texagbeliever said:

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Phatbob said:

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FireAg said:

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C@LAg said:

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LarryElder said:

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Pretty sure dEsantis thought the vaccine was effective and encouraged people to get it no ?

---

you mean the same vaccine that $7.8 trillion dollar spending, vaccine-pushing, Fauci-supporting, $3+T COVID free bucks paying Trump fast-tracked and hawked like any one of his scammy vodka or steak products?

That vaccine?

---

Curious how many DeSantis supporters caved and still took the vaccine, and now they wish they hadn't?

I know what Trump said about the vaccine during the height of Covid hysteria, and I categorically disagreed with him or anyone else who said the vaccine was a good idea…

Who else is still pure-blood on the DeSantis side? Did DeSantis himself take the jab?

---

This has been discussed a lot very recently, but to summarize it - yes, DeSantis did take the jab when it first came out, and encouraged people to take it if they could, but always said it needed to only be optional, never required. He stopped supporting it soon after and went hardcore on not closing anything down, regardless of any vaccine status.

As far as closing things down initially, he originally did so after being encouraged to do so by Trump. After the initial "two weeks", he moved to open things up and not remain closed.

---

You do see the critical take here then.

DeSantis caved early on so he could play both sides depending on how the public opinion played out. Because of that he now has cover long term for being on both sides of the issue.

That is NOT my take, but it is the type of take DeSantis side makes on every thing Trump does. Again I think Trump allowed governors to do their jobs and sadly there were only 3-5 that did. DeSantis was one of them.

---

I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt on the initial reaction to Covid. There was a lot that we didn't know. I give that to just about any politician, left or right, based on the information they were given. The more time that went by you can see the results of the different styles of governance and whether or not their particular areas of governance benefited. To me it seems like an excellent case study between the two of them.

SwigAg11 said:

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As far as I understand, DeSantis never mandated it?

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Neither did Trump so?

texagbeliever said:

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aggie93 said:

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texagbeliever said:

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FireAg said:

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I think it's dangerous to assume you understand why every Trump supporter still supports him…

I think this lack of understanding and resorting to immediate dismissiveness is going to come back and bite some of you…and I do not believe it will help DeSantis win the nomination…

But in the past few weeks I have learned it's easier to chastise than it is to understand…

It's unfortunate folks on the right, on both sides, seem incapable of rallying behind one common goal…

I am also dismayed that so many want to argue the man instead of addressing the process…if we don't fix the voting issues to ensure fair elections, or at the very least, find a way to be just as cunning as the Left is at rigging the process, it won't matter WHO the right runs…

But I accept that this message continues to fall on deaf ears…

---

Certainty is the pitfall of intelligent men (and women). It leads to control (demanding Trump to act certain ways or drop out). Ultimately it ends up with the Republicans of the 2000s which is just a Christian bent progressive style bureaucrat.

Ultimately I'd gander much of the angst toward Trump is that he represents a risk. For many DeSantis fans they have risen to success in corporate life and would actually prefer a status quo rather than a true upheaval. DeSantis supporters who are adamant anti Trump see themselves as the American Revolutionaries when really they were the the successful merchants that were loyalists until pushed to the brink.

---

That's one perspective. The other is that the intelligent people you seem to be speaking of in a condescending tone actually understand something about elections and politics because they have studied it. Trump isn't going to win and if he were to win he isn't going to create some upheaval because he will be a 1 termer who is almost 80 with no competent people around him and will be faced with multiple legal battles during his very narrow window to get anything done (many of which he can't pardon himself from even if he is able to pardon away some).

No, it's these damn intelligent people that don't get it and just want the status quo, that's why they are supporting an extremely effective reformer who can serve 2 Terms and has no real baggage to speak of.

---

A brilliant man is often his biggest threat as he possesses the means to make lies be true.

I know we all say liberals are dumb and stupid Yada Yada. Reality is many of them actually have just used their high intelligence to convince themselves of lies. Not noting their motivation behind their beliefs or believing they are above bias. And because they are smart they can argue to stalemate of opinion at worst and in some cases win arguments against someone really intellectually inferior. I've done that before.

