The Great Underestimation of DeSantis Starts to Unravel

[Kamaji]

The Great Underestimation of DeSantis Starts to Unravel

By Salena Zito
May 16, 2023

This past weekend, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) reminded voters, and a skeptical press that has spent an inordinate amount of time writing his political obituary before he even launched his candidacy, that he not only possesses the promise and nimbleness needed to be a candidate for president but that he also has the staff and network needed to pull off just the right move to strike a blow against his rival, former President Donald Trump.

People underestimate DeSantis only at their own peril.

The Florida governor began the weekend Friday in Illinois as the keynote speaker at the Lincoln Day Dinner for Peoria and Tazewell counties. The Peoria Journal Star said he drew a crowd of more than 1,100 to the Peoria Civic Center.

Early Saturday morning, DeSantis started his first campaign event in Sioux Center, Iowa, as a guest at Rep. Randy Feenstra’s annual Feenstra Family Picnic, spent time greeting folks at a classic car museum, stopped at a Pizza Ranch, and finished out the day at an unplanned event, standing on a table with his wife at Jethro’s BBQ.

All of DeSantis’ headline events went off without a hitch. In that regard, they were very similar to speeches I attended several weeks ago that he gave in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Akron, Ohio, where he was greeted with robust support after delivering speeches that outlined his aspirations for the country, his accomplishments as a governor and his promise to take on the cultural headwinds in our country.

DeSantis and Trump were scheduled on Saturday to be in Iowa, the state with the first-in-the-country contest for 2024, but Trump’s team canceled the event after the threat of a tornado warning. DeSantis took full advantage of his absence with an impromptu stop in the same area Trump was supposed to be, thus casting shade on the former president, who has spent months maligning DeSantis’s character.

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DeSantis, to the frustration of a press hungry for a battle, has pointedly not responded to Trump’s attacks as a not-yet-declared candidate as he finished his legislative session in Florida. That vacuum has allowed polls to favor Trump for months and caused impatient pundits to underestimate DeSantis’ abilities and instincts.

DeSantis’ unscheduled stop speaks to the scope of the organization he already has in Iowa and its competency. Several Iowa Republicans said they were surprised that when Trump decided to cancel the rally, he didn’t try to do something else, even if it were on a smaller scale.

*  *  *

Source:  https://amgreatness.com/2023/05/16/the-great-underestimation-of-desantis-starts-to-unravel/

[andy58-in-nh]

Here in New Hampshire, MAGA is already running full-scale attack ads against DeSantis, in spite of the fact that his candidacy is still undeclared.   

These ads are not the usual "differentiator" pieces that candidates of the same political party tend to use in attracting primary voters.

Instead, they are scorched-earth, flipped-image, black-white-and-red SCARE pieces, informing the viewer that Ron DeSantis is about to take away your Social Security and Medicare and raise your taxes.

It speaks volumes about the perceived threat that DeSantis poses to their hero, for the Trumpanistas to be willing to pour money into an early primary state nine months before the actual primary!

[Kamaji]

Here in New Hampshire, MAGA is already running full-scale attack ads against DeSantis, in spite of the fact that his candidacy is still undeclared.   

These ads are not the usual "differentiator" pieces that candidates of the same political party tend to use in attracting primary voters.

Instead, they are scorched-earth, flipped-image, black-white-and-red SCARE pieces, informing the viewer that Ron DeSantis is about to take away your Social Security and Medicare and raise your taxes.

It speaks volumes about the perceived threat that DeSantis poses to their hero, for the Trumpanistas to be willing to pour money into an early primary state nine months before the actual primary!

Trump is absolutely scared out of his mind about DeSantis - then again, it's kind of tough to run against someone who gets things done when one has a mostly-failed record like Trump does.

[DefiantMassRINO]

A SuperPAC, Never Back Down, is already running Ron DeSantis ads.

[Wingnut]

MAGA Pac is running ads distorting Ron's record while in congress. 

Trumpy is scared of Ron.

[Free Vulcan]

Trump is absolutely scared out of his mind about DeSantis - then again, it's kind of tough to run against someone who gets things done when one has a mostly-failed record like Trump does.

I don't think I've ever seen an all-out carpet bombing pre-emptive strike against a candidate who hasn't even declared yet. Extremely risky IMO and could backfire.

[DCPatriot]

@andy58-in-nh  @Kamaji   @Wingnut   @DefiantMassRINO

Catholic Church teaches that masturbation is a sin of "self-abuse"...and masturbation isn't permitted in public forums.        

[Kamaji]

@andy58-in-nh  @Kamaji   @Wingnut   @DefiantMassRINO

Catholic Church teaches that masturbation is a sin of "self-abuse"...and masturbation isn't permitted in public forums.        

[GrouchoTex]

 

Just under 19 months away from an election.
Primaries start next winter.
Yet here we are, all over each other.
 

[GtHawk]

@andy58-in-nh  @Kamaji   @Wingnut   @DefiantMassRINO

Catholic Church teaches that masturbation is a sin of "self-abuse"...and masturbation isn't permitted in public forums.        

So...what's your and the other major Trump supporters excuse @DCPatriot ?

[Fishrrman]

Mr. DeSantis is a good governor. Perhaps the best of them all right now.

However...
He's not gonna be president on January 20, 2025.

One way or the other...

[LMAO]

A SuperPAC, Never Back Down, is already running Ron DeSantis ads.

I've seen it