I swear to you people, the online DeSantis fans have become as thin-skinned as the diehard Trump fans. Mention Nikki Haley’s rising poll numbers, and they rush to their apologetics like the Trump fans when you tell them 2020 wasn’t stolen. “But see,” they claim.
I disagree about no Haley\Desantis ticket. Those two working together could shape the next 16 years of our future which under the current administration is a freaking shitshow and that's putting it mildly.
They both seem to be intelligent people let them meet and flip a coin to see who get's the first 8 years and who get the next 8. That's the only way I see how to get Trump out of the picture. I don't know if I can hold my nose and vote for him again. Who is the libertarian candidate?
Ever feel like you’re watching a train wreck that’s going to happen in a year and seemingly nothing will stop it. Our train will either plunge into the canyon or smash into the “tunnel” painted on the side of the mountain. You decide which is Biden and which is Trump.
I know how most everyone here feels about RFJ, Jr. I was in the same camp a few months ago. Then I started watching his interviews (I've seen dozens, including combative exchanges) and his campaign videos. I went to one of his events in Atlanta; it was inspiring to see someone speak articulately for 45 minutes with no notes and without hateful rhetoric. Kennedy isn't the loon everyone claims he is. I certainly don't agree with him on some of his more liberal domestic policies, but he's right on the border, the military industrial complex, big pharma, free speech, faith in God, support of Israel, dismantling the three letter agencies, and uniting the country against the establishment. No candidate is perfect, but I'll take Kennedy over Trump or Biden.
Well, I’m very grateful that the “military industrial complex” has helped to keep us free from Kaisers, Nazis, Imperial Japanese, and Communists for 100 years and counting.
I'm certainly not against the military, the defense contractors (I'm a capitalist!), or even the US fighting justified wars. What I'm against is the *financial ties* between defense contractors and the people who make decisions on which wars are in America's best interests.
Meh. Any one of those three would be so far superior to Biden that 1 year into their presidency, none of you will remember that you ever worried. But we gotta' get there first. IMO, our new Speaker must immediately create, execute, and remain focused on an agenda that addresses the very real concerns most Americans have regarding the direction of our country. Only in that way can he mitigate the damage done to the Republican brand by the little boys in the House and their p*ssing match over who gets the football. And spare me your comments on Gaetz being a hero. McCarthy's demise may have been inevitable, but the timing of this stunt could not have been worse. A hero does what's best for the country, not what's best for himself.
I long for a (unicorn-fart-filled) day when Republicans begin the nomination cycle with a strong, unified platform from which candidates launch campaigns to differentiate themselves based on specific and unique strengths, addressing their own potential weaknesses as part of their message. We now attack one another on the campaign trail, doing opposition research for not only R nomination, but providing free D opposition research for the general election.
I know it's always been like this, seems in last few cycles, we've eaten our own so effectively that we almost ended up with HRC, and DID end up with Biden. Something about houses divided not standing...
If Haley is the nominee, I will vote for her, but I don't like her. If DeSantis is the nominee, he will have my full support. Keep in mind in the General and as President, DeSantis will be hated as much as Trump.. Also consider that Devine intervention you mention, instead of taking Trump out, may put him back in the WH.
You are right a Haley-DeSantis or DeSantis-Haley team up at this point will not happen but the ironic thing is that it might be the ONLY way for us to not get Trump
I would gladly and hope to be able to cast a vote for her as the Republican nominee running against Biden. The only down side is watching the Democrats attack a woman, since she is not one of "theirs". The attacks from the media and the processive left will be relentless. Plus, many a Trump Republican will be mad because it is not their guy in the race.
There are a lot of women in the center and on the center-left who love Nikki Haley. Nellie Bowles of The Free Press is "obsessed" (her word) with Haley. I'm not one of those women, but they're out there, and the Democrats would be wise not to attack Haley the way they did Palin.
There are a number of reasons Trump could leave the race. If he does, my gut says that Vivek will get a large share of his voters. Let the arrows fly, but if Haley is the candidate, my vote goes to RFK, Jr. I didn't feel that way a few months ago, but I can't get behind someone who is so hawkish *and* has so many ties to the defense contractors.
It does seem that if, figuratively, lightning doesn't strike Trump, the second place battle is for less than "place," as in "win-place-show." But one can't discount lightning when you're dealing with a 78 (in '24) year-old fat man with a checkered moral past and some probably legitimate legal troubles in the present day.
I believe Ron DeSantis is the most talented candidate for President this nation has seen since another Ron, named Reagan. (Maybe even beyond Ron I's talents, although obviously not in star quality.) His record is superior to Haley's and his political courage and policy wisdom to Trump's in many ways.
