You know it must pain Mitt Romney to play the role of Cassandra, prophetess of doom. Paul Ryan can’t bring himself to do so. Ryan believes that the GOP has moved past Donald Trump and how much of that is wish casting on his part and how much analysis, perhaps only he knows.
Romney voted to impeach Trump twice and was the only senator who voted to remove him. So if he’s predicting that 45 will once again top the GOP ticket, it’s because that’s his honest assessment and not something he wants to see. Huffington Post:
“The only way that [scenario] could be prevented is if it narrowed down to a two-person race eventually. That means donors and influencers say to their candidate ― if they’re weakening: ‘Hey, time to get out,’” Romney told HuffPost in an interview on Tuesday.
“Last time that was done was in 1968, so it’s been a while,” Romney added, referring to the 1968 presidential election in which his father George Romney took part. […]
Romney said he viewed [Nikki] Haley as an “underdog” in the race. Trump, the senator added, is “by far the most likely” to become the GOP presidential nominee given his popularity and name recognition with a devoted slice of the GOP electorate. (Romney is decidedly not a fan: He voted to convict Trump in two successive Senate impeachment trials).
Great. The GOP has the mad dog and the underdog as declared candidates so far. Sounds like a totally lit primary to me, and I’ve been saying that for some time.
And what about DeSantis, aka Ron Meatball? Where is he? On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese, and he hopes like hell that nobody will sneeze? Nobody is talking much about that, they’re keeping it all abstract.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said he believed the 2024 race will be “wide open” despite the fact that he’s backing Trump’s campaign.
“President Trump is going to have a base of 25-30%. He’s got a lot of work to grow on that. DeSantis has built a name on conservative menus,” he said, adding that it’s “good for our party” if many candidates jump run and there is healthy competition for the presidential nomination.
Trump has ramped up attacks against DeSantis, sharing wild accusations about the conservative heartthrob on his social media platform TruthSocial that suggested DeSantis was “grooming high school girls with alcohol” when he was a teacher. The former president has also been testing nicknames for DeSantis, including “Ron DeSantimonious” and “Ron Meatball.” DeSantis has chosen to ignore the attacks, saying he isn’t focused on “smearing” fellow Republicans.
DeSantis can’t ignore the attacks forever. It’s going to get down to the wire. It’s speculated that DeSantis is playing the long game right now and assuming that 1) Trump will self-immolate between now and the summer; 2) Trump’s legal problems will catch up to him and then all DeSantis has to do is step into the vacuum that Trump will create and save the day.
Ron To The Rescue, is the name of DeSantis’ PAC, after all. And maybe that’s how it will go down. Or, maybe it will be one ugly bloodbath of a primary.
Nobody can predict at this point. There are too many variables. But what you can depend upon is that the closer things move towards caucuses and primaries, people will start gaming out scenarios.
Jack? Merrick? Any fucking body care enough to enforce the law? Wonder what the excuses will be? It’s an election coming up so better let him walk rather than look like we’re influencing anything. Well voters I guess we’ll have to save our own ass…or not. I’m not optimistic. Of course there’s other nazis waiting to take his place. I wonder when the nice Germans knew they were in serious trouble? Was it before the brownshirts escorted them to the military to fight for the nazi party? Of course the rich ones ran. Now there’s nowhere to run to. Romney go find that goddamn angel that gave Joseph the golden plates and ask him/her/it…what the fuck do we do?
I understand that these things don’t move fast enough for anybody’s taste. What I will say is that I would far far rather that Garland or Smith or anybody working with them get the case iron clad rather than moving precipitously and screwing things up.
I think DeSantis is holding off on any announcements simply because he wants it to seem as though he’s being compelled to run for President so he’s not seen for the weasel he is. I mean, everybody (other than Florida’s GOP voters) knew DeSantis intended to run for President but he didn’t want to risk news coverage by sitting out a reelection bid. Let’s face it: He’s been in the news several times already, impressing the brain-dead MAGAs with his culture warrior façade (stuff he could never have done if he hadn’t run for, and won, reelection).
We all know (except for those brain-dead GOP voters) that DeSantis had every intention of running for President but he did make a few statements (mostly to his supporters) that “suggested” he was only interested in the governorship so he’s got to keep up appearances. And, by holding off on making his formal announcement to run for President, he can make it seem like he’s going to be the GOP’s “savior” and “unite the factions.” But, he’s got to play it really smart. He has to know there’s no chance of him swooping in at the Convention and becoming that savior; at the same time, announcing too soon and he shows his true colors as a liar (not that that’s a deal breaker to GOP voters). I’ve got a feeling he’s going to wait for Trump to make a misstep (whether just by talking in general or winding up in court and answering incorrectly) with Labor Day being the absolute latest before he goes ahead and pulls the trigger (not even going to apologize for the metaphor). No matter how many GOPers do announce before DeSantis makes it formal, DeSantis knows he’ll have the higher name value so playing it coy won’t hurt him.
Absolutely, he’s looking to be the GOP savior. That’s what Ron To The Rescue is about. Ron is going to save the GOP and the country. Righto.
By that time who knows how many rat’s run to the cheese and what’s the magic number that allows boss rat to muscle his 33% to another primary. Once he’s the front runner he’ll beat the victim drum even louder than before. I agree I’d love for an ironclad case to put him in the penitentiary, but there’s no such thing as an ironclad case as long as there’s a jury. It only becomes a sure thing if he pleads guilty, and we know that will never happen. Everyday he’s loose while the general public gets hauled off to jail on suspicion of a crime is a travesty. It also gives him more propaganda time. The document case alone is black and white. He lied. He stole top secret stuff. He hid them. His lawyers lied. He had stuff disappear etc. Yet no charges. Does anyone honestly think an average citizen wouldn’t be sitting in jail awaiting trial with no bail? Sometimes I think there’s more than one cult. Delusional privileged people who’ve NO DIRECT EXPERIENCE of legal injustice. Waiting for the system they believe in that does not actually exist. It never has. I’m afraid it never will until the people in power live up to their oaths. So far they have failed us by proving the rich and powerful live under different legal rules than the majority of us. Just admit it and start telling the truth. John 8:32. Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Not timidity. Not rationalizations. The truth.