You say you would support Trump but then say Trump is one step below Biden. Those two ideas are paradoxical. You really want it to be DeSantis so you really want to believe Trump is this monster. But then you also know the chance Trump does win it will be in your best interest for Trump to win. Thus this seeming contradiction in your take on Trump.

---

I never said Trump was one step below Biden. What I said was he is a better choice than Biden and I would vote for him. Again.

That's really not the greater point. The greater point is I don't see how he can win for reasons I have laid out ad nauseam. I also don't think he would be very effective if somehow he did win and have laid out those reasons. Your response is to talk about how my intelligence is convincing me of a lie. Ok. You aren't giving any rational reasons for this just patting me on the head as you shake yours.

I think fundamentally one of the main disconnects is I am looking at the bigger picture and you are looking at the GOP focused one. Republicans care about the indictments and think they are a travesty, the rest of the country doesn't. A solid majority think the charges are valid. An even larger majority disapproves of Trump. I don't see how that's going to change and if Trump is actually convicted (which is likely even if unfair) those numbers are likely to get a lot worse. In fact polls prove that out too.

I am just looking at the real goal here, who can get elected and actually get something accomplished. I don't see a path for Trump to do either and I think it is very likely that path gets even more blocked as he will soon be indicted in Georgia and probably have additional Federal Charges, he has no money, and his approval ratings with people outside of the GOP are only going South. I also firmly believe that Biden and the Dems will do everything they can to manipulate those court cases and news cycles to help Trump to gain more sympathy among Republicans while trashing him with everyone else. It's not like they haven't done that before.

I get the appeal of Trump, honestly. I understand his ability to connect with voters in a way others cannot. He's a unique candidate in every way. I just think that uniqueness seems to blind many people to reality and make them extremely defensive about him and see everything as an unfair attack because they view anyone that doesn't love him or excuse his actions as the enemy.

Phatbob said:

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texagbeliever said:

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Phatbob said:

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FireAg said:

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C@LAg said:

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LarryElder said:

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Pretty sure dEsantis thought the vaccine was effective and encouraged people to get it no ?

---

you mean the same vaccine that $7.8 trillion dollar spending, vaccine-pushing, Fauci-supporting, $3+T COVID free bucks paying Trump fast-tracked and hawked like any one of his scammy vodka or steak products?

That vaccine?

---

Curious how many DeSantis supporters caved and still took the vaccine, and now they wish they hadn't?

I know what Trump said about the vaccine during the height of Covid hysteria, and I categorically disagreed with him or anyone else who said the vaccine was a good idea…

Who else is still pure-blood on the DeSantis side? Did DeSantis himself take the jab?

---

This has been discussed a lot very recently, but to summarize it - yes, DeSantis did take the jab when it first came out, and encouraged people to take it if they could, but always said it needed to only be optional, never required. He stopped supporting it soon after and went hardcore on not closing anything down, regardless of any vaccine status.

As far as closing things down initially, he originally did so after being encouraged to do so by Trump. After the initial "two weeks", he moved to open things up and not remain closed.

---

You do see the critical take here then.

DeSantis caved early on so he could play both sides depending on how the public opinion played out. Because of that he now has cover long term for being on both sides of the issue.

That is NOT my take, but it is the type of take DeSantis side makes on every thing Trump does. Again I think Trump allowed governors to do their jobs and sadly there were only 3-5 that did. DeSantis was one of them.

---

I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt on the initial reaction to Covid. There was a lot that we didn't know. I give that to just about any politician, left or right, based on the information they were given. The more time that went by you can see the results of the different styles of governance and whether or not their particular areas of governance benefited. To me it seems like an excellent case study between the two of them.

---

Yes and here is where fair and honest disagreement takes place. I'd argue the positions were different and the scrutiny as well. I bet the left expected Trump to fight the vaccine and had plans to run up death counts and really destroy the economy even more. Trump played the middle.

