comment: >
  
  Young presidents isn't really a republican thing in the modern era.  DeSantis is too young and Trump is too old.  
  Ted Cruz might be the "return to normalcy" that seems popular with voters.   Also the first Hispanic president being republican would be a nice bridge away from the identity politics of today.
context: I don't think DeSantis has a choice. He's the republican darling currently but that shine doesn't last. If he doesn't shoot his shot now he risks sinking into irrelevance similar to Christie and walker and I think he knows it. My understanding is that he's term limited too so his opportunities to make waves will dry up. Apparently there's a growing problem in FL regarding rising insurance costs that may come back to him if left alone long enough. >
  
  Yeah this is the only answer. You take your opportunity before it’s gone. He just won re-election in an absolute landslide so he’s at his peak right now. The only obstacle in his way is Trump and it’s too early to tell who will come out on top which is an advantage for DeSantis since Trump is an incumbent with 100% name recognition. The fact that DeSantis is the defacto #2 in the polls and in some polls it’s very tight, shows he needs to run whether he wants to or not. >
  
  Yeah, ask Jerry Brown about that. He was so hot in 1976 as a new kind of Democrat he could have won the nomination, but he dithered about running  since he wasn’t 40 yet so he decided to wait. His rep went down and he spent the next 30 years unsuccessfully trying. >
  
  I know several Trump voters and they all want Desantis over Trump because:
  “Trump has too many haters. He lost to Biden.”
  The guy who told me that attended a recent Trump rally. He was die hard. WAS. >
  
  My very conservative Evangelical family members are starting to sour on Trump too. Some of them used to talk about him like he was the Second Coming (which they likely believed he would usher in). He's definitely past his expiration date. >
  
  Crazy to see Trump going from someone directly comparable to Jesus and is definitely chosen by god and probably even more than that to meh…. >
  
  Most of the people I know who are/were Trump diehards still have massive respect for the guy. They just think his time has passed and DeSantis would be just as effective. A lot of these True Believer types don't even think his star has faded, but rather than Dems damaged him so badly that he'd either lose or have a much tougher path to victory compared to '20 or even '16. He's still Jesus-tier for a lot of people, it's just that RDS is fresh and they don't have to cover his uh... missteps. >
  
  I think the VP roll has been promised to MTG which would explain her efforts to normalize herself. >
  
  She's still a freaking dingbat >
  
  No argument here. She’s Sarah Palin 2.0. >
  
  2.0 would be a slight upgrade, more like .002 >
  
  Can Boebert be Sarah Palin .22 cuz of her dumb gun restaurant? >
  
  Makes sense to me. The Deuce Deuce could also stand for the diarrhea you got eating there too. “I went on down to pew pews and got the double deuces.” >
  
  I’d argue that it’s a call of crowded vs not. In a crowded primary the rar right will go for him. Folks that are looking to move on will split amount the rest and the Desantis doesn’t look good at all. If there are three or four contenders? Well, I live in a real red spot but not many care about Trump as anything but an old hero. They love Desantis. >
  
  He should acquire guts to stand up to Trump and announce he is running; that is, if he ever expects to run a respectable race. >
  
  He should run.  I think the Non-Trump GOP voters will coalesce around him because they view him as the best chance to win and will largely ignore the also-rans who have announced or are expected to announce because of what happened in 2016 where the split vote allowed Trump to win with well under 50% support.
  I also think the reflexive negative reaction to any negative comment towards Trump will be mitigated by the fact that the people on stage will not attack him for what his supporters view as unfair reasons.  Rather, they will make the argument about who can win the next general election and, all things being equal, I would rather support a candidate who won his last race by 19 points than one who is going to endlessly talk about the election he lost.  By the next election, no one will want to hear about how the election was stolen from Trump, they will want to hear what is he going to do in the next 4 years and he has shown no signs of pivoting to that message. >
  
  Adding on to your second point I also fully expect Trump to continue attacking DeSantis for what his supporters view as bad reasons which will further erode Trump's support. >
  
  His best shot is 2024, and bluntly it is going to depend on China and Russia.  If Biden's strategy on Russia hold, there is likely to be a significant break in that country that the Democrats can point to as the US doing something major.  Essentially there are some indicators that all this pressure on Putin's Ukraine adventure, coupled with his illness, is causing serious issues in Russia that may lead to a breaking point.  If the Democrats/Biden break Russia, then no one is winning but Biden.  
  DeSantis is going to have to run, but he's making himself hated by the left.  That's not a great strategy as the Democrats have won the popular vote for president in every election except for one since 92.  That's not to say he won't get all the GOP voters, but there aren't enough of them to win unless the Democrats are not showing up. >
  
  I think he is making himself hated by a very specific portion of the left (the PC, SJW crowd) in a manner that has not reached the point of turning off older and more practical democrats.  You don't win FL by 19 points by only getting GOP voters.  Frankly, I think his across the aisle message is perfectly tailored to the 30-45 year old millennial democrat that has a stable job, maybe a kid or two, a house, and is no longer looking to blow up the system that they are doing quite well in which is ultimately what drove them away from Trump.
  For example, most of his actions regarding education have been wildly mischaracterized by the press but the reality is that most parents don't think their Kindergarten, First, or Second Grader should be taking any form of sex education regardless of how its taught and were probably shocked to find out that it was even being taught that young when they likely took sex ed in fifth or sixth grade at the earliest.  Further, most parents are inherently wary of any rule that allows or instructs the school to willfully withhold relevant and pertinent information from the parent regarding their child.  DeSantis is really good at putting together policies that enrage the far left, delight the far right, and still come across as common sense to the politically ambivalence.  
  Now, one could argue that as the cultural pendulum has swung so mightily to the left in recent years that it is easy to find areas where they have overreached and craft such policies but that is a different discussion.  For example, DeSantis might win all 50 states if the far left doesn't settle down with this 'minor-attracted person' nonsense as if most people don't think that pedophiles should be stigmatized or think that we should be doing less about this problem or it can simply serve the purpose of making people think that there is a growing trend of pedophilia that the left wants to coddle and the right wants to quash.  Where do you think the people with young kids come down on that issue?  I am getting off topic, but did the person who invented the term 'minor-attracted person' fall for a joke on a right-wing parody account? >
  
