MookieBlaylock said:

---

Just 2 inches away

---

Kind of waiting for the,"desantis didn't really want to be there,"posts.

you're right on the part of him being young. one problem he will face is staying relevant after this campaign. hopefully he's learned some lessons on how a national campaign is not the same as a state campaign.

Phatbob said:

---

GeorgiAg said:

---

Furlock Bones said:

---

I mean he has run a pretty poor campaign. He's lost all of his momentum from Florida. You can blame it on the MSM. But, my bet is those folks in Iowa that just delivered the biggest primary landslide in history to Trump don't follow much in the way of the MSM.


Honestly, DeSantis for the most part came off as insincere and weak which is ironic because he seemed to be anything but during his time as governor.

---

Historic "Primary landslide" is a joke - incumbents don't have opposition so there is nothing to compare him to.

As a virtual incumbent, the results were pathetic. More Trump/MAGA spin.

---

This. How many times has an essentially incumbent president gotten barely 50% of the primary vote? That shows very weak support.

---

It's Carter level support - 1980, Carter only won 58% of the vote in IA and 51% overall.

pagerman @ work said:

---

Furlock Bones said:

---

I mean he has run a pretty poor campaign. He's lost all of his momentum from Florida. You can blame it on the MSM. But, my bet is those folks in Iowa that just delivered the biggest primary landslide in history to Trump don't follow much in the way of the MSM.


Honestly, DeSantis for the most part came off as insincere and weak which is ironic because he seemed to be anything but during his time as governor.

---

Desantis' problem is that he isn't Trump.

The republican nomination process is in no way about policy, or ideas. The cult of personality that is the Trump campaign demands Trump to the exclusion of anyone or anything else.

---

Unfortunately this is just politics since the dawn of man. Can you point me to an (recent) election that was based on policies or ideas? Anyone who is well qualified and we would actually want to be the president would never crawl through the feces in order to get that position like politicians happily will. So instead of being led by qualified executives, we get the grownup student council clowns we elect every four years then we fight over them like they're not, in reality, complete and utter psychopaths and morons.

RD is a great executive and I would vote for him every day and twice on Sunday but the man has no juice so we'll be picking between geriatric bozos again instead.

Ag87H2O said:

---

DeSantis should stay in as long as he can and gain as many delegates as he can. You never know what will happen on the legal front with Trump, and if nothing else he gets to position himself for a nice primetime speech at the Republican convention kind of like Reagan did in 1976. If there is a country left in 2028, he will be in a good position to win.

---

you never know what will happen on the health front

with a nearly 80 year old who has been overweight for many years and having stressful civil and criminal trials against him

plus having an affair and likely a fourth divorce.

Trump has declined mentally at a fairly high rate in the last couple years. If you watch or listen to his speeches, he is a rambling almost incoherent old guy now.

He still is WAAY ahead of Biden though. President Biden is really in a bad place mentally.

It's unbelievable that those are going to be our two choices.

I asked earlier and I didn't get much response, doesn't DeSantis or Haley have to stick around just to see what happens to trump in the courts ? Or do you think he will be the nominee even if convicted (s) ?

What is unfortunate is how a thread strictly about DeSantis and his campaign is immediately derailed into another Trump v DeSantis thread.

There are probably some great areas to dive into in DeSantis' campaign about what he did right and wrong. What prevented success? Was 2024 his real goal? What would he be setup for in 2026 or 2028? But instead we are stuck with the same boring and repetitive whining about Trump and how great and perfect DeSantis is. I just wish people would compartmentalize their grief somewhere else so others could have some intellectual discussion.

There was already the hindsight thread about the campaign.

As far as the title goes, he shouldn't drop out yet. His goal is to get it to a 1 vs 1 matchup. If Haley loses in NH and SC. then there is a slight consolidation opening. He has money to last through Super Tuesday at least. Then he can make the determination of whether to drop out.

