In my previous two posts I went to great
lengths to (over)state what should be, but unfortunately is not,
obvious to everyone: Florida governor Ron DeSantis,
aka Der Führer of Floriduh, is a danger to democracy,
as demonstrated over and over again by the rhetoric, policies,
and actions of DeSantis and his fellow fascists in the legislature of the "Free
State of Florida."
It would be a mistake at this point to dismiss the dangers posed
by DeSantis and his allies, especially as he seems to be lurching
headlong towards a run for the US presidency in 2024. But it
would also be an egregious error to dismiss the current
rethuglican front-runner: #NeverWasMyPresident Donald John Trump. On the first
of the two blog posts linked to in the paragraph above, I wrote
that in many ways DeSantis is worse than Trump. I stand by that
opinion, but it in no way negates or neutralizes the profound
awfulness of Trump, and the threats that he poses.
The rivalry between Trump and DeSantis has been a steady theme in the news cycle for months,
and in many ways it's very amusing. It's particularly amusing
because most of the attacks are coming from Trump -- everything
from his continuing efforts to find new childish nicknames with which to taunt
"Meatball Ron," to a pro-Trump super PAC pot calling a DeSantis kettle
black by accusing DeSantis of ethics violations.
So far, Meatball Ron has been very measured and circumspect in
his responses to Trump's attacks, when he has responded at all.
There's been a lot of speculation as to why, the most obvious probability being that he doesn't want to risk alienating that
all-important MAGA cult. On the other hand, some rethuglicans have said
that DeSantis' lack of response is simply because there is no
reason for him to engage now, and that besides, there's no
evidence that the attacks from Trump are hurting him so far. Then
again, DeSantis hasn't officially announced his candidacy, and
once he does, it's entirely possible that Trump will destroy him
on the national stage, as he has done to all of his previous
rethuglican rivals.
In any case, it appears that more than one prominent rethuglican
is in a bubble of denial regarding Trump's chances in 2024. Axios
(March 14, 2023) offers some blatant examples of rethuglican leaders'
statements that more than likely will not age well. They're seriously underestimating the power of the
Trumpcult and of Trump's ability to keep the cult members in
thrall.
Trump has absolutely no intention of giving up his position as
cult leader, as recently indicated in his infamous "I am your retribution" rant at
this year's CPAC. He has firmly stated
that even if the great "political witch hunt" results
in his being indicted, he will continue to run for prez.
Nothing's gonna stop him!
Unfortunately he has a point: with his campaign centering on his
"victimhood" and his vows of vengeance, Trump's poll numbers seem to climb with each new
development in the ongoing saga of investigations of him and
legal actions against him. And the monetary contributions just
keep coming in; he has yet to meet a potential personal/legal
crisis that he hasn't been able to monetize. Who says crime (and
civil offenses) don't pay? For Trump, they've paid off handsomely
so far.
And while I don't believe for a moment that I have been
overstating the potential danger of a DeSantis presidency, given
all of the damage done in Florida so far by DeSantis and the
Tallahassee Taliban, there's also a good argument in favor of the
opinion that Ron DeSantis is overrated as a rival to Trump.
Again, the crucial factors are the strength of the MAGA cult and
the determination of their leader. Ana Marie Cox, writing for the New Republic (March 13, 2023), summed it up quite succinctly.
Sure, the thinking goes, Trump’s presidency set the stage for a Republican nomination contest that looks to hinge on banning drag brunches and books, but Trump has been stuck in the wings squeezing out Truth Social posts for the past three years, while DeSantis’s stunts took Fox News’s center stage. Look at Ron go! He’s Trump “without the baggage.” He’s Trump “with a less crass delivery.” He’s “someone who gets them [Republicans] out of having to defend Trump.” He’s “Trump with brains” or, more modestly, “Trump with a brain.”
It’s a great argument if you think that today’s Republican voter—which is to say, a Trump voter—thinks that there’s anything wrong with Trump just how he is. You think they want a day off from defending Trump? Defending Trump is the entire GOP brand. Republicans sort both one another and their news (“news”) sources through a prism of Trumpiness. And as for DeSantis being the “smart Trump,” well, I’m not sure there’s anyone in the GOP base who actually asked for such a thing.
And then there's the aforementioned point that Trump has a history of annihilating his political rivals with the sheer force of his bullying "personality." A March 15, 2023 piece from the Daily Kos community (by a frequent contributor who goes by the name Dartagnan), bears the charmingly rhyming headline, "The Ron DeSantis wind-up doll is about to walk into a right-wing wall." It all has to do not only with DeSantis' own lack of charisma, but, more importantly, with -- you guessed it -- the nature of the Trumpcult base and their expectations.
As observed this week by The New York Times’ Reid J. Epstein and Maggie Haberman, the Republican political landscape is littered with the bodies of formerly viable candidates who have fallen victim to the Wrath of Trump. No longer do we hear the plaintive speeches of Jeb Bush promising a softer, genteel facade for conservatism’s lethal aims; no longer are we troubled by the wonky, opportunistic aspirations of Marco Rubio, the original “Tea Party” senator; nor are we beset by the strange and improbable presidential fantasies of Texas’ Ted Cruz. All of these putative “contenders” to the GOP throne in 2016 have slunk off into their little sinecures, each one resigned to the fact that their dreams of power will remain forever dashed as long as their orange-hued nemesis continues to walk the earth.
This has nothing to do with their personal platforms or pet policies. They all offered Americans only slightly varied shades of the same tasteless right-wing pablum. But they quickly found that their policies didn’t matter to a Republican base far more eager for entertainment and the stimulating prospect of bread and circuses than actual governance. And in terms of entertainment, Donald Trump’s performances were untouchable. Trump dispatched these so-called establishment Republicans with almost no effort, singeing their hides and forcing them into that shadow realm where failed Republican presidential hopefuls pine away the rest of their days, dreaming of what might have been...
...The essential, insoluble problem for DeSantis is that Trump can continue to deliver body blows to DeSantis ad infinitum, but DeSantis cannot respond in kind without alienating the Trump supporters he needs to win. He is never going to outbid Trump on policy issues because Trump will always claim that they were his idea to begin with.
So even though both Trump and DeSantis are dangerous, in many ways they are not evenly matched. And in a way that's a pity. If only the Trump-DeSantis rivalry could somehow result in the two of them completely eliminating each other from public life, the country would be much better off. Of course I am not in any way suggesting any type of physical violence. Even so, that old limerick about the two cats of Kilkenny keeps coming to mind...
There were once two cats of Kilkenny,
Each thought that was one cat too many;
So they fought and they fit,
They scratched and they bit,
Till, excepting their nails
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats, there weren’t any.
A girl can dream, anyway.
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