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**APRIL 10, 2023**
Kuttner on TAP
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**** What Is DeSantis's Game?
The Florida governor has peaked too soon and has nowhere to go but down.
For starters, let's take a look at the fights that Ron DeSantis has
picked. He can't quite decide whether to appeal to the Trump base by
obliquely attacking Trump or by defending him against allegedly partisan
prosecutions. He has been wildly inconsistent in his statements on
Ukraine.
DeSantis has been outplayed by Florida's largest employer, with more
than 70,000 jobs and the state's most beloved theme park destination.
The Disney corporation legally acted to lock in its agreement for
privatized governance before DeSantis's new trustees took office. The
Mouse will be there long after DeSantis is gone.
Remember that DeSantis's feud with Disney was not about their
sweetheart deal for private government and tax breaks in the two
counties where Disney World sprawls. DeSantis had no problem with that
until Disney opposed Florida's "Don't say gay" law. Last Thursday,
DeSantis doubled down
<[link removed]>,
threatening state legislation to void Disney's deal, as well as higher
taxes, tolls on Disney roads, and seizure of Disney development land
under eminent domain.
DeSantis is also managing to alienate right-wing media
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with his effort to make it easier for public figures to sue for libel.
This was meant to intimidate liberal media. But far-right media are
justifiably terrified, because they lie more, and more flagrantly. If
Florida lowers the bar for libel suits, it's MAGA's friends who risk
losing billions.
He's also about to sign a state law effectively banning abortion by
limiting it to six gestational weeks, at a time when the abortion issue
is backfiring against Republicans all over the country.
Florida is not Mississippi. DeSantis barely got elected in 2018,
defeating a Black Democrat, former Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, by
just 32,000 votes. As an incumbent, he got lucky and won by nearly 20
points in 2022 against a worn-out Charlie Crist and an incompetent state
Democratic Party, but voters are fickle.
His crusade against public schools, for much-exaggerated sins of
promoting wokeism, plays well with the right-wing hard core, but is
alienating other parents and educators.
So what is DeSantis's game? It's very simple and totally
opportunist. He hopes to pursue the 2024 Republican nomination by
out-Trumping Trump.
The problem with that strategy, however, is that Trump himself is very
much in evidence. Trump's popularity has risen with the MAGA base as
he paints himself as victim once again.
Why should Trump fans vote for the copy when they can get the original?
Trump now outpolls DeSantis among base GOP voters by at least 2-to-1.
There is the further problem that DeSantis's postures may play well
with the Republican far right, but they will not travel well in a
general election. With his views on censorship of education and denial
of reproductive rights, it's hard to see him carrying Wisconsin,
Pennsylvania, or Michigan. The more Trumpy DeSantis looks, the more he
defeats himself.
Of course, DeSantis is also playing a long game. If Trump chokes on his
own bile and his health fails, DeSantis has positioned himself as the
logical stand-in. And if Trump runs and loses in 2024, DeSantis could be
a front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2028, when he will have just
turned 50.
That scenario, however, glosses over how toxic DeSantis would be with
Democrats and independents in any general election.
Remember Bobby Jindal? The Asian American two-term governor of Louisiana
was hailed as the next new GOP phenomenon. He announced for president in
June 2015, and totally flopped. Heard much about Bobby Jindal lately?
DeSantis could be the next Donald Trump. More likely, the next Bobby
Jindal.
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
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The Beltway's Favorite Bogus Budget Model
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The Penn Wharton Budget Model, bankrolled by finance moguls, is out to
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If the Law Is Legitimate, Clarence Thomas Must Stand Trial
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The Supreme Court justice repeatedly broke the law for two decades. But
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Federal Judges Explain Things to Me
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SCOTUS and Judge Kacsmaryk force us to pose the question: Where did it
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What Defunding the Police Actually Looks Like
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Across the country, community alternatives to policing show the way to a
more effective and less risky response. BY RAMENDA CYRUS
India Decides Fighting Tuberculosis Is More Important Than Johnson &
Johnson's Profits
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The country shot down a patent extension on a critical TB drug. BY RYAN
COOPER
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