Ron DeSantis has a two-pronged message for Corporate America donors in NY. First, “I CAN BEAT BIDEN!” Next up, “I don’t have all of Trump’s baggage.” Those two things need a super secret ingredient to make it all work: “I need large sums of your money!” If those billionaires DeSantis wants to back him have any brains whatsoever, they may want to have their staffs do some research on the John Kerry presidential campaign of 2004. What they will discover is that the message of “Support me because I can beat President X, and therefore, I should be the nominee!” doesn’t work. Or it didn’t work for John Kerry.
And I specifically remember that sorry episode.
Many candidates swear that they are the only one to beat the incumbent, but they usually try to map out a specific set of policies or overarching strategies to beat said incumbent and distinguish themselves from others in the race. I’m not entirely sure what is the win/lose ratio for those candidates, but I know circular reasoning when I see it. And I remember John Kerry making the argument that Democratic voters in the primaries needed to vote for him because he was the only one who could beat George W. Bush in 2004. It was a mantra, and it worked on the media and Democratic voters.
Can anyone really remember what major issues that separated Kerry for his rivals? Only one I could think of was the voted for the damn Iraq War when he fucking knew better. And this was supposed to shield him from any attacks by Republicans. Then, Kerry made the infamous gaffe about voting against an $87 billion dollar supplement for the Iraq War. It was the infamous, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." Bush went on a tear to show that Kerry was a flip-flopper on the Iraq War and couldn’t be trusted with protecting the American people.
Why bring up all this shit again? Because DeSantis is employing the same circular reasoning when it comes to his bid for the White House. DeSantis has declared himself the only Republican to be able to beat President Joe Biden in 2024, so he must be the nominee for the GOP.
But what about all those policies of DeSantis? He is doing all sorts of things in Florida. Yeah, all the things that Trump would do. And none of which is terribly popular outside of Florida.
And you have to love the chutzpah of DeSantis trying to mooch off of Corporate America for money:
DeSantis’ message was simple: He is the only Republican who could defeat President Joe Biden in a general election.
In meetings with other wealthy businessmen, DeSantis has been even more explicit, portraying himself as an obvious choice for anyone frustrated by the former president Donald Trump’s legal troubles and antics.
In the case of Lauder, DeSantis’ audience was well-chosen. The businessman has not been shy about his frustration with Trump, whom he backed in past races.
But Ronald Lauder didn’t want to comment to Politico about this event. Probably out of fear of Trump I imagine. But it could also be that Corporate America is not so in love with Trump policies that DeSantis is pushing. Think about Disney.
The outreach by DeSantis provides a window into the early calculations he and his team have made as they ready themselves for a presidential run. The governor has made a name for himself castigating corporate America, while also leaning on top finance figures for financial support. His team sees New York donors as prime turf, not only for their deep pockets but also because many of them backed Trump out of convenience rather than a shared ideology with his MAGA base.
Oh don’t mind my attacking Disney! And the cruise line industry for demanding proof of vaccinations for their passengers! Just give me money, money, money because I will be bring you what you most desire: tax cuts!
Interviews with six people across senior levels of Wall Street’s biggest banks revealed an intense desire for a GOP candidate who could deny Trump the nomination. While the finance industry appreciated Trump’s tax cuts — partially designed by former Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn during his time in Trump’s White House — they grew to loathe his protectionist trade policies, penchant for attacking individual companies and firing off market-shaking tweets. His unwillingness to forcefully condemn white nationalist groups further alienated him from the industry.
“Look there is no question that some of what he did was good for us,” a top executive at one of America’s largest banks said on condition of anonymity so as not to draw Trump’s fire. “But he’s bad for America. And ultimately that’s bad for us. And most of our employees can’t stand him.”
And I see a problem here. DeSantis is Mr. Culture Warrior. In fact, he is doing his damndest to be just as bad as Trump on so called “culture issues.” So how is DeSantis any different from Trump, except for all that “baggage”?
Anyway, my point is that this article points to DeSantis having some of the worst political instincts that we as Democrats have seen in losing campaigns. Stuart Stevens already pointed out that DeSantis bragging about what he has done in Florida and wanting to expand that to the rest of America is from the Michael Dukakis campaign of 1988. We even have DeSantis in a jet fighter in his ad just like Dukakis had video of him in a tank.
And as I previously mentioned, does anyone outside of Florida REALLY want to have fascism spread to the other 49 states?
But now, we have the John Kerry message of “I can beat the president, so vote for me as your nominee!” coming from DeSantis to corporate donors. And if they are dumb enough, some of those billionaires may waste their money on DeSantis. How can you argue with circular reasoning?