He's only getting pressured to drop out because it saves Trump's PAC money that they could use towards his legal expenses. I'm interested to see the PAC's filings in 2 weeks since they haven't had to disclose their expenses the last 6 months.

TRM said:

---

There was already the hindsight thread about the campaign.

As far as the title goes, he shouldn't drop out yet. His goal is to get it to a 1 vs 1 matchup. If Haley loses in NH and SC. then there is a slight consolidation opening. He has money to last through Super Tuesday at least. Then he can make the determination of whether to drop out.

He's only getting pressured to drop out because it saves Trump's PAC money that they could use towards his legal expenses. I'm interested to see the PAC's filings in 2 weeks since they haven't had to disclose their expenses the last 6 months.

---

I agree. DeSantis shouldn't drop out yet.

TRM said:

---

There was already the hindsight thread about the campaign.

As far as the title goes, he shouldn't drop out yet. His goal is to get it to a 1 vs 1 matchup. If Haley loses in NH and SC. then there is a slight consolidation opening. He has money to last through Super Tuesday at least. Then he can make the determination of whether to drop out.

He's only getting pressured to drop out because it saves Trump's PAC money that they could use towards his legal expenses. I'm interested to see the PAC's filings in 2 weeks since they haven't had to disclose their expenses the last 6 months.

---

You can't be serious. The MSM is calling on DeSantis to quit his campaign so that Trump can use more PAC money towards his legal defenses. Is Trump really worried about that 6% of vote DeSantis is looking to get in NH?

texagbeliever said:

---

TRM said:

---

There was already the hindsight thread about the campaign.

As far as the title goes, he shouldn't drop out yet. His goal is to get it to a 1 vs 1 matchup. If Haley loses in NH and SC. then there is a slight consolidation opening. He has money to last through Super Tuesday at least. Then he can make the determination of whether to drop out.

He's only getting pressured to drop out because it saves Trump's PAC money that they could use towards his legal expenses. I'm interested to see the PAC's filings in 2 weeks since they haven't had to disclose their expenses the last 6 months.

---

You can't be serious. The MSM is calling on DeSantis to quit his campaign so that Trump can use more PAC money towards his legal defenses. Is Trump really worried about that 6% of vote DeSantis is looking to get in NH?

---

It's been an issue the entire campaign, and one of the stated reasons for the desire for DeSantis to drop out. You can't have a discussion that starts with "DeSantis should drop out" without including the motivation for those who are calling for it.

Phatbob said:

---

texagbeliever said:

---

TRM said:

---

There was already the hindsight thread about the campaign.

As far as the title goes, he shouldn't drop out yet. His goal is to get it to a 1 vs 1 matchup. If Haley loses in NH and SC. then there is a slight consolidation opening. He has money to last through Super Tuesday at least. Then he can make the determination of whether to drop out.

He's only getting pressured to drop out because it saves Trump's PAC money that they could use towards his legal expenses. I'm interested to see the PAC's filings in 2 weeks since they haven't had to disclose their expenses the last 6 months.

---

You can't be serious. The MSM is calling on DeSantis to quit his campaign so that Trump can use more PAC money towards his legal defenses. Is Trump really worried about that 6% of vote DeSantis is looking to get in NH?

---

It's been an issue the entire campaign, and one of the stated reasons for the desire for DeSantis to drop out. You can't have a discussion that starts with "DeSantis should drop out" without including the motivation for those who are calling for it.

---

Ah yes the salient conspiracy that MSM, which loathes Trump, is calling on DeSantis to quit his campaign, to help Trump. Wow how stupid of me not to see this.

texagbeliever said:

---

Phatbob said:

---

texagbeliever said:

---

TRM said:

---

There was already the hindsight thread about the campaign.

As far as the title goes, he shouldn't drop out yet. His goal is to get it to a 1 vs 1 matchup. If Haley loses in NH and SC. then there is a slight consolidation opening. He has money to last through Super Tuesday at least. Then he can make the determination of whether to drop out.

