comment: >
  
  I don’t think that trump should be allowed in the race because of his behavior. He should have held his Bull Shit rally in his hotel
context: Whoever can find a way to the use the word “woke” the most times, wins. >
  
  If you ask a Republican what woke means to them and you read between the lines, they will mean one of two things:
  
  People of color are an abomination
  
  or
  
  Being kind to those less fortunate is a waste of time
  
  What does that tell you about conservative values? >
  
  "Woke" simply means all the fellow humans that we shit in and oppress asking the way >
  
  I think the most obvious difference is that whenever desantis opens his mouth it sounds like he sprung a leak. The guy is hard to listen to. Trump is hard to listen to as well, but only because I disagree with what he says. His style is a little over the top for my tastes, but he has that over the top WWE style that Republicans seem to love. No matter how hard desantis might try, he simply won't be able to pull that off, and he'll end up seeming weak and boring when compared to trump. He's just not an entertainer. The dude is as dull as a rock. Put the two of them on a debate stage, and watch as trump beats desantis' political aspirations to death just by being the louder and more obnoxious of the two. >
  
  I'm not sure you even need Trump to beat his political aspirations on a debate stage. Charlie Crist pressed him to say he would serve for 4 years if elected Governor and he stood there frozen like a deer in the headlights for about a minute straight. I almost felt bad for him. 
  Charlie Crist did a decent job taking him to task and Charlie Crist is wet cardboard. If you get anyone seasoned and capable against him in a debate he'll wilt. >
  
  He's the definition of of a "hold me back" guy. He makes a big show but when actually pressed he backs down. It happened when Biden came to Florida for the building collapse and the recent hurricane.
  Not that I wanted DeSantis picking a fight at those crucial times, but if the right has their hopes up, he's never going to seek out a fight like Donald. >
  
  I’d love to know more about Ye was saying about DeSantis paying Ben Shapiro for favorable coverage. Also when Trump said he helped DeSantis win his first gubernatorial election. >
  
  I got you on the first part
  But I wanna hear more about that last part too… 👀 >
  
  Deathsantis only appears to be trump without the baggage because trump carries an extreme amount of baggage.  But Deathsantis has plenty.  From the way he treats Covid as a personal freedom of choice vice a deadly virus to the way he uses culture wars against Disney to force FL tax payers into paying millions more in taxes (that Disney would have previously paid).
  Make no mistake, Deathsantis is first and foremost a culture warrior that cares little for American Democracy.  Most of y'all haven't seen enough of him yet.  But you will.  And you'll be the worse for it. >
  
  His press secretary has ties to the Kremlin and he sent armed thugs to Rebekah Jones house. 
  He makes inflammatory policies. He is inflammation. 
  I'd also like to point out that like 99% of the culture war bullshit legislation he passes gets quietly shot down in the courts a few weeks later. He's a lot more ineffectual than he would have you believe. >
  
  
  I'd also like to point out that like 99% of the culture war bullshit legislation he passes gets quietly shot down in the courts a few weeks later. He's a lot more ineffectual than he would have you believe.
  
  I saw an interview with Newt Gingrich (can't find it on YouTube) where he was claiming that crime in the US was dramatically higher. The CNN host called him out using FBI statistics. He tried switching his claim by cherry picking cities ("look at Chicago") but the host kept pressing the facts until finally Newt said something like "People feel like crime is higher. When it comes to the election, you can have your facts. People vote with their feelings."
  While it's good that the courts have done their job, I think the test of DeSantis' success with a lot of voters isn't whether he's effectual in implementing his culture war policies as much as he's able to maintain an existential threat narrative and appear as a bulwark against it.
  In that capacity, I think he's been really successful in Florida. I don't know how that will translate to the national level, but for whatever weaknesses he has, he'll likely have the entirety of the conservative media shaping people's perceptions of him, which unfortunately has proven really effective. >
  
  Totally fair and I agree completely. I moved to Florida from the Northeast about a year and a half ago for work. Florida really is a strange place. My area is hyper conservative, I was telling my friend last night I feel like I'm a closeted moderate. 
  Having lived in two very different parts of the country, I don't think Desantis bullshit works as well in the NE as it does in the South. I've heard he's courting the MAGA crowd currently to win the primary and he'll likely change gears to be more palatable on a national level after that. Seems like it would be hard to turn that ship once it's sailed though. Outside of hardcore conservatives, I think trying to dissolve Disney and sue vaccine makers isn't a very popular platform. 
  Really hoping Desantis stumbles and falls over himself with this bullshit. I really can't stand him. >
  
  
  I've heard he's courting the MAGA crowd currently to win the primary and he'll likely change gears to be more palatable on a national level after that. 
  
