Mouse Trap

The treacherous politics of DeSantis versus Disney.

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Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World in 2020. (Photo by Kent Phillips/Walt Disney World Resort via Getty Images)

All questions in modern Republican politics are ultimately a question of us-and-them. Are you on our side?

Or are you on theirs?

Donald Trump is less to blame for that than internet-driven populism is. Conservative media during the Tea Party era was just as prone to converting all political developments into tribal litmus tests as right-wing media is now. Trump simply steered those litmus tests away from conservative dogma and toward his own cult of personality.

What makes the coming presidential primary intriguing is that it’s the first time in the Trump era that the “us” and “them” positions on an issue won’t always be clear. That’s especially true of Ron DeSantis’ war with Disney, which could hurt the governor badly—or could be just what he needs to do meaningful damage to the frontrunner.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Mister D

    I do not reside in Florida and am therefore not a DeSantis constituent. I think it is a foolish policy, but I am not the one he has to answer to.

    I support Disney in some things and not in others. It is a business. Generally speaking, a business or entertainer who butts into political issues is begging to alienate customers. They took a stand, it turned out to be unpopular, and stepped back. That's how it goes and that's where it should have stopped.

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      Scarlette Tarte

      That's exactly right. The business should decide when, and if, they have gone too far, and it's eating into their profits.

      Not the state. Never the state.

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    Just Drink Bleach

    Nick needs to write a novel.

    I have a little YouTube channel with 100k subscribers and pouring over the comments it would seem almost impossible he doesn't win.

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    PJ

    If a baker doesn't have to bake me a wedding cake then Disney doesn't have to bow down to the spawn of Anita Bryant.

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  4. John

    I was reading a biographical sketch of Tim Scott. R candidate for president from S Carolina. Very impressive. He’s is far superior to DeSantis and, of course, trump

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      Mister D

      Probably my preferred choice in the current field.

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    Ajax81613

    I think your conclusion that this will hurt DeSantis is correct -- but it doesn't worry me. He needs to be stopped as much as Trump.

    Sununu. Youngkin, Christie -- better choices are coming.

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    Chuckgold

    Coming from Trump (the biggest loser),

    "The culture of losing continues".

    Let us hope that Trump continues to lose, and DeSantis begins to lose. The GOP needs to recover from its nationalist-populist bender.

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    The Bell Tower

    “Is there space in the primary to Trump’s right with respect to waging culture war?“

    Excellent article once again. I know what you mean by “right” here though, as Jonah long ago demonstrated, this is not “right” in the traditional sense because it just means more authoritarian.

    And that’s the scary part, isn’t it? DeSantis erred with his abortion ban by using the same logic. He moved to Trump’s actual right but Trump and his hordes are not animated by ideology and so it was unsurprising to find Trump countering that move with a right cross to the eye.

    In this instance, anti-Disney is more authoritarian (not right) and the real damage is Haley and Pence (and Disney!) joining Trump. That won’t sit well with the minions of outrage. Trump isn’t making the correct enemies here and that has always been an original sin in Trumpworld.

    It’s also worth noting that they are treating DeSantis like a traditional front runner would be treated here, even though it’s a unique area to specifically draw blood against DeSantis. I would argue that DeSantis could much more easily tack to the moderate lane in a general election. Trump is a baked cake and “moderate” for him means moderating his personality, not his policies. No chance.

    Anyway, I think it’s also important to note that actual Disney employees were affected by the original decision. West coast folks were told to move or quit. Some of those folks were let go. Some have already moved and are now displaced by this new announcement. I’m sure Iger doesn’t want to discuss this.

    Also, I think there’s a possible point that Disney was never serious about this move. Nona is almost an hour away from here (Disney) and I can’t imagine why you’d want imagineers that far away from the park. It wasn’t only imagineering by the way.

    You will recall when this announcement was made, it was viewed as a shot against California for their draconian Covid restrictions and failure to let Disney re-open. Disney certainly had drawn first blood with their political messaging even before their ill-advised shot at DeSantis’ policies.

    That doesn’t make DeSantis correct in his authoritarian bent but as I said elsewhere here, much of the reporting on this was irresponsible water carrying for Disney, Democrats and Trump. Glad to see a much more intellectual analysis here.

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      Scarlette Tarte

      Except Disney is now doing all that building and investing...in California. They are not putting off the project. It continues, just in California.

      This is only the first episode, too. Many, many more business decisions will be made keeping in mind that the political climate is not friendly to them in Florida. They will now decide to spend more in Cali, and forget about any expanding I'm Orlando until DeSantis is gone or more Democrats get elected.

      DeSantis is in a trap. He now can't back off or it looks like he is "giving in to woke corporations". The fact that he got himself into this trap informs us all that he should not be president. He is not smart enough to leave himself a way out. And when dealing with maybe hostile foreign nations, we need a president smart enough to provide off ramps to take.

      DeSantis is not fit to be either governor or president of a republic with democratically elected representatives.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Citizen60

        Actually, Disney isn’t relocating that creative division to Florida, so there is no investment in CA. CA gets to keep collecting the taxes it has been.

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      2. Avatar photo
        The Bell Tower

        DeSantis is in fact a democratically elected governor and is acting through democratically elected reps last I checked. Or am I mistaken?