  It sounds as if you’re absorbing right wing agitprop. I’ve never heard of what you’re talking about. It’s homophobic propaganda only mega right wing nutters will care about. >
  
  The fact you use terms like "right wing agitprop" means that you're very out of step with the mainstream and so do not have a good perspective here.  "Agitprop" in particular is a very big tell for left wing radical activists. >
  
  Ugh I wish I was a left wing radical activist. Unfortunately I’m too bland, comfortable and enjoy capitalism. I’m an Elizabeth Warren kind of gal. If that’s the radical left then you must live a frightened life.
  Also sick ass ad hominem. Who tf is being compassionate to pedophiles? It’s such a red herring it’s almost funny, if not so tragic. >
  
  2024 definitely is his best shot. Who knows if his popularity/fame holds until 2028. Like you said, his claim to fame is his anti lockdown policy, and as covid fades from the public’s memory, he doesn’t really have much else to stand on. “Vote for Ron because he kept Florida open 8 years ago!” doesn‘t sound convincing.  His only other thing is being “anti woke”, but pretty much every other Republican has the same position. Plus, he’s term limited as governor after 2026. I honestly don’t see his momentum lasting until 2028. >
  
  If he wants to go for it, this is his moment. You never know what's going to happen until 2028. I think he wouldn't have a problem right now getting most of the vote that doesn't go to Trump, regardless of how crowded the primary is. >
  
  He has to run in 2024 since, as you said, 2028 will be far too late.  His primary strength is that he has Trump's policy positions without Trump's toxic personality and behaviors.  While there will be a small faction of Trump diehards I think the fact Trump lost several states in 2020 that he had won in 2016 shows that in the critical locations DeSantis has the edge where it matters. >
  
  DeSantis is smarter than Trump, but doesn't have Trump's charisma.  and he won't have the same affect on poor whites because he never had a TV show.  After this Trump congress fails in the next 2 years, the republicans will be a permanent t minority. >
  
  If he wants to be president, he should run... not saying he will win, but I don't think he'll have better chances 4 or 8 years from now. Right now, he has a lot of star power from treating covid how majority of republicans wanted the leadership to treat the situation. Deaths were relatively low per-capita and the economy flourished by not restricting businesses and travel. We don't know what could happen in that time and a new star may rise for republicans. So now can he beat trump? He can attack trump on the mismanagement of the covid crisis from the republican point of view.
  1) he kept fauci on the job (literally after being famous from saying "you're fired")
  2) delayed the closing of the boarders to Chinese visitors  
  3) Delaying crucial information to the US citizens (this one is bipartisan) 
  4) allowed the state lockdowns and overreaching policies under his administration (yes, of course Trump will push this on the local politicians, but it's still a point to be argued) >
  
  
  Deaths were relatively low per-capita and the economy flourished by not restricting businesses and travel.
  
  Just for the record, Florida was number 37 in terms of death rate at 392 per 100,000. California was number 12 at 250. Even New York beat Florida despite having NYC and being the epicenter of the initial outbreak at 388 dead per 100,000. Source.
  It gets significantly worse for Florida if you only count deaths after the vaccine was released.
  Florida kept open, but if least deaths was the goal, Florida did not do well and was on the bottom, despite its climate advantages. >
  
  Okay… well, having similar outcomes of other states like NY and NJ while keeping businesses open and mandates to a minimum is a Republican talking point he can run on >
  
  Like I said, NYC (and NJ as a result) were the absolute epicenter of the viruses first wave that hit, are literally the densest urban areas in America, have an unfavorable climate, and still beat Florida. And again, it gets significantly worse for Florida if you start the death count on the day the vaccine becomes available to the public.
  Florida did not do well in terms of death rate, despite its climate advantages. They are in the bottom along with most of the rest of the south. You can praise Florida for keeping open, but it did in fact come with a price paid in human lives. 
  Limiting transmission before the vaccine, and then strongly encouraging the vaccine once it was available was in fact an effective way to keep more citizens alive. That might not be your primary concern, but if it was, Florida did bad. >
  
  My point is republican talking points that can win an election over trump, not the reasons why one state did better or worse than the other. True or false, in the republican point of view (key words here) Desantis did well and needs to ride his current star-power as the best shot to presidency. >
  
  I think Trump should start his own party of white nationalism. That way 30% of the Republicans will vote for him and the rest will vote for an actual republican maybe. Oh I forgot there is no such thing anymore. Just a bunch of middle-aged white men wanting to look in children's pants to make sure they are who they say they are. A bunch of old white men that still believe it's okay to marry a 14-year-old girl and get her pregnant as she's mature enough for that. That same girl though if she comes out as trans or as gay and she's not mature enough for that. You all seem to think it's a damn choice. Trust me, she's a lot more mature to handle that versus being a mother. Have you ever watched 16 and pregnant?