Silence Is Golden

Can DeSantis beat Trump by avoiding a war of words?

By
175
Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis at an event in Florida, 2020. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A few days ago Mark Leibovich tweaked the Ron DeSantis groupies in conservative media with a new piece about the governor’s unsociability. “Standoffish” is how one former colleague describes him. “Aloof” is a word that pops up repeatedly in other profiles. “DeSantis is not a fun and convivial dude,” Leibovich wrote. “He prefers to keep his earbuds in. His ‘Step away from the vehicle’ vibes are strong.”

I sympathize, being aloof and unsociable myself. But unlike DeSantis, I’m not running for president. Yet.

Leibovich wondered how a man who fails the “Would you like to have a beer with him?” test so miserably can win a primary against someone as charismatic as Donald Trump. In a typical “choice” election, I agree that Trump would eat his lunch the same way he ate the collective lunch of an enormous field in 2016. Faced that year with a choice between nominating one of many standard-issue professional politicians or trying something very, very different, Republican voters chose … poorly.

But they did choose. They wanted something fresh, exciting, entertaining. DeSantis wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Try Full Access
Get every newsletter and all of The Dispatch. Support quality, fact-based journalism. Start Your Free Trial ALREADY A PAID SUBSCRIBER? SIGN IN
175
By
Comments (175)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    Normb1442

    Trump's remarks about the Constitution weren't meant to say anything about the elections. He was signaling to his uber-Right storm troopers to be ready in 2024 for January 6, ver. 2.0. It's the same as his "stand back and stand by" message. Get ready to put me in power FOR LIFE.

    His subsequent pretense that his words were misunderstood gives the game away. The people he wants to be ready to storm the Capitol next time understood him. The rest of us can pound sand.

    If he's nominated in 2024, the election won't even matter. He'll declare it rigged as early as September and the troops will be ready to tear the country apart when he loses, which he surely will.

    I think Nick is right, though, that DeSantis could beat him, because DeSantis is doing everything he can to act Trumpian so that when he has to go one-on-one with him, the MAGA people will see him as just as much of a nasty culture warrior and accept him winning. The Republican Party: our slogan is "I'm nastier to the vulnerable than you are. Oh, and I'm a Christian, too."

    Oh well. An ex-Facebook friend posted today touting Musk for President. I guess when you've been watching FOX for years, any celebrity looks OK to you.

    Collapse
  2. Randall Briggs

    Pres. Biden asserted that silence on Trump is complicity in his actions. Biden is correct. DeSantis doesn't care about that right-and-wrong stuff. He just wants more power.

    Collapse
  3. Indisguise

    Have you read hotair? Your replacement seems to have turned on Trump as well. He barely lasted a few months. It's not easy for a trumper out there.

    Collapse
    1. John

      Thought. Nick was released from hot air because he had the insight to criticize trump early on. He was attacked again and again as were others who agreed with him. Hot air is now beginning to realize that he was right. The new guy has to now become a new AP (Nick) and anti trump.

      Collapse
    2. John

      I still read Hot Air. Dave is a little crazy. I’ve commented to him that he is on a witch hunt and sees a witch behind every tree, ie he tends to create stories at times. But he came out big time yesterday destroying trump and his comment about terminating the constitution. He’s a hard working guy with potential but needs to stop the witch hunts.

      Collapse
    3. Linilulu

      "He barely lasted a few months" Wut he's not fired.

      Collapse
      1. Indisguise

        He was supposed to be a true believer but he couldnt hack it.

        Collapse
  4. Nevertime

    Here is a different idea: DeSantis challenges Trump to a boxing match. Whoever loses withdraws from campaigning.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Pat Riot

      Trump has a massive weight and reach advantage.

      Also, he cheats. And Republicans support his doing so.

      And DeSantis wouldn't be allowed to hit him and instead would beat up the ref for calling out Trump's cheating.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        The History Nerd

        Desantis is a military vet who was an athlete growing up and in college and Trump is a rich kid who's never had to do anything for himself in his life. Desantis(44) also has over 30 years on Trump(76). That's a pretty easy bet. I'm also not convinced that Desantis won't hit back at Trump. He's just not right now because it's still a long way to the primary and he's just using Napoleon's old adage right now, "never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake"

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          Pat Riot

          LOL, DeSantis wouldn't even touch him when he had Thanksgiving dinner with a Nazi.