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          Scarlette Tarte

          Doesn't matter. Castro used an election to get where he wanted to be, and then never held elections again.

          Hopefully, DeSantis would not be that obvious. But I guarantee you he would love to make it far harder for certain groups to vote.

          Democracies very often are the avenue for authoritarians to get into power, then once they are in power, pull up that ladder behind them. Hitler, Orban both come to mind.

          No one in the state asked for anti trans, anti gay laws or for lowering abortion to 6 weeks. These all came from conservative groups out of state, just as the fight with Disney is being pushed by conservative culture war groups from out of state.

          Floridians didn't ask for any of these things when they elected him. Please note his falling approval rating in Florida.

          A democratically elected governor in Florida ought to be representing the wishes of Floridians, no? Floridians do not want a war with Disney.

          DeSantis is an authoritarian. The more power you give him, the worse he will become. He thought because he was reelected after a modest first term that this meant he could unleash his inner Orban.

          This is how this type always acts.

          He needs to go. The sooner the better. He is not a person who truly believes in democracy...most Republicans don't actually believe in democracy for that matter. They are continually working to restrict voting, not expand it.

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            The Bell Tower

            I could make the same arguments about Biden and his fraudulent feint to the center before assuming office. Surely democracy is no better than any other mechanism when it’s used to oppress. Tocqueville will tell you it’s the most irresistible.

            But I thought you said DeSantis was not fit to be democratically elected. That sounds like he is. And if Floridians dislike all of these decisions as much as you say, he will be voted out. So would Joe, it is to be hoped.

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  8. Avatar photo
    Cheerio

    Is there some examination/explanation of the structure and purpose of these special districts? I was given to believe that the entities that have made these deals for the special districts have basically agreed to pay their property taxes above and beyond (ie. paying more for this land they own) and that Disney in particular is not receiving any of the services that a property owner would ordinarily receive, rather than instead, Disney provides all those services for itself at a higher quality than the public services are usually provided... and this is to basically have control over the decisions made on the zoning. Essentially relieving taxpayers of footing the bill for the maintenance, roads, sanitation, water and emergency services in its district. Apparently the state has a large number of such districts so it appears to be a construct that lowers public services expenses for the residents of the state. This is what I gleaned from listening to a radio show discussing it. But then, that could be wrong information...

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    Rdpulfer

    Trump's supporters will do all the mental gymnastics necessary to follow his train of thought, even if it means turning a game of Twister into the Human Centipede.

    I suspect DeSantis hoped his crusade against Disney would inspire a similar spark in the culture war, but so far, it's too boring for the average MAGA supporter. DeSantis is mired down in board meetings, lawsuits and statistics. It's not sensational enough to catch their interest. I think many MAGA are starting to lose their eye for DeSantis, even as Trump's sidekick. They seem to be turning their attention to Tucker Carlson instead, because Carlson at least understands the old adage - the truth never stood in the way of a good story.

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  10. Kittcomm

    DeSantis is making a power-play for the nomination, but in doing so he is making lots of enemies. From my standpoint, that’s good. In my opinion, as a Florida voter, who once thought he was all right, he is much too full of himself and wanting power for me to want him to be president.

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      Jconstantino199

      Not just enemies, but doing a lot of damage to Florida.

      The $1 billion complex that Disney just backed out of was going to be the center of development for that city. DeSantis didn't just lose the construction money Disney was prepared to spend, but he lost all the secondary and tertiary businesses that were going to be built around and support this complex. This doesn't even include the income loss from the high-salaried employees who would have bought or rented homes, bought cars, enrolled their children in schools and colleges, etc.

      Thanks to DeSantis all of these secondary businesses are left out in the cold, and the city will be reeling for years over this loss.

      So much winning.

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        Pbanuski

        But wasn't one of the main contentions in this peace that Disney isn't actually making these decisions because of DeSantis but because of Iger's differing priorities from Chapek? Blaming DeSantis is a convenience Disney is all too happy to make use of (they'd be stupid not to).

        I see the problem for DeSantis vis-a-vis Disney as one where the dog caught the car... and the car just kept driving with the dog attached to the bumper. The dog may cause some superficial scratches, but the car will be fine, and if DeSantis keeps hanging on then he risks one of two things happening: One, the scenario I think is more likely, he keeps some tit-for-tat going with them and it pays diminishing returns as he's basically a mosquito on a rhino's ass to them. He won't have anything substantive to show for all of his efforts.

        Second, he will overstep (something like blocking roads into the park) and either be swatted down harshly in the courts or in public opinion that he might "win" the issue with he base but in so doing lose any shot at being able to win a national election.

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          Scarlette Tarte

          You are correct. This whole episode very much illustrates how not politically savvy DeSantis is. He left himself no way out, no way to unlatch from the car...which, as a behemoth, is gonna barrel right over him.

          All dogs that successfully chase cars and live to a ripe old age know two things...what distance is safe and when to stop chasing.

          DeSantis is injured, and needs to let go to save himself, but can't. If he does let go, he is gonna get hit by the very online right that he "gave in".

          There is no winning here. There shouldn't be anyway because you don't go after people or companies for speaking their mind.

          DeSantis screwed up. Imagine what he would do to us as president.

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