Did Anyone Move the Needle & Local Anarchy – Top 3 Takeaways – September 28th, 2023
- Did anyone move the needle? It’s not often you’ll find me citing the New York Times but in preparation for last night’s debate The Times’ story summed up my thoughts best. The headline to their story: Can the Second G.O.P. Debate Amount to More Than a Race for Second Place? The generally objective take was that the debate would matter more to the donor class seeking a Trump-alternative than it would from the perspective of changing the current trajectory of the Republican primary race. The Times’ approach contrasted with the Washington Examiner which offered up the story: Republican debate: The GOP field gets a second chance to escape Trump’s shadow. Their story focused on this debate potentially being make or break time for most non-Trump candidates in the race and the need for consolidation among non-Trump candidates to have a chance going forward. And while there’s truth to both stories, the very premise of them speaks to the larger point. After many months and one presidential debate into the race the conversation is about whether a candidate polling at 5% can make a move over another candidate polling at 13% - with donors, with voters or both. If that’s really where the conversation sits the reality is that it doesn’t matter if anyone on the debate stage moved the needle because the swinging of a pendulum is needed instead. The problem for all non-Trump candidates is twofold. It’s not just about being the top performing non-Trump candidate in the race. How has that worked out for DeSantis thus far? It’s about being dominate enough that one is the ONLY non-Trump candidate in the race. There’s not enough oxygen or votes in the room for others. And that leads to the second and even bigger challenge. Even if there was a singular, dominate, non-Trump candidate in the race who was so impressive all of the others folded...they’d still have to convince at least 8% of Donald Trump’s supporters to vote for them instead. So, did anyone move the needle last night? Yeah, maybe? I mean after all DeSantis didn’t look around this time to see what other people were doing before raising his hand to take a position and he went as aggressively after Trump as he has yet. And then was Ramaswamy who went from calling out every candidate on the stage for being bought and paid for the first go ‘round to invoking Reagan’s 11th Commandment in the second. Nikki Haley was ready for battle (literally and figuratively) Pence had his platitudes. We saw Tim Scott trying really hard to have a moment. Christie was punny and quacked about Trump and Burgum was determined to get some face time. Does any of it really matter? Unless most of the field quickly chooses to drop out and consolidate around a candidate or at most two probably not. And Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who’s not running, but that could choose to do so before November 10th, may be the strongest non-Trump candidate of all. In answer to the New York Times’ headline posed as a question... Can the second debate amount to more than a race for second place...? If Youngkin were to get it in it might have even been about who’s running for third.
- Anarchy. On the same day Target announced another nine stores would close in major cities due to violence and theft. What did we see? More violence and theft of retailers in a major city as Philadelphia’s “Center City” was looted by hundreds of young criminals. We also had a “30 Under 30 CEO” raped and murdered by a repeat offender in Baltimore who had recently been released from prison after having served less than half of a previous 30-year sentence. That’s just one day’s worth of destruction in major cities in our country all due to the exact same reason. Wokeism aka, Marxism expressed through policy by those in positions of power. It was just a Tuesday in Biden’s America. Target’s announced closures in New York, Portland, Seattle and San Francisco will not only leave huge additional holes where businesses used to be... In their wake thousands of lost jobs (each Target store employs an average of 175 employees), millions in lost wages, and additional tens of millions in lost tax revenues. Then there’s the ambient impact of less foot traffic for surrounding businesses, a weaker local economy and fewer options for affordable products for those in the community. We’re watching many of America’s largest and most prosperous communities go down the drain before our eyes. As for those who aren’t responsible for the looting and the violence in these communities, I want something better for these people and these communities too...but they’ve got to want something more for themselves. You get what you vote for. George Soros-backed prosecutors choose not to prosecute criminals in these communities. It’s led to the proliferation of theft and violence and in the process has given these communities precisely what they voted for – anarchy. We’re three years removed from the apex of the Marxist Black Live Matter movement that ushered this era of malfeasance in and yet the looting, the violence and the destruction of many American cities is as bad as it’s ever been. And while it’s as sad as it is angering to see, it’s also instructive.
- It could happen in Florida too. In fact, it’s been attempted in Florida. This is precisely why Governor DeSantis has acted to protect two of Florida’s largest communities from experiencing a similar fate. What’s protected Orlando and Tampa Bay from traveling down a similar path is Governor DeSantis. The voters in those communities were every bit as foolish in electing Soros-backed prosecutors as the foolish voters in the woke cities in other states were. The removal of Hillsborough’s Andrew Warren last year and Orange’s Monique Worrell this year is largely what’s kept those communities from likewise starting to spiral out of control. The spiraling that occurs with criminals not being prosecuted for crimes which is why DeSantis removed both prosecutors in name only from office. I’ve often said that every election has consequences but most often it’s those closest to home that have the biggest impact in your daily life. That’s on full display in woke cities in blue states. But it’s also something that’s been attempted by bad decision making in voting booths in our state. And it’s worth remembering that in South Florida the only thing that saved us from looking more like lockdown states than the rest of our state during the pandemic was also Governor DeSantis. He stepped in to force the reopenings in our communities at a time in which the Democrats who ran them wanted to keep them shut down. While the 2024 election season is heating up it’s important to remember that yes, who the next President of the United States is matters, and yes, the party controlling congress matters, but it’s also true that the races which are most commonly overlooked here at home are as important as they’ve ever been. And they’re also just as likely as they’ve ever been to have the biggest impact on your daily life. It’s not an effective strategy to count on DeSantis being around to bail us out from poor decision making. The bottom line is that we need to see what’s happening across the country. We need to recognize the candidates that seek to bring it here and see to it that they’re never elected to office. And here’s a hint. Some already are.