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If you missed my recent diaries, here are the links.
Did Ron DeSantis Ever Have a Chance in 2024?
After Ron DeSantis won re-election by almost 20% as Governor of Florida — the third-largest state in the country — in November 2022, many political analysts and Never-Trumpers thought he would be a formidable challenger to and one quite capable of denying Donald Trump the 2024 GOP nomination.
They were hopelessly wrong. DeSantis lost to Trump by 30% in the Iowa Caucuses last week, withdrew yesterday from the 2024 GOP race, and endorsed Trump.
When he entered the race a year ago, DeSantis tried to carve a niche for himself by running to the right of Trump on cultural issues. He bet that high-profile actions on book bannings, “woke” culture, pursuing anti-immigrant policies, displaying hostility to LGBTQ folks, and picking an unnecessary fight with Disney would endear him to MAGA Nation. He would become Donald Trump without the sleaze and constant drama and attract a healthy portion of Trump’s base. Instead, by some accounts, he received only about 10% of the MAGA vote in Iowa.
As they say in politics, his support was a mile wide, but only an inch deep. In rejecting him, the MAGA crowd sensed that he was a phony through and through.
His wooden personality and lack of interpersonal skills contributed to his political demise. Above all, his miscalculation of what the Republican base was cost him dearly.
John Ellis: “The Republican Party has been transformed by Donald Trump. It is now driven by a populist movement. The core constituents of that movement are not college-educated and live in exurban and rural counties. Their view of ‘Wall Street’ is roughly in line with that of Bernie Sanders, socialist Senator from Vermont. Their view of the ‘1%’ is every bit as disdainful as that of Mr. Sanders.”
“A presidential campaign that advertises its support from hedge fund and private equity titans isn’t going to get very far with the ‘base’ of the modern Republican Party. ‘Losing Ken’, in fact, would be a plus. The fact that the DeSantis campaign did not understand this is pretty much all you need to know about why DeSantis is no longer a candidate for president.”
“He never had a base. He had a base of donors. If you’re going to run for the GOP presidential nomination, it’s far more important to speak to and for the base than raise money from people the base instinctively and persistently distrusts.”
“Young man, there's a place you can go
I said, young man, when you're short on your dough
You can stay there, and I'm sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time”
Attribution for the above cartoon: Daniel Uhlfelder @DWUhlfelderLaw
Bailing Out
Kissing the Ring
Reservation Confirmed
It’s Down to Just Two Now
What We Had Here Was… Failure to Launch
A Return to Normalcy
There Was No Takeoff for Ron
Upended by An Orange Storm
It’s Over for Him
Enjoying the Many Attractions of Disney World
Selling Their Souls
How Long Can They Give?
Is This a Glimpse of January 20, 2025?
There’s No Question About Who Did It
Is Justice Coming?
The Leading GOP VP Candidate
Is It Destined to Crash and Burn?
Not of He Has Anything to Say About It
Hunting for Dollars
He Still Has to Contend With Her
RIP, Dexter King
ATLANTA — Dexter Scott King, the younger son of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died Monday after battling prostate cancer.
The King Center in Atlanta, which Dexter King served as chairman, said the 62-year-old son of the civil rights icon died at his home in Malibu, California. His wife, Leah Weber King, said in a statement that he died "peacefully in his sleep."
The third of the Kings' four children, Dexter King was named for the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where his father served as a pastor when the Montgomery bus boycott launched him to national prominence in the wake of the 1955 arrest of Rosa Parks. Dexter King was just 7 years old when his father was assassinated in April 1968 while supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. In his 2004 memoir, "Growing Up King," Dexter King recalled his father's slaying as the end of a carefree childhood.
"Ever since I was seven, I've felt I must be formal," he wrote, adding: "Formality, seriousness, certitude — all these are difficult poses to maintain, even if you're a person with perfect equilibrium, with all the drama life throws at you."
The Struggle for Equality Goes On
CORRECTION: The diary poll question should read…
Who Will WIN the 2024 GOP New Hampshire Primary Tomorrow Night?