He's only getting pressured to drop out because it saves Trump's PAC money that they could use towards his legal expenses. I'm interested to see the PAC's filings in 2 weeks since they haven't had to disclose their expenses the last 6 months.

---

You can't be serious. The MSM is calling on DeSantis to quit his campaign so that Trump can use more PAC money towards his legal defenses. Is Trump really worried about that 6% of vote DeSantis is looking to get in NH?

---

It's been an issue the entire campaign, and one of the stated reasons for the desire for DeSantis to drop out. You can't have a discussion that starts with "DeSantis should drop out" without including the motivation for those who are calling for it.

---

Ah yes the salient conspiracy that MSM, which loathes Trump, is calling on DeSantis to quit his campaign, to help Trump. Wow how stupid of me not to see this.

---

Yes, everyone everywhere that is not Trump is a monolithic entity that is entirely and only against Trump... sorry, I forgot.

You didn't specify MSM. They are multiple motivations at play here.

CNN, NBC, etc. want Trump to be the nominee since he's an easy victory for the Dems and clearing the field for Trump does that. FoxNews wants Trump because he brings in the boomer ratings, clicks, etc. and Murdoch's lib sons and their wives also want a Dem victory.

Fox's commentators want access to Trump and Trump wants them to help him clear the field primarily for his legal defense (he needs big dollar donors going to his PAC to pay those bills and if there are alternates around, he won't get them). Another reason is he doesn't want to campaign, he admitted that at a rally in Iowa last week. He already looks run down, he'll be run ragged trying to campaign for Super Tuesday and be involved for his court case that starts the day before.

Albatross Necklace said:

---

DeSantis wanted to run for President in the worst way possible

So he did

---

I've seen this statement more than once now. What is this supposed to mean?

The Dem media is crystal clear about who they want to run against and who they don't yet for some reason we are obliging them

TRM said:

---

Phatbob said:

---

GeorgiAg said:

---

Furlock Bones said:

---

I mean he has run a pretty poor campaign. He's lost all of his momentum from Florida. You can blame it on the MSM. But, my bet is those folks in Iowa that just delivered the biggest primary landslide in history to Trump don't follow much in the way of the MSM.


Honestly, DeSantis for the most part came off as insincere and weak which is ironic because he seemed to be anything but during his time as governor.

---

Historic "Primary landslide" is a joke - incumbents don't have opposition so there is nothing to compare him to.

As a virtual incumbent, the results were pathetic. More Trump/MAGA spin.

---

This. How many times has an essentially incumbent president gotten barely 50% of the primary vote? That shows very weak support.

---

It's Carter level support - 1980, Carter only won 58% of the vote in IA and 51% overall.

---

Carter ran against Ted Kennedy in the primary.

Kennedy was egged on by the press to run against Carter, polls showed he would beat Carter so he jumped in.

Carter beat his ass as predicted.

Don't see a lot of similarities between Carter and Trump, Trump was cheated in 2020, received more votes than any other sitting president and still lost to Biden by 7 million. That is a joke.

Carter had no Covid but he had Iran and that was a mess. Lost to RR.

texagbeliever said:

---

Sounds like the DeSantis camp is getting a small taste of MSM smears. Good practice in the future for how to deal with this.

---

He's dealt with it for years.

It really ramped up as he's pushed agianst Covid over-reach and DEI/ESG in his State.

His record is probably the best of all the candidates in dealing with it.

pagerman @ work said:

---

Furlock Bones said:

---

I mean he has run a pretty poor campaign. He's lost all of his momentum from Florida. You can blame it on the MSM. But, my bet is those folks in Iowa that just delivered the biggest primary landslide in history to Trump don't follow much in the way of the MSM.


Honestly, DeSantis for the most part came off as insincere and weak which is ironic because he seemed to be anything but during his time as governor.

---

Desantis' problem is that he isn't Trump.

The republican nomination process is in no way about policy, or ideas. The cult of personality that is the Trump campaign demands Trump to the exclusion of anyone or anything else.

