A Republican reader of this blog told me:
"Stop talking about Trump. He's gone. Republicans don't care about him anymore."
Alas, no.
Trump is past, present, and future. Republicans don't dare defy him. Like it or not, he leads the GOP. He is calling out RINOs and dispatching rivals.At first I didn't understand Donald Trump's new nickname for Ron DeSantis: "Ron DeSanctimonious." Then I saw DeSantis' video "God Made a Fighter."
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I would have guessed Trump would insult DeSantis by positioning him as a copycat. "Mini-me" was my guess. Trump would be Mr. Big. DeSantis would be the wanna-be. Trump might comment on DeSantis' speeches and actions by grading them publicly. "That was pretty good, Ron. Not great." Trump would be the Master.
But Trump didn't go that way. DeSantis is aggressively courting Evangelical voters. Trump advances the agenda of Christian nationalists, but he isn't one of them. It is OK with Evangelical voters because they say God is using Trump.
DeSantis is challenging that. Maybe God would rather use a family man like DeSantis. Who says? God's deep, reverberating voice.
People who remember radio's Paul Harvey will remember the sound. Many will recall Harvey's sermonette "God Made a Farmer." This video is similar. We learn that God sent Ron DeSantis. "God Made a Fighter."
The video is a primary source in political branding. I consider it smarmy and self-congratulatory. To my ear it was embarrassing in its hubris. But possibly to the ears of Christian church-goers it is a powerful statement of God's intention. The "voice of God" praises DeSantis so fulsomely that it risks drifting into parody. That is what readers of The New Yorker might think. DeSantis isn't appealing to them. He is addressing Evangelicals. Urban sophisticates who call the video ridiculous will help DeSantis. See! the elite liberals mock us for our faith!
By calling DeSantis sanctimonious, Trump is undermining DeSantis' credibility at DeSantis' point of strength. That is Trump's go-to mode of attack. Ted Cruz branded himself a proven conservative, so Trump named him Lying Ted. Trump called earnest Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas. Trump defines DeSantis' statement of God's plan as sanctimony. DeSantis is just another elitist showing off supposed moral superiority. He is doing what the woke, moral-scold liberals do, telling everyone they are better than us. Sanctimony. What a fraud!
Trump has not gone away. Ron DeSantis has entered the national stage. Both are jostling for the Evangelical vote. The competition has policy consequences. It will push policy on abortion, gay marriage, and judges further in the direction of Evangelical populism. Both want to look like God's true agent on earth. Don't look for bipartisan compromise.
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9 comments:
He’s running. They’re running.
God made this living hell...
“By calling DeSantis sanctimonious, Trump is undermining DeSantis' legitimacy and credibility at DeSantis' point of strength.”
But do their intended audience even know or care what sanctimonious means? I’ll bet Trump didn’t, until somebody dug it up for him. Remember, we’re talking about people eager to surrender the power of Congress to a party that recently tried to take the administrative branch by force. I’d be surprised if they care about anything besides the price of gas and making America white again.
Both Trump and DeSantis are champions of the GOP’s stock-in-trade: lies, fear and anger. But DeSantis is younger and not quite so big and fat, so he probably has the advantage.
If both Trump and DeSantis ran in an Oregon GOP Presidential primary, then I'd vote for DeSantis. Too much drama (and ego) surrounds Trump. Plus, Jared Kushner did a dirty deal with the Saudis.
However, I don't think that you're going to see Trump vs. DeSantis. If Trump and DeSantis both ran, then it would tear-apart the GOP, since DeSantis also has a large following.
I don't think that DeSantis wants to be Trump's "second-banana" (like Mike Pence was), so I think that DeSantis will allow Trump to run opposed in 2024, then DeSantis will run for President in 2028 (and win).
Yes, your Republican friend is exhibiting wishful thinking...true to type. Some of them would like him to go away. Maybe they should pray for it.
But the larger issue is the fact that elections have become game shows. Republicans have latched on to vulgar populism and the clownish behavior required to gain attention, the more absurd the better, and the audience is cheering for more. Many of these candidates are more ludicrous than Trump, incredibly, and I suspect the bottom isn't in sight yet.
Gingrich begat Jordan begat MTG begat...get my drift?
Some of these charmers are going to win, probably just enough to encourage others.
"Don't look for bipartisan compromise".
That didn't take long! Buried the lede. Soon we'll hear Democrats intoning again about those sacred touchstones of democracy, the veto and the (suddenly no longer racist) filibuster. For now, anything but what's actually moving voters, which is neither Trump nor DeSantis. It's repudiation of Democratic Party policies and priorities.
Trump is the self-anointed “Chosen One.” DeSantis is the self-proclaimed “Fighter,” sent by God to protect us. I thought this could become the proverbial irresistible force vs. the immovable object but on second thought, I think Rick is right. It’s more like a contest over title to the Biggest Buffoon. DeSantis is a graduate of Yale and Harvard, making him one of the “elite” that populists love to hate. As a genuine ignoranus, Trump could have the advantage there.
I am hoping to see DeSantis hand Trump his head in the upcoming presidential primaries. That will be fun to watch.
And then on to see DeSantis do the same to the woke left. That will be fun too.
Where’s the bipartisan compromise in Oregon?
We had the best chance, and no chance, this very year, in the gubernatorial contest.
I’ve watched this state morph from a place I loved, and was even happy to pay taxes to support, into a place, were it up to me (and not my spouse) that I would leave in half a heartbeat for one that was marginally competent across more domains and agencies than I can count (or that anyone bothers to).
Paul Harvey was a government agent.
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