  This seems like the best strategy for the Republican party. I don't know enough about DeSantis as a person, but it will be interesting to see whether he'll defer to the party's transition strategies and fall in line, or try to go his own way.
  If he appears a strong enough candidate, he can maybe get away with doing what he wants, knowing that the Republican party will reluctantly support him. But after Trump, I expect they'd be wary of letting their figurehead get out of control.
  I'd hoped for the scenario where Trump and DeSantis poison each other's chances on a national level, but it seems like the Republican party would allow Trump to be knocked out (conspiratorially blaming "woke" DOJ or whatever) so they only have to manage one of them. 
  In a way, invoking the 14th amendment to prevent Trump from running might be a great thing for Republicans - they don't have to worry about him sinking their chances by running as an independent, and as always, they can find a way blame Democrats. >
  
  Any current Republican obviously doesn’t have the wherewithal to leave the stinky mess of a party and shares the disgrace of their party head. >
  
  "We liked them better in the closet."
  Is not going to win a general election, sorry DeSantis. >
  
  It'll still get 48% of the vote though. That's an ongoing problem no matter who's in the White House. >
  
  Desantis is a much less charismatic but much more calculated/less reckless version of Trump. >
  
  Wouldn’t it be wild if desantis just decided not to?
  WTF would the Republican Party even do then? >
  
  Kid rock 2024 >
  
  It's like a dance off for fascists >
  
  again?! >
  
  Trump has shown his entire 2024 is going to be "The election was stolen from me.". I am curious how that will go over with GOP voters. 
  DeSantis, on the other hand, probably will run on him standing up to the woke mob, and against covid-19 hysteria (in his view at least). This is more what I imagine conservatives want to hear. I have to think he will lean more into the culture wars and try to stay away from covid-19 talk. I think it would be hard for him to win the general election as a COVID denier. >
  
  Denying covid is like 3/4 of his platform >
  
  Trumpism by any other name is still fascism >
  
  "none of the above" >
  
  No baggage? he gave access to the vaccines… the ones he’s “investigating “ right now to his donors first >
  
  He's got plenty of baggage... but that'll just be glossed over because there's a slogan phrase to muster under: Trump without the baggage.  
  It's there whether it's true or not. >
  
  I think we should really redefine what 'baggage' means. Just because he's able to speak in a single coherent sentence doesn't mean he is not chalk full of horrible things. He also, like trump, tends to bring the worst out of people. >
  
  Republicans will vote for either of them, I do not trust GOP insiders >
  
  He only runs off of anti-wokeness and anti-CDCness >
  
  Desantis is definitely Trump without the baggage.  Trump starts every election automatically with an auto loss of unrecoverable votes because people just flat out will vote for anybody else but him.
  I don’t blame the people one bit either. >
  
  remember folks Trump without the baggage is still Trump
  so dont forget that. >
  
  Trump has charisma. 
  DeSantis has a mirror he practices in front of and fails at reproducing.  Come debate time, DeSantis is going to crumble because anyone with a flicker of life is going to embarrass Ronnie. Just go back and watch Crist roast DeSantis on of he would even serve out his term.  Only thing DeSantis could do was become a deer in headlights and wait out the moderator to move onto anything else. >
  
  It's not charisma. It was the shamelessness and being proof that being an openly hateful asshole who praises murderous dictators could live a lifestyle of wealth and luxury, be openly criminal and face no consequences but bad press, and be president of the United States while avoiding much of the work of being president. He was living the dream.
  And he was Teflon Don with the Republican Party protecting him even when the National Archives and the FBI found classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. >
  
