campaign 2024 Archives

Frum: Is Ron DeSantis Flaming Out Already?

March 15, 2023March 15, 2023 Pensito Editors

From former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum at The Atlantic:

DeSantis will be a candidate of the Republican base, for the Republican base. Like Trump, he delights in displaying his lack of regard for everyone else. Trump, however, is driven by his psychopathologies and cannot emotionally cope with disagreement. DeSantis is a rational actor and is following what somebody has convinced him is a sound strategy. It looks like this:

1. Woo the Fox audience and win the Republican nomination.
2. ??
3. Become president.

Written out like that, you can see the missing piece. DeSantis is surely intelligent and disciplined enough to see it too. But the programming installed in him prevents him from acting on what he sees. His approach to winning the nomination will put the general election beyond his grasp. He must hope that some external catastrophe will defeat his Democratic opponent for him—a recession, maybe—because DeSantis is choosing a path that cannot get him to his goal.

House GOP to Target 37 Dem Seats in 2024

March 14, 2023 Buck Banks

37

“The National Republican Congressional Committee is plotting a sprawling battlefield in 2024, naming 37 Democrat-held House districts to its initial list of targets,” Axios reports. “It’s an ambitious strategy in a presidential year, when House results are often closely correlated with top-of-the-ticket margins. The last three presidential elections — all close by historical standards — saw flips of six to 14 seats in the House.”

Trump Running on a Retribution Platform

March 6, 2023 Buck Banks

“I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”

— Donald Trump, in a speech at CPAC.

DeSantis Fundraisers — A Million or Nuthin’

March 3, 2023 Buck Banks

$1 million

“It’s going to cost a lot to get Ron DeSantis to show up in person to collect political checks: about $1 million,” NBC News reports. “That’s the aggressive goal set to draw the Florida governor and likely 2024 presidential candidate to travel out of his way for fundraising events, according to three Republicans involved in efforts to raise cash for DeSantis during the shadow primary period.”

DeSantis Would Probably Be Worse Than Trump

March 2, 2023 Buck Banks

“Whether DeSantis would actually do more damage to American democracy in office than Trump could remains hard to say. Perhaps, perhaps not. But we should recognize that he is not putting himself forward as a critic of Trump’s authoritarianism. He is promising, on the contrary, to exceed it.”

— Jonathan Chait

Trump Surges Ahead of DeSantis in National Poll

March 1, 2023 Buck Banks

12 points

A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that after trailing for the last three months, Donald Trump has suddenly surged to a substantial lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis in a two-man matchup for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Previously, DeSantis led Trump 45% to 41% among Republican voters. Now Trump leads DeSantis 47% to 39% — a net swing of 12 percentage points in Trump’s direction since early February.

Marianne Williamson Brings on the Entertainment for 2024

February 28, 2023 Buck Banks

“So apparently only those who’ve had careers entrenched in the machine that drove us into the ditch should possibly be considered ‘qualified’ to lead us out of it. (They’re done such a bang up job and all.) Squirm, darlings. We see you.”

— Marianne Williamson, on Twitter, taking a shot at critics of her Democratic primary challenge to President Biden.

Jill’ On Board with Joe’s 2024 Run

February 27, 2023 Buck Banks

“I’m all for it.”

— First Lady Jill Biden, when asked by CNN about her husband running for re-election.

NYT: Trump Is Still Trump

February 23, 2023 Buck Banks

“It was evocative of the former president’s time in office: an at-times meandering address, punctuated by self-promotion — his brand-name Trump Water — and an undercurrent of grievance…. He still appeared to struggle with showing empathy in public.”

— New York Times

Christianist Wingnut: DeSantis Anointed by God

February 17, 2023 Buck Banks

“We need to watch Ron DeSantis. Because the Lord is going to use him in a powerful way.”

— Charlie Shamp — a self-proclaimed Christian “prophet” who backed Donald Trump in 2020 — told the Jim Bakker Show last week that God isn’t backing Trump in the 2024 election this time, Rolling Stone reports.

37

“I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”

— Donald Trump, in a speech at CPAC.

$1 million

“Whether DeSantis would actually do more damage to American democracy in office than Trump could remains hard to say. Perhaps, perhaps not. But we should recognize that he is not putting himself forward as a critic of Trump’s authoritarianism. He is promising, on the contrary, to exceed it.”

— Jonathan Chait

12 points

“So apparently only those who’ve had careers entrenched in the machine that drove us into the ditch should possibly be considered ‘qualified’ to lead us out of it. (They’re done such a bang up job and all.) Squirm, darlings. We see you.”

— Marianne Williamson, on Twitter, taking a shot at critics of her Democratic primary challenge to President Biden.

“I’m all for it.”

— First Lady Jill Biden, when asked by CNN about her husband running for re-election.

“It was evocative of the former president’s time in office: an at-times meandering address, punctuated by self-promotion — his brand-name Trump Water — and an undercurrent of grievance…. He still appeared to struggle with showing empathy in public.”

— New York Times

“We need to watch Ron DeSantis. Because the Lord is going to use him in a powerful way.”

— Charlie Shamp — a self-proclaimed Christian “prophet” who backed Donald Trump in 2020 — told the Jim Bakker Show last week that God isn’t backing Trump in the 2024 election this time, Rolling Stone reports.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“It does make the conversation of the primary all about Trump, which is a good dynamic he had going for him in 2016, everyone being asked to react to Trump. We’re right now fighting a primary so all that matters is the party, and we can deal with the general after….”

— A GOP operative, quoted by the Washington Post, on the impact of Donald Trump being indicted.

— Gov. Ron DeSantis, when asked about Donald Trump’s “Ron DeSantimonius” nickname for him.

“I’m emancipated now.” — Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), quoted by the Los Angeles Times, on her life as a backbencher.

— Alexander Burns

— Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, distancing himself from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ apparent flip-flop on the war in Ukraine, on the Hugh Hewitt radio show.

Numerati

$20

Politico: “After inflation rocketed upward last year, those pushing for higher minimum wages see a new opening to gain ground on raising worker pay.”

3,500

$3,300

“Donald Trump asked his followers to sign a petition denouncing his potential arrest in New York,” Insider reports. “But signing this petition leads people straight to a page where they’re asked to give $3,300 or other suggested amounts of cash to his 2024 campaign.”

1.5

21

Twenty-one members of the South Carolina State House are considering a bill that would make a woman who has an abortion in the state eligible for the death penalty, Rolling Stone reports.