictment. 
 

[btomba_77]

[h3][link=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/31/ron-desantis-republican-napoleon-donald-trump]Weak, small and reckless: how Ron DeSantis, Republican Napoleon, met his Waterloo[/link][/h3]
The Florida governor tried to outflank Trump on the right. Bad idea. Next to the former president, the devil with the best Republican tunes, DeSantis is a minor fiend at best

DeSantis diminished himself from the start by chasing Trumps shadow. There is no rightful succession to a cult of personality, and certainly not with the absence of personality. Being a messiah is a one-at-a-time business. The false messiah who turns out not to be the second coming typically winds up being castigated as a fraudulent betrayer and burned at the stake. Christie presents the only true alternative model, which is to purge both the cult and the personality, to deal with crime and punishment. That herculean task would require expunging most of the Republican party. DeSantis owes his career to the Trump party, not the old defunct Republican party. He has sought to become Trump after Trump, only to have to confront the existence of Trump being Trump. So, DeSantis has reduced himself to a troll.
 
Trolling is not merely one of DeSantiss characteristics; its become his principal one. DeSantis struggles to establish an identity through his culture war on identity politics. Yet he lacks both culture and a distinct identity. His battles are stunts, a series of negative projections, at best an accumulation of fears that do not add up. Suing Disney over its acknowledgment of gay people, banning books, gutting universities, prohibiting abortion, shipping unsuspecting migrants to Marthas Vineyard, and slipping into the curriculum a good word for slavery have only prompted DeSantis to try out another personality larger than himself as a summing up.

…

When his stunts ceased working to make him seem big, DeSantiss stature fell to earth. His obvious ploys are increasingly seen, even by his erstwhile donors, as his vain effort to define his identity. His battles with the woke are insignificant in comparison with the Deep State Trump conjures to fight. DeSantis is too insubstantial to be attacked at the same level. Trumps high and low crimes are integral to who he is. DeSantiss carnival acts are contrived sideshows. Trump has been consistently malicious, malignant, deceptive, cruel, vengeful and selfish. This is the character his followers adore. DeSantis is both cruel and a bad mime of cruelty. His gestures at viciousness in the light of Trumps vast villainy cast him as a follower seeking to be the leader.

…

Trump lifted DeSantis from the dregs of the House Freedom Caucus to be his Florida Man. It was not for any special qualities that DeSantis displayed, other than slavish devotion to Trump. Trump never saw him as a successor. Trump never thinks of successors. Narcissists dont have successors. They dont groom anybody to follow in their footsteps. DeSantis attempted to groom himself as if he were groomed by Trump, in order to surpass Trump without disturbing Trump. He was acting out a unique Oedipus simplex. It did not work.
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[h1][b]DeSantis Donors Holding Back Cash[/b][/h1]  
 
[link=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-02/desantis-2024-campaign-facing-donors-holding-back-cash?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-politics&utm_content=politics&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter]Bloomberg[/link]: Some donors who have supported the Florida Republicans campaigns for governor and who had planned to donate to his presidential run are holding off until they see his poll numbers and operation improve. Others who had donated to DeSantis are regretful and arent planning to contribute more to groups supporting him.
 
The pullback in support comes at a critical time for DeSantis, whose campaign has blown through its cash and needs to drum up enthusiasm among GOP voters who overwhelmingly support the thrice-indicted Donald Trump. Failing to reverse course in the coming months could spell the end of the DeSantis campaign.