---

Everyone here talks about Biden - "At least there's no more mean tweets"

But the meanness and the mean tweets are what they love about Trump. DeSantis would crush it on policy and otherwise -- and quietly. But he doesn't give the daily raw red meat that Trump does.

The die hard Trumpers love the meanness most of all. I wonder where Trump learned that the redneck rubes like the spectacle of it all?

Quote:

---

The die hard Trumpers love the meanness most of all.

---

*eye roll*

You voted for a guy that called half the country terrorists without batting an eye.

Maybe sit these threads where you try and condescend to others out.

Furlock Bones said:

---

it also doesn't speak to why DeSantis is faltering so badly. you can discount Trump. i don't care. he's going to be the nominee at this point. but, Hailey has overtaken DeSantis which has only happened because DeSantis has failed to connect with anyone on the campaign trail.

---

Actually, it's quite interesting. DeSantis was the money's early choice. Money likes to buy influence and Trump is not for sale. DeSantis has shown he will fleece lobbyists to the max, so they jumped on board.

But he ran such a horrible campaign, the money to buy influence moved to Haley. Bot, if Trump picks Haley as VP, then what?

It's very interesting to watch the TDS and how they spend their money. Once could write a book about it this election season.

Phatbob said:

---

texagbeliever said:

---

Phatbob said:

---

texagbeliever said:

---

TRM said:

---

There was already the hindsight thread about the campaign.

As far as the title goes, he shouldn't drop out yet. His goal is to get it to a 1 vs 1 matchup. If Haley loses in NH and SC. then there is a slight consolidation opening. He has money to last through Super Tuesday at least. Then he can make the determination of whether to drop out.

He's only getting pressured to drop out because it saves Trump's PAC money that they could use towards his legal expenses. I'm interested to see the PAC's filings in 2 weeks since they haven't had to disclose their expenses the last 6 months.

---

You can't be serious. The MSM is calling on DeSantis to quit his campaign so that Trump can use more PAC money towards his legal defenses. Is Trump really worried about that 6% of vote DeSantis is looking to get in NH?

---

It's been an issue the entire campaign, and one of the stated reasons for the desire for DeSantis to drop out. You can't have a discussion that starts with "DeSantis should drop out" without including the motivation for those who are calling for it.

---

Ah yes the salient conspiracy that MSM, which loathes Trump, is calling on DeSantis to quit his campaign, to help Trump. Wow how stupid of me not to see this.

---

Yes, everyone everywhere that is not Trump is a monolithic entity that is entirely and only against Trump... sorry, I forgot.

---

You didn't address the point that DeSantis is already a dead man walking. At 6% in NH he is no threat to Trump. DeSantis polling odds to win the Republican primary are: +6400. Another words 0% unless Trump dies, becomes very ill or is legally blocked from running. So Trump is already not spending money against DeSantis.

GeorgiAg said:

---

pagerman @ work said:

---

Furlock Bones said:

---

I mean he has run a pretty poor campaign. He's lost all of his momentum from Florida. You can blame it on the MSM. But, my bet is those folks in Iowa that just delivered the biggest primary landslide in history to Trump don't follow much in the way of the MSM.


Honestly, DeSantis for the most part came off as insincere and weak which is ironic because he seemed to be anything but during his time as governor.

---

Desantis' problem is that he isn't Trump.

The republican nomination process is in no way about policy, or ideas. The cult of personality that is the Trump campaign demands Trump to the exclusion of anyone or anything else.

---

Everyone here talks about Biden - "At least there's no more mean tweets"

But the meanness and the mean tweets are what they love about Trump. DeSantis would crush it on policy and otherwise -- and quietly. But he doesn't give the daily raw red meat that Trump does.

The die hard Trumpers love the meanness most of all. I wonder where Trump learned that the redneck rubes like the spectacle of it all?