  DeSantis can speak in complete sentences. The meaning is complete bullshit, but they are complete and usually grammatically correct. Trump speaks in run-on sentences fragments with no meaning. >
  
  DeSantis can speak in complete sentences but he has poor charisma in debates. Teflon Don can redirect attacks while DeSantis crumbles. >
  
  Why the fuck does this sub allow pro-fascist puff pieces? >
  
  Because this sub has become outrage porn.. almost every post features the latest asshole Republican BS which in turn amplifies, legitimizes, and normalizes their ideas.. we should be focusing on positive actions taken on our side and legitimate policy discussions but its easier to just get riled up and in turn support your enemies who are playing you in their outrage game >
  
  On the periphery, he’s a more conventional politician, with message discipline, a conventional political operation, military background, and the picture-perfect wife and three kids. All this makes him popular with the donor classes that fund right-wing presidential campaigns. But underneath the surface lies major vulnerabilities that will trip up his national ambitions. The extremism, the lack of charisma or ability to relate to people, his struggles outside of controlled, scripted gatherings. 
  I don’t see it working out for him. >
  
  I read the article. What’s missing is an estimation on how MAGAs will react the first time DeSantis criticizes Trump. My guess is that they’ll reflexively defend Trump, just as they have the past seven years. Trump will cruelly demean DeSantis and the MAGAs will eat it up, because cruelty is what they love about Trump the most. >
  
  Not going to even entertain a comparison with the guy who tried to overthrow the government (ours) he was suppose to lead.  Go fish. >
  
  Chaotic evil vs Lawful evil >
  
  Prisoners from Guantanamo hate him. He recommended torture for each based on his private discussions as their attorney. >
  
  So the thing about desantis is that he has ZERO personality. None. None of trumps dark “charisma” if you will. 
  I don’t think he’s going to do well on the national stage. Republicans generally want a big strong daddy figure and desantis is kinda short and ugly and has a bit of a pipsqueaks voice. 
  I’m hoping that he doesn’t play well outside of Florida, where he is really only popular for being an anti Covid bully. >
  
  If republicans are hanging their hat on Desantis they are going to lose that hat. Desantis is reactionary who makes poorly thought out decisions that isn’t going to fly with most voters.
  A very loud minority is burning the GOP to the ground and they really-really deserve it. >
  
  Desantis will be Jeb Bush part two. Everyone will be looking at him to win the primaries but either Trump or someone totally out of left field will win it and he'll be out after ten or so primaries. I think they overestimate his national appeal. >
  
  Nobody wins when you elect people like this. >
  
  Just different baggage. Desantis is a whiny crybaby idiot. >
  
  Baggage, in this sentence, is a synonym for any human charisma in the least. >
  
  DeSantis is largely benefiting from curated exposure.  He almost always locks out normal/unfriendly media and he is TERRIBLE at improvising as seen from things like his debate and a few clips where he tries to ad lib, like telling those high school kids to wear masks.  If he gets on stage with someone like Trump or Christie or Gingrich, people who are excellent on the fly, he will be absolutely torn apart and all the time and effort the establishment put into propping him up will evaporate over night. >
  
  I disagree that DeSantis is Trump without the baggage.  DeSantis doesn't have Trump's cult of personality and never will.  I think Trump is the worst thing to happen to this country since the civil war, but I will admit that he's charismatic, entertaining, and sometimes downright funny.  I can see his appeal to those who don't do their research and who take everything he says at face value.
  DeSantis is possibly a MAGA alternative to Trump but he isn't Trump. >
  
  This all hinges on what happens to Trump legally.  Desantis is currently playing the appealing to the MAGA base schtick like his illegal flight nonsense and his recent vaccine statements, but if Trump feels that Desantis will not pardon him or get on his side he will turn on him and it will be spectacular, likely splitting the party since Desantis won’t be able to fight back without enraging the MAGA loyalists who are Trump until death. >
  
  That dumb orange fuck belongs in prison. Having this conversation of who will win the nomination is just insane. >
  
  Either way,no matter which log of shit floats to the top of the bowl,they’re both national embarrassments and shame to real republicans. >
  
  Neither is winning a general election. The media will make you believe that one of them could, so they can get clicks, but it ain't happening. >
  