Whether it is rational or not, no sane person fears covid now. Alot of that is they think they are safe because of the vaccine. I know that isn't how the active and informed F16 users see it, but for many moderates it is. So Trump didn't alienate that base. Also DeSantis didn't either because he was acting on a smaller profile and though headlines made it to F16 they didn't really penetrate into the world of most people.

SwigAg11 said:

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As far as I understand, DeSantis never mandated it?

---

Didn't say he did…neither did Trump…

But holy **** did sooooo many people on both sides of the aisle fall victim to the hysteria and were ready to put people in concentration camps or refuse them health insurance or fire them from their jobs if they didn't comply…

Most anti-American movement I have ever seen, and thank God SCOTUS shut that down…

texagbeliever said:

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Phatbob said:

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texagbeliever said:

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Phatbob said:

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FireAg said:

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C@LAg said:

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LarryElder said:

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Pretty sure dEsantis thought the vaccine was effective and encouraged people to get it no ?

---

you mean the same vaccine that $7.8 trillion dollar spending, vaccine-pushing, Fauci-supporting, $3+T COVID free bucks paying Trump fast-tracked and hawked like any one of his scammy vodka or steak products?

That vaccine?

---

Curious how many DeSantis supporters caved and still took the vaccine, and now they wish they hadn't?

I know what Trump said about the vaccine during the height of Covid hysteria, and I categorically disagreed with him or anyone else who said the vaccine was a good idea…

Who else is still pure-blood on the DeSantis side? Did DeSantis himself take the jab?

---

This has been discussed a lot very recently, but to summarize it - yes, DeSantis did take the jab when it first came out, and encouraged people to take it if they could, but always said it needed to only be optional, never required. He stopped supporting it soon after and went hardcore on not closing anything down, regardless of any vaccine status.

As far as closing things down initially, he originally did so after being encouraged to do so by Trump. After the initial "two weeks", he moved to open things up and not remain closed.

---

You do see the critical take here then.

DeSantis caved early on so he could play both sides depending on how the public opinion played out. Because of that he now has cover long term for being on both sides of the issue.

That is NOT my take, but it is the type of take DeSantis side makes on every thing Trump does. Again I think Trump allowed governors to do their jobs and sadly there were only 3-5 that did. DeSantis was one of them.

---

I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt on the initial reaction to Covid. There was a lot that we didn't know. I give that to just about any politician, left or right, based on the information they were given. The more time that went by you can see the results of the different styles of governance and whether or not their particular areas of governance benefited. To me it seems like an excellent case study between the two of them.

---

Yes and here is where fair and honest disagreement takes place. I'd argue the positions were different and the scrutiny as well. I bet the left expected Trump to fight the vaccine and had plans to run up death counts and really destroy the economy even more. Trump played the middle.

Whether it is rational or not, no sane person fears covid now. Alot of that is they think they are safe because of the vaccine. I know that isn't how the active and informed F16 users see it, but for many moderates it is. So Trump didn't alienate that base. Also DeSantis didn't either because he was acting on a smaller profile and though headlines made it to F16 they didn't really penetrate into the world of most people.

---

In a narrow view regarding just the Covid vaccine, you could look at it that way, but that situation was not just about the vaccine. How the two, given that they had different purviews and responsibilities, reacted and used the tools available to them to manage the situation. Trump let Fauci go on way too long, contributing to the advising that states continue to close down, and worked with Congress to spend a ridiculous amount of money, which did at least in part contributed to the high inflation we have experienced since.

To be fair, we have to ask, would DeSantis have done something different? That would just be conjecture, and it is always possible he would have, but those are not the responses you would expect from a small government conservative.

Phatbob said:

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texagbeliever said:

---

Phatbob said:

---

texagbeliever said:

---

Phatbob said:

---

FireAg said:

---

C@LAg said:

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LarryElder said:

---

Pretty sure dEsantis thought the vaccine was effective and encouraged people to get it no ?