---

"Owning the libs" on Twitter/X is clearly a big feature for the Trump supporters. There is apparently some notion that it accomplishes something.

Historians will look back on this time period and note how unprepared we were for social media and lament the damage it caused.

pagerman @ work said:

---

GeorgiAg said:

---

pagerman @ work said:

---

Furlock Bones said:

---

I mean he has run a pretty poor campaign. He's lost all of his momentum from Florida. You can blame it on the MSM. But, my bet is those folks in Iowa that just delivered the biggest primary landslide in history to Trump don't follow much in the way of the MSM.


Honestly, DeSantis for the most part came off as insincere and weak which is ironic because he seemed to be anything but during his time as governor.

---

Desantis' problem is that he isn't Trump.

The republican nomination process is in no way about policy, or ideas. The cult of personality that is the Trump campaign demands Trump to the exclusion of anyone or anything else.

---

Everyone here talks about Biden - "At least there's no more mean tweets"

But the meanness and the mean tweets are what they love about Trump. DeSantis would crush it on policy and otherwise -- and quietly. But he doesn't give the daily raw red meat that Trump does.

The die hard Trumpers love the meanness most of all. I wonder where Trump learned that the redneck rubes like the spectacle of it all?

---

"Owning the libs" on Twitter/X is clearly a big feature for the Trump supporters. There is apparently some notion that it accomplishes something.

Historians will look back on this time period and note how unprepared we were for social media and lament the damage it caused.

---

I'm sure your keyboard warrioring on Texags will be seen by history as the noblest and bravest of duties by historians.

YouBet said:

---

Albatross Necklace said:

---

DeSantis wanted to run for President in the worst way possible

So he did

---

I've seen this statement more than once now. What is this supposed to mean?

---

DeSantis is running (or ran) for president in the worst way possible.

texagbeliever said:

---

pagerman @ work said:

---

GeorgiAg said:

---

pagerman @ work said:

---

Furlock Bones said:

---

I mean he has run a pretty poor campaign. He's lost all of his momentum from Florida. You can blame it on the MSM. But, my bet is those folks in Iowa that just delivered the biggest primary landslide in history to Trump don't follow much in the way of the MSM.


Honestly, DeSantis for the most part came off as insincere and weak which is ironic because he seemed to be anything but during his time as governor.

---

Desantis' problem is that he isn't Trump.

The republican nomination process is in no way about policy, or ideas. The cult of personality that is the Trump campaign demands Trump to the exclusion of anyone or anything else.

---

Everyone here talks about Biden - "At least there's no more mean tweets"

But the meanness and the mean tweets are what they love about Trump. DeSantis would crush it on policy and otherwise -- and quietly. But he doesn't give the daily raw red meat that Trump does.

The die hard Trumpers love the meanness most of all. I wonder where Trump learned that the redneck rubes like the spectacle of it all?

---

"Owning the libs" on Twitter/X is clearly a big feature for the Trump supporters. There is apparently some notion that it accomplishes something.

Historians will look back on this time period and note how unprepared we were for social media and lament the damage it caused.

---

I'm sure your keyboard warrioring on Texags will be seen by history as the noblest and bravest of duties by historians.

---

Ooooh you got me…

Mr Mojo Risin said:

---

YouBet said:

---

Albatross Necklace said:

---

DeSantis wanted to run for President in the worst way possible

So he did

---

I've seen this statement more than once now. What is this supposed to mean?

---

DeSantis is running (or ran) for president in the worst way possible.

---

He finished second in Iowa to someone who is basically an incumbent. Hardly the "worst way possible".

J. Walter Weatherman said:

---

Mr Mojo Risin said:

---

YouBet said:

---

Albatross Necklace said:

---

DeSantis wanted to run for President in the worst way possible

So he did

---

I've seen this statement more than once now. What is this supposed to mean?

---

DeSantis is running (or ran) for president in the worst way possible.

---

He finished second in Iowa to someone who is basically an incumbent. Hardly the "worst way possible".