          And it's DeSantis who is making a mistake by silently approving of Trump's behavior.

          Besisde, if DeSantis really did hit Trump, his little daughter would never speak to him again:

          "Ron DeSantis has released an ad indoctrinating his children into Trumpism"

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YP_zZJFXs

          Collapse
  5. Zjim0608

    These words have never been truer

    Collapse
  6. Lewisjw3

    An eye roll is usually the most effective way to deal with pathological narcissists.

    Collapse
  7. JG

    It's a sad time to be a conservative. Trump really showed me that the intellectuals who brought me over to the Right were by no means representative of the whole party. The Right is filled with as many foolish and morally corrupt people as the Left, trump just let them take over. It is a real shame that we will need a coalition with them to stand a chance.

    Collapse
    1. J. Everett Schubert

      I regret too, that we have to give these fools the time of day in order to have a chance of winning, but here we are.

      Collapse
    2. Linilulu

      Well, they never were. Mostly it was Reagan who brought people along and taught the country about conservatism on a broad scale. There were always intellectual mags but Reagan could preach it in a way that people could embrace.

      Collapse
  8. Jfan

    In retrospect William Howard Taft's refusal to roll over for Teddy Roosevelt's lust for power in 1912 saved the country. If Roosevelt had taken over the Republican Party, the United States would have had two progressive parties and there would have been no political base for conservatives. Leaving the progressive Democrats in charge for six years was far less damaging, damaging though it was. Losing the Republican Party to Trump forever will damage the country more than losing the government to the Democrats for four years, great though the latter may be.

    Collapse
    1. The Widow’s Son

      TR’s narcissistic run in 1912 delivered Wilson, one of the worst presidents ever and certainly the worst of the 20th century. We are still living with the consequences.

      Collapse
      1. Jfan

        Oh, I agree. I just think that as catastrophic as Wilson was, a Roosevelt takeover of the Republican Party on an explicitly progressive platform would have been worse in the long run, and we have to consider both the short and the long runs.

        Collapse
  9. Avatar photo
    Robert Smith

    I am shocked that Trump's just shred the Constitution tweet (or whatever they call it at the funny farm there) is such a minor story. Who cares about Hunters stupid laptop. It was already out there. It was brought up in the debate in front of 80 million viewers.

    Only CNN has posted the Trump post.. nothing on NBC. CBS. ABC. AP. Also not surprisingly on FOX

    Collapse
    1. Joe

      You should care about the laptop as it doesn't just have the drugs and sexual immorality (including incest), but it proves that Biden is very corrupt and sold out the country to foreign governments. The laptop proves that Biden is a traitor. Just the same, Biden's play to revamp the primary calendar is -- while legal -- also corrupt. Iowa didn't vote for him, so they're kicked out of the party. South Carolina won it for him so they're first. NV, full of minorities, and NH (no alternative in the Northeast) go three days later. Competing in SC is harder than IA and NH, and then you have NH and NV coming up 3 days later. You'll have to have a well-funded nationwide campaign just to survive the first *week* of primaries. Then you have large states later in the early calendar: MI and GA. How does a small campaign play this? They don't, of course!

      Collapse
    2. Zelenkag21

      Yeah, you don't care that the laptop is emblematic of the mainstream media being propaganda outlets for Biden and the DNC.

      Collapse
    3. Avatar photo
      JohnM.

      He says stupid stuff like this to get attention and headlines is all. The best thing we can all do is ignore him.

      Collapse
      1. Randall Briggs

        Republicans trying to ignore what a stupid and destructive troll he is is what got him nominated and elected in 2016.

        Collapse
      2. Avatar photo
        Scarlette Tarte

        It's not stupid stuff that should be ignored. It should be hammered home that this man, and his followers really care not one whit for the constitution and would shred it for their benefit or to harm others.

        THAT has always been the problem with them, and it seems that liberals warning others about them has never been enough. But if people like the Dispatch writers draw attention to it, if FOX would draw attention to it, etc...we may just get it thru thick skulls that destroying the constitution is their ultimate goal.

        Collapse
  10. Avatar photo
    Barry Alexander

    Youngkin, McConnell, and now DeSantis...there's a clear path to running Republican without Trump. Don't insult him, don't talk about him if at all possible, concentrate on your agenda.

    Collapse
    1. Randall Briggs

      In other words, "Don't stand for what is right. Acquiesce with what is wrong without openly endorsing it."

      Collapse
Load More