---

you mean the same vaccine that $7.8 trillion dollar spending, vaccine-pushing, Fauci-supporting, $3+T COVID free bucks paying Trump fast-tracked and hawked like any one of his scammy vodka or steak products?

That vaccine?

---

Curious how many DeSantis supporters caved and still took the vaccine, and now they wish they hadn't?

I know what Trump said about the vaccine during the height of Covid hysteria, and I categorically disagreed with him or anyone else who said the vaccine was a good idea…

Who else is still pure-blood on the DeSantis side? Did DeSantis himself take the jab?

---

This has been discussed a lot very recently, but to summarize it - yes, DeSantis did take the jab when it first came out, and encouraged people to take it if they could, but always said it needed to only be optional, never required. He stopped supporting it soon after and went hardcore on not closing anything down, regardless of any vaccine status.

As far as closing things down initially, he originally did so after being encouraged to do so by Trump. After the initial "two weeks", he moved to open things up and not remain closed.

---

You do see the critical take here then.

DeSantis caved early on so he could play both sides depending on how the public opinion played out. Because of that he now has cover long term for being on both sides of the issue.

That is NOT my take, but it is the type of take DeSantis side makes on every thing Trump does. Again I think Trump allowed governors to do their jobs and sadly there were only 3-5 that did. DeSantis was one of them.

---

I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt on the initial reaction to Covid. There was a lot that we didn't know. I give that to just about any politician, left or right, based on the information they were given. The more time that went by you can see the results of the different styles of governance and whether or not their particular areas of governance benefited. To me it seems like an excellent case study between the two of them.

---

Yes and here is where fair and honest disagreement takes place. I'd argue the positions were different and the scrutiny as well. I bet the left expected Trump to fight the vaccine and had plans to run up death counts and really destroy the economy even more. Trump played the middle.

Whether it is rational or not, no sane person fears covid now. Alot of that is they think they are safe because of the vaccine. I know that isn't how the active and informed F16 users see it, but for many moderates it is. So Trump didn't alienate that base. Also DeSantis didn't either because he was acting on a smaller profile and though headlines made it to F16 they didn't really penetrate into the world of most people.

---

In a narrow view regarding just the Covid vaccine, you could look at it that way, but that situation was not just about the vaccine. How the two, given that they had different purviews and responsibilities, reacted and used the tools available to them to manage the situation. Trump let Fauci go on way too long, contributing to the advising that states continue to close down, and worked with Congress to spend a ridiculous amount of money, which did at least in part contributed to the high inflation we have experienced since.

To be fair, we have to ask, would DeSantis have done something different? That would just be conjecture, and it is always possible he would have, but those are not the responses you would expect from a small government conservative.

---

I've asked this before and never gotten a response.

Faucii is fired. Who replaces him? Brix the one who was just better at hiding her big state agenda?

Trump just made Faucii a martyr and he will be front and center and a part of the "resistance". Now every death will be Trumps fault because he wasn't using the best and brightest. It would play right into the hands of Trump failing to lead and being petty (an accusation laid against Trump all the time). Can you see how this could play out terribly once Biden wins and then he can reelevate Faucii and totalitarianism can be cranked to 12 instead of the 8?

The difference in take is looking at actions in a vaccum versus looking at actions in the real world. The "obviousness" of always be limited government is not always true if it costs you the future.

Redfield. He was the most level-headed of the bunch.

Trump's big issue with Fauci, IMHO, was he let him grab too much airtime / authority and painted himself into a no win situation.

Yes, he needed firing, but had Trump not allowed him so much leeway early on, it wouldn't have been nearly as noticed (the firing).

Remember when Trump was pro Disney in their battle with DeSantis? What was that... a month ago?

What's next, he'll claim DeSantis isn't strong enough pro life?