I think he has for the most part fought the good fight, and continuing to do so is the best thing -- and the most Godly thing -- he can do from here on in. If it comes down somehow to a DeSantis - Haley choice, I think that would become quite clear to GOP voters.
But the future of America is in bigger hands than those of we DeSantis "fans," who should keep to the high road and pray for the best for a nation unworthy of grace in many ways.
Absolutely. I've been meaning to come up with a list of all that Mr. DeSantis has achieved in Florida across the board -- socially, economically, educationally. Many Red State governors have followed his lead, completely or partially, but few if any have INITIATED the kind of bold moves he has that would set this country on a far more morally just, economically enriched and Constitutionally solid path. It would be a LONG list.
Trump kowtowed to GOP House and Senate leaders and allowed $900 billion more in his first three (non-COVID) years to be added to the Debt than Obama accrued in his last three. (And then he spent like a drunken sailor supporting Fauci during COVID.) Ron DeSantis never would have allowed McConnell and Ryan to skate by Presidential-veto-less.
I would love to see that list! Unfortunately, for too many people, "ran against Trump" negates everything on Desantis's list of accomplishments. Personally, I've been cataloging the reasons I can't bring myself to vote for Trump again. It's a more depressing sort of compilation.
We ought to relieve ourselves of a penchant for losing...DeSantis-Haley or Haley-DeSantis and work hard to nominate and then elect this very capable team.
People respond to Haley’s very clear, direct approach clothed in respectable charm and finesse.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a potential 4-term team. Biden picked Harris for her demographic appeal, not for competence, leaving a huge gap for the Dems. Having a POTUS-VP lineup like these two could have long legs politically.
Sadly, we saw Trump-Pence disintegrate at the end with Jan6 nonsense , Trump cutting the legs out from one of the finest men we could have championed. Let's don't do that again.
There's a lot of harsh truths in this column that needed to be said. As angry as I can get with the Always Trumpers who seem stuck in the man's cult of personality it amazes me how poorly organized the Never Trumpers were this election cycle in terms if consolidating behind a candidate with a chance of beating Trump for the nomination. Haley and DeSantis are the best two but DeSantis should have been their best pick as he can appeal to both Trump fans and non-Trump fans. Sadly, some Republicans want a candidate who will just cut taxes and see culture war issues as a waste of time. They are fine with the Left taking over cultural institutions and don't want a candidate who can fight back. Haley is also a great pick but the GOP is too petty and disorganized to beat the Dems.
To be clear, "Always Trump"/"Never Trump" it is a false dichotomy. I am neither. I don't like Trump, not due to TDS, but due to his egotistical manner and lack of self-control. I voted for Trump in 2020 given Biden as alternative was much more dangerous for our country than a boorish businessman. Yep, Biden is worse, Trump self-immolated to some degree and here we are with our "front-runner" appearing in court on a regular basis facing lawfare at its worst, dividing R's from our nation's need for strong, undistracted leadership.
It isn't mindless TDS, it is prefer others for their strengths. If, for some reason, Mr. Trump is on the ballot in 2024, I will vote for him given the alternative(s).
I followed the exact same trajectory you did in terms of voting for Trump in 2020 so I don't mean to paint with too broad of a brush. Still, I think at the start of the GOP primary a lot of conservative commentators made the mistake of assuming Trumpism was receding with Trump's election conspiracies making him unelectable. We were wrong. In the primaries, 40% of Republicans sticking with him no matter what even when we have viable alternatives and the man continues to make it easy for the Dems to throw him in jail and throw away the key. It's those 40% I'm calling Always Trump because they are demonstrating more loyalty to a man than the well-being of the country or even to the GOP. In other words, they will most likely pushed a flawed candidate who will lose and deliver four more years of Biden.
I would love the first female president to be a Republican, and that person being competent, confident, and no-nonsense as Haley is would be an awesome thing to behold.
Haley would make a good president but I believe DeSantis better qualified on many fronts and I do not believe in voting for race, sex, or even party really but best person for the job!
I agree, but if Haley is the nominee, I will be ecstatic when she wins and she takes away the honor of being the first woman president from the party destroying America.
FYI, if any republican gets to be president, the press and democrats will be giving the lm the Trump treatment from Day 1 after the election.
https://youtu.be/uI4fVgVVpiw?si=_nmKunFwVCKaIrmX
100% team Haley! She was great at the gathering! Among others - two of her quotes then:
"Our #1 foreign policy priority should be China."
