DeSantis is out. Superficiality is in. Republicans deserve what Trump will bring | Opinion
Ron DeSantis is the perfect Republican presidential candidate that never was. His failed campaign — he announced Sunday night that he was suspending his effort and endorsed Donald Trump — is a microcosm of everything that’s wrong with politics today. Especially Trump and his MAGA fanbase.
On paper, DeSantis has a lot going for him: An incredible record as Florida’s governor — improving education, effectively handling hurricanes and relief efforts, and championing parental rights. DeSantis is also a liberty-minded conservative with a military background, a cute family, and a penchant for telling reporters how it is. These things endeared him to Florida voters.
While Joe Biden says America is already great and Trump says he’ll make America great again, DeSantis actually made Florida great. It seemed obvious that his successful governorship would translate nationwide.
But right away as a candidate, DeSantis struggled, especially during the presidential debates, The way he handled Trump, the hold Trump has on Republican voters and the superficiality of politics did DeSantis in.
Outside Florida and on the national stage, DeSantis seemed less confident, almost awkward. Though Trump was never in the room where it happened, DeSantis laid into him. He jabbed at others and his success in Florida got lost in the shuffle every time he uttered Trump’s name. What DeSantis lacked in charm and chemistry he made up for in governing success, but the GOP electorate doesn’t notice those things when Trump’s aura is in the air.
DeSantis might have done slightly better if he’d pretended Trump didn’t exist, but in the long run, it still wouldn’t have mattered.
Trump has a chokehold on much of the GOP, demanding unceasing loyalty. There’s an idea for this, and it’s called negative partisanship:The tendency for partisan voters to be animated by how much they don’t like the other side. It’s Trump 101.
Alan I. Abramowitz, an author and professor emeritus at Emory University, explains it like this. “Attacks on Trump by Democrats, liberals, and mainstream media figures and even indictments by federal and state prosecutors on serious criminal charges have only served to reinforce the loyalty of Republican voters to Trump,” Abramowitz writes. “Republican voters see these attacks and indictments as efforts by the hated opposition party and its allies to weaken the former president and prevent his return to the White House.”
Through that lens, DeSantis didn’t stand a chance, even though he has so much going for him.
There’s one other problem with DeSantis that kept his campaign from getting off the ground, and it speaks more to the image-obsessed state of politics today.
Even though Trump isn’t traditionally charming like JFK or even Barack Obama, he has a certain type of appeal to a swath of voters. He doesn’t care what people think and he calls it the way he sees it. His bizarre bravado is unmatched and undeniable. His narcissism is mistaken for being anti-establishment.
Trump enjoyed some policy success as president, and legal charges against him have actually strengthened him, at least so far. He’s Al Capone meets Bill Clinton with an “R” slapped on him. On top of it, Trump’s wealth and former playboy status give him a rogue charm. Americans love a juxtaposition.
Trump has somehow swiped the golden chaff from each shiny industry that matters to Americans most now — from New York money to real estate to Hollywood reality television — and he’s slathered it on himself from head to toe. All that glitters is not gold, but who’s to know? And worse, who cares? He still looks shiny enough for Republicans to see something they like.
That Trump, a billionaire, would come down from his ivory Trump Tower to check on the plebes and even — gasp! — advocate for them, is endearing, charming and magnetizing, in a Xerxes-meets-Leonidas kind of way. We’re not worthy, you can hear MAGA voters whisper. Only they don’t hold the line for freedom; they give in to fandom.
Americans think they want Trump because they’re obsessed with his image, when really, DeSantis would be better, for all the reasons his campaign came to an end. Republicans blew their chance at a superior candidate. Now, they deserve Trump.