Trump is the spaghetti-on-the-wall maestro. After months of lambasting DeSantis for going after woke Disney - he's now blaming DeSantis for Disney going woke. You can't make up this much crazy. pic.twitter.com/CtZ1njXrr0

— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) August 4, 2023

DeSantis gives a thorough breakdown on the voting problems from 2020 and what we need to do about it in 2 minuutes:

DeSantis: “You don't change the rules in the middle of the game. You don't ballot harvest. You don't do Zuckerbucks, and clearly having the agencies work with Facebook to censor things like Hunter Biden, that's unfair. So it was not an election that was conducted the way I think… pic.twitter.com/URmWak1MxY

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) August 4, 2023

Old May Banker said:

---

Remember when Trump was pro Disney in their battle with DeSantis? What was that... a month ago?

What's next, he'll claim DeSantis isn't strong enough pro life?

Trump is the spaghetti-on-the-wall maestro. After months of lambasting DeSantis for going after woke Disney - he's now blaming DeSantis for Disney going woke. You can't make up this much crazy. pic.twitter.com/CtZ1njXrr0

— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) August 4, 2023

---

As I said earlier, he will come out in favor of "gender affirming care" or some other massively leftist thing, and MAGA will eat it up and go right along with it.

Happy birthday to my friend, @KimReynoldsIA!

The great state of Iowa is lucky to have you. pic.twitter.com/0xvk9kzqgj

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 4, 2023

Third county of the day and a little baseball. #20 pic.twitter.com/LLkgLJmvB3

— Sam Cooper (@SamCooper33) August 4, 2023

Very nice photo for him. He's pushing the right buttons.

Keep chipping away one county at time.

Ron DeSantis spoke with law enforcement and greeted Iowans at the Clayton County Fair pic.twitter.com/o087VhQEVC

— Never Back Down (@NvrBackDown24) August 4, 2023

Quote:

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Aug 4 (Reuters) - Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual donor to a group supporting Ron DeSantis' presidential bid, told Reuters on Friday he will not donate more money unless the Florida governor attracts new major donors and adopts a more moderate approach.

The comments by Bigelow, who gave $20 million to the pro-DeSantis "Never Back Down" super PAC in March, underscore donor concerns about the Florida governor's struggling campaign, which has been unable to make a dent in former President Donald Trump's huge lead for the 2024 Republican nomination.

---

Quote:

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"He does need to shift to get to moderates. He'll lose if he doesn't ... Extremism isn't going to get you elected," Bigelow said in an interview, adding that he had communicated these concerns to DeSantis' campaign.

When asked which specific policies Bigelow did not support, Bigelow cited only DeSantis signing in April a bill passed by the Florida legislature banning abortions after six weeks, a move that came after Bigelow had donated the $20 million.

---

Quote:

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Bigelow said he would not donate more money for now. "Not until I see that he's able to generate more on his own. I'm already too big a percentage," Bigelow said. "A lot of his donors are still on the fence."

Bigelow, the founder of Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace, said he wasn't waiting for an exact fundraising figure, but that "it's going to be a lot."

In a statement to Reuters, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign, Bryan Griffin, said they were "grateful" to supporters and donors who gave them "the capacity to compete for the long haul," without addressing Bigelow directly.

---

LINK

So Bigelow argues DeSantis isn't gaining steam because he's "too extreme"?

It's a lot of his far right policies that I actually gravitate toward…

That's frustrating…

aggiehawg said:

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LINK

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good for him. his money his choice.

he should save what he can for when a lame duck Biden presidency comes with their millionaire+ taxes.

Reason I posted that was to see if anyone else had heard about it, first off.

Then my next question was whether a 20 million dollar donor to his PAC would have access to the campaign's internal polls?

He is basing his position on some basis.

aggiehawg said:

---

Reason I posted that was to see if anyone else had heard about it, first off.

Then my next question was whether a 20 million dollar donor to his PAC would have access to the campaign's internal polls?

He is basing his position on some basis.

---

of course he has access to interal polling, even if it is not directly from the desantis campaign

you do not donate $50+MM to republicans over the last 7 years without some level of access.

C@LAg said:

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aggiehawg said:

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Reason I posted that was to see if anyone else had heard about it, first off.

