Q&A of the Day – Are the Trump Attacks on DeSantis Going too Far?
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Today’s Entry: My beloved Trump is going too far attacking DeSantis. We don’t like it. I don’t want him bleeding votes. He can win hands down. Only one who KNOWS the job & Swamp & did a great job for all Americans.
Bottom Line: I hear you, agree with you, and also understand your concern. I’m also here to tell you that in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t matter and in fact will only make DeSantis stronger in the end. This note is one of many I’ve received over the past week as the fallout from the Trump-affiliated Super PAC released the generally odd and grotesque “Pudding Fingers” ad. And as I covered last week – the top DeSantis Super PAC has begun fighting back with their primary ad currently being one which directly addresses the concerns expressed in today’s Q&A. Here’s a quick refresh: The new ad entitled Fight Democrats, Not Republicans goes like this... Donald Trump is being attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York, so why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida? Trump’s stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi Playbook. Repeating lies about Social Security. Here’s the truth from Governor Ron DeSantis: We’re not going to mess with Social Security as Republicans. What did Trump say? (When asked) Will entitlements ever be on your plate? At some point they will be... We will take a look at that... Trump should fight Democrats not lie about Governor DeSantis. What Happened to Donald Trump? And that’s not the only one. Another just produced ad they have on the ready is called Gun-Grabbing Trump. Uncomfortable for those, especially Floridians, who like both? Yes. Appropriate? Perhaps not. But is this constructive? Yes, without a doubt and I’ll explain.
Let’s be clear. Whomever emerges as the Republican candidate for president will be painted as evil incarnate by the left and their allies in news media. The perviousness of lies and tactics have only become worse with time, but I’ll walk you back to the two previous Republican presidential candidates preceding Donald Trump to illustrate the point. John McCain and Mitt Romney were about the two least objectionable possible candidates the GOP could have run in 2008 and 2012. Both well established and fairly moderate candidates with long histories of working across the aisle on policy. McCain as a longtime senator and Romney as governor of a deep blue state in Massachusetts. And as they sailed through to their party nominations in 2008 and 2012 the left largely left them alone. But once it was clear they would be the ones the effort to destroy was on. Consider these two actual quotes from team Obama against McCain in 2008 - I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president. Getting shot down, tortured, and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience. Yes, decorated war hero John McCain’s service was reduced to him somehow having become a traitor of sorts. And who can forget what they did to destroy Sarah Palin once she became the running mate. Most people still don’t realize it was Tina Fey pretending to be Sarah Palin who said she could see Russia from her house. And as for Mitt, perhaps the politest and most gentile presidential candidate of the modern era. He was turned into an animal abusing monster with “binders full of women”. That takes us back to where this conversation started.
Donald Trump’s campaign against Ron DeSantis is uncomfortable. It’s uncalled for and often inaccurate. It’s also already grotesque. And yet it’s helpful. There’s nothing Donald Trump nor his affiliated Super PACs are throwing at DeSantis that is different than what would happen by the left if Ron were to emerge from the primary process as the GOP candidate. In that sense, what Trump’s political apparatus is doing to DeSantis is helpful and can only make him stronger in the general. The irony about Trump’s candidacy is that he’s been so thoroughly abused by the left, including having made for TV stunts (the J-6th committee hearings) - let alone the indictment, there’s really nothing else they could do to him. But DeSantis? Here’s a man who was labeled DeathSantis and DeSatan by Florida’s original Orangeman and favorite political chameleon, Charlie Crist. If the guy who tests which way the wind is blowing to form an opinion about anything has that to say – what do you think would be coming should Ron win the GOP nomination? And that takes me to the polls.
Yes, there has been a national effort to discredit DeSantis – starting with the 60 Minutes failed hit on him over the Nikki Fried inspired fraud of pay-for-play COVID vaccines...let alone the heat he takes in national news media over Florida’s Parental Rights in education laws and semi-related battles with Disney. No, it’s nothing compared to a singularly focused series of attacks which will ensue if he’s the guy next year. The polls you see today which often show DeSantis theoretically performing a bit better than Trump here and there aren’t reliable because a) It’s April of 2023 and b) DeSantis hasn’t yet been subjected to anywhere near what he will be if he emerges. So, while the Trump attacks might not be comfortable or even truthful – they’re actually helpful for Ron to learn how to combat them and overcome them. Whether that’s for 2024, or 2028 as the case could potentially be.