  Does the prosecution even have to do with "the Left" or just with Trump being a criminal? >
  
  No come on. You know the left is behind this all. Just look at two of the most prominent members of the Jan. 6th committee. Dick Cheney (R) and his daughter Liz Cheney (R) come from a long line of bleeding heart liberals. And then you've got the upstart, firebrand socialist Adam Kinzinger (R) batting cleanup. >
  
  Damn, you've got a point. I never looked at it this way. Damn the libs (R) with their witchhunt... >
  
  He is an ass >
  
  The idea that you can be like Trump and have no baggage is hilarious. >
  
  The one — Trump — has steamer trunks of baggage, the other — DeSantis — saddlebags. But Ron is working hard to take on as much as possible because he doesn’t want to seem less than Don. >
  
  The glaring difference is trump can work a crowd of hillbillies, science deniers, fascists and racists into a fever pitch... Desantis excites nobody >
  
  More like Trump without the je ne sais quoi... But without the je ne sais quoi, and without whatever Trump had - not that it was worth f-all in the first place - DeSantis ain't got nuthin'.
  I mean, basically, the guy's a turkey. >
  
  I am actually very interested in a primary between them, assuming one doesn't stand down for the other. DeSantis does seem to be playing up the anti-COVID vaccination, and appears he might be willing to tie Trump to warp speed. Trump really fucked himself in the 2020 election, and it appears for 2024 too. Getting the vaccine out fast was probably one of the better things his administration managed to do, but he also played culture war at the same time.... Pissing off just about literally everyone, those who took the virus seriously, and those who didn't.
  Seriously, how can you justify spending billions to get the vaccine out fast as possible, and then say the virus wasn't dangerous?? And now conservatives are saying it's dangerous to take the vaccine, because it came out too fast... But I never hear the "because of Trump" at the end of that sentence. 
  Also fun fact, and I would really like everyone to be aware of this.The Obama administration banned gain of function research, the very thing the wuhan lab was doing that potentially caused this outbreak. Under Trump, the ban expired and was not extended; allowing US agencies to fund gain of function research programs.
  The Democratic party doesn't seem to want to talk about this, because they have 100% fucking sold out to big pharma, and the Biden administration has followed in Trump's footsteps, not re-implementing the ban yet... And the Republicans don't want to talk about it, because that would mean that pandemic was essentially Trump's fault. 
  I think DeSantis is an asshole, but I would really like to see him corner Trump on this.
  And to be clear, I think you should get vaccinated. At this point, I think there are enough of us who have been used as guinea pigs to see that the vaccine at least lowers the dangers of COVID, without any dangerous side effects. >
  
  Watch the differance in the commercials DeSantis ran in his two runups to governor . >
  
  competent fascist vs incompetent fascist >
  
  If Trump isn’t the 2024 GOP candidate then they have 0 chance of winning. He will sicc his base on DeSantis and ruin him. 
  If Trump is the candidate, their chances of winning are still very low. Biden would need to have a colossal scandal or the stock market would need to crash for them to stand a chance >
  
  Your first paragraph is exactly what needs to happen to force reform in the Republican Party.  My hope is DeSantis is the nominee and Trump runs as an independent, taking 25-30% of the conservative vote from DeSantis.  We will get a 1964-style blue wave. >
  
  Dems better be ready. I can absolutely picture DeSantis winning. >
  
  is desantis gay? >
  
  How Fox and conservative media portray them will be the deciding factor. >
  
  Without the baggage? DeSantis is the baggage. >
  
  Duh santis is the same pile of shit as trump just in a different bag! >
  
  I hope trump is the republican nominee. He’ll get eaten alive >
  
  At first, I thought it said "Trump without a bagpipe" >
  
  I describe Ron as an intentionally meaner version of Trump in that Donald is insane but Ron is just mean to the core. >
  
  And he knows the system… dangerous >
  
  DeSantis has a ton of baggage. He just hasn’t run in the national stage yet so it hasn’t all been brought into the spotlight. Just wait till he makes his presidential run official. You saw what happened with Palin, he’ll be similar in lots of ways. >
  
  DeSantis won’t survive the first derogatory nickname from Trump that sticks.