"I’ve dealt with China – when their lips are moving, they are lying."
She knows Communism well enough! I think it was the former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover who said Communism is one big lie. True enough.
I disagree about no Haley\Desantis ticket. Those two working together could shape the next 16 years of our future which under the current administration is a freaking shitshow and that's putting it mildly.
They both seem to be intelligent people let them meet and flip a coin to see who get's the first 8 years and who get the next 8. That's the only way I see how to get Trump out of the picture. I don't know if I can hold my nose and vote for him again. Who is the libertarian candidate?
Ever feel like you’re watching a train wreck that’s going to happen in a year and seemingly nothing will stop it. Our train will either plunge into the canyon or smash into the “tunnel” painted on the side of the mountain. You decide which is Biden and which is Trump.
I know how most everyone here feels about RFJ, Jr. I was in the same camp a few months ago. Then I started watching his interviews (I've seen dozens, including combative exchanges) and his campaign videos. I went to one of his events in Atlanta; it was inspiring to see someone speak articulately for 45 minutes with no notes and without hateful rhetoric. Kennedy isn't the loon everyone claims he is. I certainly don't agree with him on some of his more liberal domestic policies, but he's right on the border, the military industrial complex, big pharma, free speech, faith in God, support of Israel, dismantling the three letter agencies, and uniting the country against the establishment. No candidate is perfect, but I'll take Kennedy over Trump or Biden.
Well, I’m very grateful that the “military industrial complex” has helped to keep us free from Kaisers, Nazis, Imperial Japanese, and Communists for 100 years and counting.
I'm certainly not against the military, the defense contractors (I'm a capitalist!), or even the US fighting justified wars. What I'm against is the *financial ties* between defense contractors and the people who make decisions on which wars are in America's best interests.
Meh. Any one of those three would be so far superior to Biden that 1 year into their presidency, none of you will remember that you ever worried. But we gotta' get there first. IMO, our new Speaker must immediately create, execute, and remain focused on an agenda that addresses the very real concerns most Americans have regarding the direction of our country. Only in that way can he mitigate the damage done to the Republican brand by the little boys in the House and their p*ssing match over who gets the football. And spare me your comments on Gaetz being a hero. McCarthy's demise may have been inevitable, but the timing of this stunt could not have been worse. A hero does what's best for the country, not what's best for himself.
I long for a (unicorn-fart-filled) day when Republicans begin the nomination cycle with a strong, unified platform from which candidates launch campaigns to differentiate themselves based on specific and unique strengths, addressing their own potential weaknesses as part of their message. We now attack one another on the campaign trail, doing opposition research for not only R nomination, but providing free D opposition research for the general election.
I know it's always been like this, seems in last few cycles, we've eaten our own so effectively that we almost ended up with HRC, and DID end up with Biden. Something about houses divided not standing...
If Haley is the nominee, I will vote for her, but I don't like her. If DeSantis is the nominee, he will have my full support. Keep in mind in the General and as President, DeSantis will be hated as much as Trump.. Also consider that Devine intervention you mention, instead of taking Trump out, may put him back in the WH.
That is one of the best political analyses I've read in years, and why I keep my subscription going.
Well said, Erick.
You are right a Haley-DeSantis or DeSantis-Haley team up at this point will not happen but the ironic thing is that it might be the ONLY way for us to not get Trump
I would gladly and hope to be able to cast a vote for her as the Republican nominee running against Biden. The only down side is watching the Democrats attack a woman, since she is not one of "theirs". The attacks from the media and the processive left will be relentless. Plus, many a Trump Republican will be mad because it is not their guy in the race.
There are a lot of women in the center and on the center-left who love Nikki Haley. Nellie Bowles of The Free Press is "obsessed" (her word) with Haley. I'm not one of those women, but they're out there, and the Democrats would be wise not to attack Haley the way they did Palin.
There are a number of reasons Trump could leave the race. If he does, my gut says that Vivek will get a large share of his voters. Let the arrows fly, but if Haley is the candidate, my vote goes to RFK, Jr. I didn't feel that way a few months ago, but I can't get behind someone who is so hawkish *and* has so many ties to the defense contractors.
Yeah, a leftist moon at would surely be a great president. /sarc/
It does seem that if, figuratively, lightning doesn't strike Trump, the second place battle is for less than "place," as in "win-place-show." But one can't discount lightning when you're dealing with a 78 (in '24) year-old fat man with a checkered moral past and some probably legitimate legal troubles in the present day.