---

I was answering the question posed about the phrase. Not a commentary about his actual performance.

Mr Mojo Risin said:

---

YouBet said:

---

Albatross Necklace said:

---

DeSantis wanted to run for President in the worst way possible

So he did

---

I've seen this statement more than once now. What is this supposed to mean?

---

DeSantis is running (or ran) for president in the worst way possible.

---

It was an impossible task. Go scorched earth on Trump and get destroyed in the primaries. Go soft on Trump and well, you see what happened.

Add in the increased sympathy for Trump with all the lawsuits and the Colorado ballot removal fiasco and it's impossible. Trump's MAGA base is about 20% of the electorate but probably around 40 - 50% of R primary voters. The legal stuff got them to come out in droves.

GeorgiAg said:

---

Mr Mojo Risin said:

---

YouBet said:

---

Albatross Necklace said:

---

DeSantis wanted to run for President in the worst way possible

So he did

---

I've seen this statement more than once now. What is this supposed to mean?

---

DeSantis is running (or ran) for president in the worst way possible.

---

It was an impossible task. Go scorched earth on Trump and get destroyed in the primaries. Go soft on Trump and well, you see what happened.

Add in the increased sympathy for Trump with all the lawsuits and the Colorado ballot removal fiasco and it's impossible. Trump's MAGA base is about 20% of the electorate but probably around 40 - 50% of R primary voters. The legal stuff got them to come out in droves.

---

Again, just answering YouBet's question about the phrase. It's a phrase that reads vaguely like a Steven Wright joke.

we need "not Nikki" to finish second in all these primaries and receive the second-most delegates before the convention. DeSantis needs to stay in.

Some Junkie Cosmonaut said:

---

Quote:

---

The die hard Trumpers love the meanness most of all.

---

*eye roll*

You voted for a guy that called half the country terrorists without batting an eye.

Maybe sit these threads where you try and condescend to others out.

---

Meanwhile the NASCAR/WWF crowd has forced us to vote for Trump again. Trump is better than Biden...but he ain't making America great again. At best Trump might keep us from slipping further left.

Furlock Bones said:

---

you're right on the part of him being young. one problem he will face is staying relevant after this campaign. hopefully he's learned some lessons on how a national campaign is not the same as a state campaign.

---

He will definitely stay relevant. He's still the Governor of Florida and kicking ass there. He's coming out of this with very high favorables and is someone that can raise money for people and draws crowds. He's got his own base of support. He's just not Trump.

The thing is Trump is about to fade and fast. If he loses in November he's done and really done. As much as people like to talk about "he'll run again" there is no way 82 year old Trump is running in '28 after losing 2 elections in a row. If he wins then he has about a year, maybe. After that the focus goes to Midterms with an eye towards '28. That's just the nature of our system and it is very unforgiving to lame ducks, even one as big as Trump.

So then the question is who else is better positioned for a run in '28? Maybe Trump's VP if he wins? Still no lock there at all, that just gives them a head start. The main bench in the GOP are Governors and DeSantis towers over all of them. Reynolds, Abbott, Youngkin, Kemp, Noem, Burgum. All have strengths but all look small compared to DeSantis. No one in Congress stands out, maybe Cruz or JD Vance? I'm still putting my money on DeSantis there. Vivek? Maybe, but he's not as strong as DeSantis either. Don Jr? Lol, no.

Realize that DeSantis is coming out of the first 3 States well liked and with contacts and organization. He is going to be a force if he chooses to provided he doesn't make a major mistake that truly alienates people. Doesn't mean he will be the nominee in '28 of course but I don't know of anyone better positioned than he is either.

I don't think DeSantis will win the nomination, but he should not drop out. Try different things, get different people. and see if he can start making a dent in the current gap between himself and others. Highlight what he has done in Florida and compare and contrast that to what his opponents have or haven't done. He should stay in until someone has enough delegates.

Nikki Haley came in 3rd. She should drop out.