Then my next question was whether a 20 million dollar donor to his PAC would have access to the campaign's internal polls?

He is basing his position on some basis.

---

of course he has access to interal polling, even if it is not directly from the desantis campaign

you do not donate $50+MM to republicans over the last 7 years without some level of access.

---

Remember when it was illegal for Manafort to share internal polling numbers with his business partner in his political consulting business? Was kind of joking when asking.

But I wonder why he went public with this?

aggiehawg said:

---

Reason I posted that was to see if anyone else had heard about it, first off.

Then my next question was whether a 20 million dollar donor to his PAC would have access to the campaign's internal polls?

He is basing his position on some basis.

---

DeSantis and his saying he would "slit the throats" of the people in the deep state federal bureaucracy.

Does this sound like a moderate? Does this sound like someone who is trying attract Republicans who think Trump is a mentally ill nut-job?

shiftyandquick said:

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aggiehawg said:

---

Reason I posted that was to see if anyone else had heard about it, first off.

Then my next question was whether a 20 million dollar donor to his PAC would have access to the campaign's internal polls?

He is basing his position on some basis.

---

DeSantis and his saying he would "slit the throats" of the people in the deep state federal bureaucracy.

Does this sound like a moderate? Does this sound like someone who is trying attract Republicans who think Trump is a mentally ill nut-job?

---

I thought DeSantis was not running as a moderate? He was a member of the Freedom Caucus when he was in the House. And that Trump was attacking him from the left?

The narrative is shifting, just tying to follow along.

aggiehawg said:

---

Quote:

---

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual donor to a group supporting Ron DeSantis' presidential bid, told Reuters on Friday he will not donate more money unless the Florida governor attracts new major donors and adopts a more moderate approach.

The comments by Bigelow, who gave $20 million to the pro-DeSantis "Never Back Down" super PAC in March, underscore donor concerns about the Florida governor's struggling campaign, which has been unable to make a dent in former President Donald Trump's huge lead for the 2024 Republican nomination.

---

Quote:

---

"He does need to shift to get to moderates. He'll lose if he doesn't ... Extremism isn't going to get you elected," Bigelow said in an interview, adding that he had communicated these concerns to DeSantis' campaign.

When asked which specific policies Bigelow did not support, Bigelow cited only DeSantis signing in April a bill passed by the Florida legislature banning abortions after six weeks, a move that came after Bigelow had donated the $20 million.

---

Quote:

---

Bigelow said he would not donate more money for now. "Not until I see that he's able to generate more on his own. I'm already too big a percentage," Bigelow said. "A lot of his donors are still on the fence."

Bigelow, the founder of Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace, said he wasn't waiting for an exact fundraising figure, but that "it's going to be a lot."

In a statement to Reuters, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign, Bryan Griffin, said they were "grateful" to supporters and donors who gave them "the capacity to compete for the long haul," without addressing Bigelow directly.

---

LINK

---

Wait, I thought we couldn't trust DeSantis because he would be bought by donor money? So even his biggest donor can't influence his positions

If he can't get elected, it doesn't matter what we can trust about him…

aggiehawg said:

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shiftyandquick said:

---

aggiehawg said:

---

Reason I posted that was to see if anyone else had heard about it, first off.

Then my next question was whether a 20 million dollar donor to his PAC would have access to the campaign's internal polls?

He is basing his position on some basis.

---

DeSantis and his saying he would "slit the throats" of the people in the deep state federal bureaucracy.

Does this sound like a moderate? Does this sound like someone who is trying attract Republicans who think Trump is a mentally ill nut-job?

---

I thought DeSantis was not running as a moderate? He was a member of the Freedom Caucus when he was in the House. And that Trump was attacking him from the left?

The narrative is shifting, just tying to follow along.

---

Hawg I think maybe you misinterpreted shiftyandquick's post (or maybe I am). Desantis isn't now, nor ever has been, running as a moderate.

