That's what I kept hearing last year when Trump won the primary.

Probably double.

Dude would have lost.

The most uninspiring candidate ever.

He would be literally Hitler, too.

Hopefully DeSantis is given a seat on the cabinet and America can get to know him better.

I think DeSantis would have won, but it would have been tighter. I don't think he would have brought in RFK and that was I think the key for election. Yes Musk and Gabbard and Vivek expand the tent, but the RFK piece really changed the game.

Well almost the entire Harris campaign was based on Trump is bad, Trump is hitler, Trump hates democracy, Trump loves Putin, etc. All of that goes away.

So what's the strategy for the Dems? Make Harris talk more about policy?

With such a weak candidate, it's a wonder that Trump didn't win by even more. There's certainly an element of people who voted against him not because of policy because they simply didn't like him as a person.

DeSantis represents the person who espouses a lot of the same policy but is much more likable.

halfastros81 said:

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I am a Desantis man but it doesn't matter. He wasn't on the POTUS ballot.

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Same

I'd rather he stay in Florida. Look at all of the good he's done there. And on a national level, not sure he would appeal to the working class average Joe that Trump did, which carried him across in PA, WI, and MI. that's where I think Vance will be so important in year to come with his backstory and being from that region.

aezmvp said:

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I think DeSantis would have won, but it would have been tighter. I don't think he would have brought in RFK and that was I think the key for election. Yes Musk and Gabbard and Vivek expand the tent, but the RFK piece really changed the game.

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Agreed. Flipped the independent vote by a lot

I think he would have won similarly.

Kamala was the literal definition of an empty suit. Maybe he would have lost a few votes because he's not an 'electric' personality, but he would have gained some because he's not Trump.

I think he's the type of candidate to do real well, when he's the focus, and can explain his platform. He's level-headed, explains things well, and has a track record to fall back on. When he was one of multiple potential nominees, he struggled to get his voice heard (especially with the vacuum Trump's personality created)

I love DeSantis and voted for Trump. Conservatives need to be united now but still recognize the goodness and leadership that young guys like DeSantis, Vance, Vivek etc bring to the party instead of spiking the ball.

Ahhh yes. Pwned the libs and now to the GOP infighting! Want to see a super majority pissed away again? This is how you do it.

It's ok, trump got the job done, and it's his last term. The door is open for someone more conservative in 2028

HumbleAg04 said:

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Ahhh yes. Pwned the libs and now to the GOP infighting! Want to see a super majority pissed away again? This is how you do it.

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None of us have anything to do with what the supermajority does.

I'm hoping between DeSantis and Vance and Trump's 4 years, we have the next 20 years.

You DSL boys said, "oh don't vote Trump. The Dems want him because he'll be so easy for Biden to beat!" Ha ha ha ha

DeSantis would have been demonized and would not have the Trump charisma to overcome it. He'd make up with that by arguing policy differences. However, electorate is too stupid and arguing policy would require an honest media that would not vilify everything DeSantis proposed as "Project 2025."

I was DeSantis primary voter. But I misjudged how ugly the campaign would become. I think the R primary voters were correct in selecting Trump. The R electorate is also very stupid but lawfare pushed everyone to Trump over DeSantis.

Ryan the Temp said:

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When he was still running in the primary I said he'd blow out Biden like Reagan v. Mondale. Desantis v. Harris probably would have been similar.

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I still firmly believe that as well.

Regardless, she lost, and that's all that matters to me.

Now to see if DeSantis will run again next time. It'll be one hell of a race with him AND Vance going back and forth.

sanangelo said:

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DeSantis would have been demonized and would not have the Trump charisma to overcome it. He'd make up with that by arguing policy differences. However, electorate is too stupid and arguing policy would require an honest media that would not vilify everything DeSantis proposed as "Project 2025."

I was DeSantis primary voter. But I misjudged how ugly the campaign would become. I think the R primary voters were correct in selecting Trump. The R electorate is also very stupid but lawfare pushed everyone to Trump over DeSantis.

