No, he lacks the boorish charisma of Trump. Trump is, at his core, an entertainer, and he's quite good at stoking up a crowd and playing their tune. DeSantis is just your run-of-the-mill conservative by comparison, with as much charisma as Pence or any of the other million conservative NPCs that run the GOP.
Not unless Trump runs into some kind of scandal where he is caught respecting someone or needs to have his lungs removed and can no longer speak at rallies. He's too established as an idea - the sort of idea that lasts a generation. He gets by on pure momentum, and doesn't have to say or do anything specific to maintain his appeal - he just has to show up and say whatever.
Trump's own stated policies are only vaguely connected to why people like him too. He doesn't have to propose policy or even do anything. He's just the embodiment of gut instinct American reaction now. Tell Trump supporters he's the one who first rolled out the covid vaccine and they won't believe you.
He's whoever they want him to be and I've never seen a American politician embody that kind of thing. Maybe Reagan.
He’s whoever they want him to be and I’ve never seen a American politician embody that kind of thing.
Obama was also this, but for libs (like me, sadly).
nah not against trump. I could see him probably being a good contender for a gop president if trump isnt in the run if the republican party continues to get more and more proudly reactionary.
I'm going to try and disagree with the people here and say yes I think DeSantis could beat Trump, although I don't think DeSantis would ever actually run against Trump. But if he knew how to and really wanted to he could beat Trump.
Trump's got the cult worship going for him, but at his heart Trump is a New York City businessman, and so he'll push all the chud talking points, throw meat to his base, dogwhistle right and left, but he'll always pull his punches at the moment it becomes really dangerous to international capital. At the start of his presidency he had types like Steve Bannon and GORKA advising him, but ultimately let them go, choosing instead to side with the Kushner intl bourgeoisie wing. He endorsed the vaccines and urged his base to get vaccinate, even as his base had gone full anti-vax. I think Trump at the end of the day has some allegiance to the international bourgeoisie that holds him back.
DeSantis I think has none of this allegiance. Florida is already being hailed by the chuds as a right-wing stronghold, and DeSantis' allegiance is to the beautiful boaters and other petit-bourgeois fascists that are the real power in Trump's base. Although they all worship Trump and that would be very hard to break, Trump's allegiance to the international bourgeoisie holds him back in ways that DeSantis will not be held back. I'm sure in the next few years DeSantis could grow his profile among the chuds enough to really give Trump a run for his money if he wanted to. The whole Don't Say Gay thing, now being copied by Republican legislators around the country, has already heavily increased his profile.
Although ultimately I think if Trump ran DeSantis would never challenge him, because DeSantis is a chud, and chuds love their strong-man leaders. Trump is their strong-man leader right now, and until he does something that really betrays the chuds, will remain that way. DeSantis would not challenge him I don't think.
I think it's easier to break down to he has a lot to lose by challenging trump in 2024 and very little to lose by waiting a term.
It takes a Dem to run a candidate that's lost on the national stage, so it's high risk for him.
very true. It'd be better for him to become the Trump successor rather than the Trump challenger
I should have pointed out that I don't disagree with anything you said, I just thought that it was worth emphasizing that.
Trump is old and lazy. If he were to decide not to run DeSantis seems like a potential successor, especially if Trump endorsed him. Chuds love him and he’s already playing, or even leading the way, in all of their dumb fucking idpol games
Seems pretty clear to me who would win the in name brand Trump vs store brand Trump matchup
Does it even matter? The chuds will be the same either way, right?
I've completely given up on national electoralism
I should probably give up on local electoralism too but I'm a glutton for pain