I believe Ron DeSantis is the most talented candidate for President this nation has seen since another Ron, named Reagan. (Maybe even beyond Ron I's talents, although obviously not in star quality.) His record is superior to Haley's and his political courage and policy wisdom to Trump's in many ways.
I think he has for the most part fought the good fight, and continuing to do so is the best thing -- and the most Godly thing -- he can do from here on in. If it comes down somehow to a DeSantis - Haley choice, I think that would become quite clear to GOP voters.
But the future of America is in bigger hands than those of we DeSantis "fans," who should keep to the high road and pray for the best for a nation unworthy of grace in many ways.
"Ron DeSantis is the most talented candidate for President this nation has seen since another Ron"
Agreed, although I would call him the most *accomplished* candidate this nation has seen. :)
Absolutely. I've been meaning to come up with a list of all that Mr. DeSantis has achieved in Florida across the board -- socially, economically, educationally. Many Red State governors have followed his lead, completely or partially, but few if any have INITIATED the kind of bold moves he has that would set this country on a far more morally just, economically enriched and Constitutionally solid path. It would be a LONG list.
Trump kowtowed to GOP House and Senate leaders and allowed $900 billion more in his first three (non-COVID) years to be added to the Debt than Obama accrued in his last three. (And then he spent like a drunken sailor supporting Fauci during COVID.) Ron DeSantis never would have allowed McConnell and Ryan to skate by Presidential-veto-less.
I would love to see that list! Unfortunately, for too many people, "ran against Trump" negates everything on Desantis's list of accomplishments. Personally, I've been cataloging the reasons I can't bring myself to vote for Trump again. It's a more depressing sort of compilation.
We ought to relieve ourselves of a penchant for losing...DeSantis-Haley or Haley-DeSantis and work hard to nominate and then elect this very capable team.
People respond to Haley’s very clear, direct approach clothed in respectable charm and finesse.
I can't help but think that she might have some swamp mud on her shoes. Just sayin'.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a potential 4-term team. Biden picked Harris for her demographic appeal, not for competence, leaving a huge gap for the Dems. Having a POTUS-VP lineup like these two could have long legs politically.
Sadly, we saw Trump-Pence disintegrate at the end with Jan6 nonsense , Trump cutting the legs out from one of the finest men we could have championed. Let's don't do that again.
There's a lot of harsh truths in this column that needed to be said. As angry as I can get with the Always Trumpers who seem stuck in the man's cult of personality it amazes me how poorly organized the Never Trumpers were this election cycle in terms if consolidating behind a candidate with a chance of beating Trump for the nomination. Haley and DeSantis are the best two but DeSantis should have been their best pick as he can appeal to both Trump fans and non-Trump fans. Sadly, some Republicans want a candidate who will just cut taxes and see culture war issues as a waste of time. They are fine with the Left taking over cultural institutions and don't want a candidate who can fight back. Haley is also a great pick but the GOP is too petty and disorganized to beat the Dems.
To be clear, "Always Trump"/"Never Trump" it is a false dichotomy. I am neither. I don't like Trump, not due to TDS, but due to his egotistical manner and lack of self-control. I voted for Trump in 2020 given Biden as alternative was much more dangerous for our country than a boorish businessman. Yep, Biden is worse, Trump self-immolated to some degree and here we are with our "front-runner" appearing in court on a regular basis facing lawfare at its worst, dividing R's from our nation's need for strong, undistracted leadership.
It isn't mindless TDS, it is prefer others for their strengths. If, for some reason, Mr. Trump is on the ballot in 2024, I will vote for him given the alternative(s).
I followed the exact same trajectory you did in terms of voting for Trump in 2020 so I don't mean to paint with too broad of a brush. Still, I think at the start of the GOP primary a lot of conservative commentators made the mistake of assuming Trumpism was receding with Trump's election conspiracies making him unelectable. We were wrong. In the primaries, 40% of Republicans sticking with him no matter what even when we have viable alternatives and the man continues to make it easy for the Dems to throw him in jail and throw away the key. It's those 40% I'm calling Always Trump because they are demonstrating more loyalty to a man than the well-being of the country or even to the GOP. In other words, they will most likely pushed a flawed candidate who will lose and deliver four more years of Biden.
I would love the first female president to be a Republican, and that person being competent, confident, and no-nonsense as Haley is would be an awesome thing to behold.
Haley would make a good president but I believe DeSantis better qualified on many fronts and I do not believe in voting for race, sex, or even party really but best person for the job!
I agree, but if Haley is the nominee, I will be ecstatic when she wins and she takes away the honor of being the first woman president from the party destroying America.
...and first woman POC, to boot 😉