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Agree with this

I think it would've been closer because as good as DeSantis is, he wouldn't have had the full support Trump did.

Or if possible, it would've been more because so many people are polarized by Trump, we will never know

That said, DeSantis isn't going anywhere. He still has a huge future whether he stays in Florida or goes national.

And Trump won. Who really cares what would've happened?

Just enjoy the hell out of it.

Ryan the Temp said:

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When he was still running in the primary I said he'd blow out Biden like Reagan v. Mondale. Desantis v. Harris probably would have been similar.

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I don't think he would've blown it out. I think it would've been closer. For the reasons I stated above.

DeSantis is a good legislator, and hopefully someday will make a good president, but he does not have the charisma that many others in the Republican Party do, especially Trump. Sorry but he doesn't.

After the last three years, we had to have something truly dynamic. And that was Trump.

Unlike the Dems, Republicans had a primary with many good options. Trump won and every got behind him.

Troll harder.

Quote:

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How Big would Desantis have Won by?

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Irrelevant

halfastros81 said:

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I am a Desantis man but it doesn't matter. He wasn't on the POTUS ballot.

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This.

I think Desantis would have done well in the general, but it was obvious from the start that maga wasn't going to let anyone but Trump through. Trump wasn't my car of choice but it was the only ride we had.

what's the point. Time to unite and part of that is thinking about what happens after Trump. Maybe that will be DeSantis time.

If the circumstances were the same with getting shot then targeted, Elon, JRE, and all the other big endorsements, then Desantis likely wins with similar margin.

Well Trump appears to have swept the winnable swing states and I don't see any of the blue states flipping to red just because Desantis was on the ballet. So the absolute best he would have done is break even in EV and maybe have a slightly bigger PV win.

I'm a Desantis supporter with some amount of experience with political data analytics.

I can honestly admit. I don't really know, but I'm hopeful that Desantis and Florida are used as a model for the GOP. Because no matter what you think of DeSantis vs Trump. Desantis and the GOP of Florida have outperformed Trump and all their GOP counterparts across the country in every conceivable way on both governance and voter coalition building in 2018-2024. They are on an incredible run.

And all of this matters over the next 6 years. Florida and Texas are set to gain the most from the 2030 census. They will be gaining congressional seats and EC votes, while CA and NY lose seats and votes. Same goes for some other solid red states. The GOP needs to be held to the fire on excellence in state governance and voter coalition building. And the GOP at the federal level can't screw it up either. Because they will impact how the party is perceived at the state level.

There is a lot to be gained over the next four years but also a lot to be lost if the GOP can't stop fighting with each other and start becoming good policymakers and leaders fighting for a government and economy that allows Americans to flourish on their own.

policywonk98 said:

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I'm a Desantis supporter with some amount of experience with political data analytics.

I can honestly admit. I don't really know, but I'm hopeful that Desantis and Florida are used as a model for the GOP. Because no matter what you think of DeSantis vs Trump. Desantis and the GOP of Florida have outperformed Trump and all their GOP counterparts across the country in every conceivable way on both governance and voter coalition building in 2018-2024. They are on an incredible run.

And all of this matters over the next 6 years. Florida and Texas are set to gain the most from the 2030 census. They will be gaining congressional seats and EC votes, while CA and NY lose seats and votes. Same goes for some other solid red states. The GOP needs to be held to the fire on excellence in state governance and voter coalition building. And the GOP at the federal level can't screw it up either. Because they will impact how the party is perceived at the state level.

There is a lot to be gained over the next four years but also a lot to be lost if the GOP can't stop fighting with each other and start becoming good policymakers and leaders fighting for a government and economy that allows Americans to flourish on their own.

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Unanswerable question because:
a - Biden might have still been in the race
b - DeSantis didn't inspire the vitriol that Trump did. I think the extra-crazy attacks from the left swayed a lot of voters.

I already said the night would have been even shorter if DeSantis was the nominee and still stand by that. But it doesn't really matter now and we'll never really know if I'm right.

I'm just very thankful Trump won.