The one trying to shift Desantis' campaign is this Bigelow dude. But its a positive that Desantis isn't a moderate RINO like Bigelow wants, right? Its a positive that moderate, establishment donors aren't pleased with Desantis, right? And it'll be viewed as a positive when Desantis doesn't change his stances based on big donors like this guy, right?

There's no narrative shifting...well, at least not in the Desantis campaign. In the Trump campaign on the other hand the narrative shifts daily based on how they think they can attack Desantis.

But what if Bigelow is right?

I want him to stick to his conservative guns…but if it prevents him from getting elected, we are stuck with a moral (pun intended) victory…

Quote:

---

Hawg I think maybe you misinterpreted shiftyandquick's post (or maybe I am). Desantis isn't now, nor ever has been, running as a moderate.

The one trying to shift Desantis' campaign is this Bigelow dude. But its a positive that Desantis isn't a moderate RINO like Bigelow wants, right? Its a positive that moderate, establishment donors aren't pleased with Desantis, right? And it'll be viewed as a positive when Desantis doesn't change his stances based on big donors like this guy, right?

---

I don't really know. Hence my asking. Never heard of this Bigelow before. Is he a McCain/Romney kind of wimp?

Bigelow is big in the aerospace industry…

He's the one building a commercial space station in low earth orbit…

Oh. Thanks.

aggiehawg said:

---

Quote:

---

Hawg I think maybe you misinterpreted shiftyandquick's post (or maybe I am). Desantis isn't now, nor ever has been, running as a moderate.

The one trying to shift Desantis' campaign is this Bigelow dude. But its a positive that Desantis isn't a moderate RINO like Bigelow wants, right? Its a positive that moderate, establishment donors aren't pleased with Desantis, right? And it'll be viewed as a positive when Desantis doesn't change his stances based on big donors like this guy, right?

---

I don;t really know. Hence my asking. Never heard of this Bigelow before. Is he a McCain/Romney kind of wimp?

---

Never heard of him either.

But while it would be nice superficially to be able to say, "All the money is going to Desantis, everyone's backing him, yay!" I do find it refreshing to hear that the typical big money guys who expect to throw a lot of money at a candidate and then dictate that candidate's policies are getting frustrated that's not happening with Desantis. The silver lining of hearing a report like this is that it confirms what I already believe about Desantis...he has principles.

And in case you aren't aware of the "slit their throats" reference, the other day Desantis stated that on day one of his presidency he would start sliting the throats of the bureaucracy and deep state.

Quote:

---

"On bureaucracy, you know, we're going to have all these deep state people, you know, we're going to start slitting throats on Day One and be ready to go," DeSantis said at a barbecue in Rye, N.H., on Sunday hosted by former senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.). "You're going to see a huge, huge outcry because Washington wants to protect its own."

---

FireAg said:

---

But what if Bigelow is right?

I want him to stick to his conservative guns…but if it prevents him from getting elected, we are stuck with a moral (pun intended) victory…

---

So consider what you're posing....

You're postulating that Desantis start shifting his tone, stances, and rhetoric now. That's what would go over like a lead balloon IMO. Trump/MSM would jump all over that in a second and have a field day.

And as for the voters? Those that Desantis has attracted so far would start looking elsewhere and the supposed moderates would see right through the shift....in other words he'd lose all credibility and be toast. Maybe he doesn't win by sticking to his guns. But IMO he certainly doesn't win by vacillating and placating.

Thank you for the response, first off.

I am just trying to follow along. In 2016 when I wasn't on the Trump train immediately, I was castigated about it.

I take my time to judge candidates in every race. Never liked McCain at all but still forced myself to vote for him in the GE. Romney needed to say, "We tried ObamaCare in Massacusetts. It doesn't work," but did not. Which was mind boggling to me at the time.

So if Bigelow was a large donor to either one of them during the primary season, I have questions.

I'm not posing anything, bud…

Merely pondering why it's so difficult for conservatives to be able to have their cake and eat it too…

And he needs to get elected…otherwise it's moot…