Major DeSantis donor(s) hitting pause

Just getting ahead of the new laws about child sex crimes and reduced number of votes needed for death penalty.

Also of note - as usual, a groomer but not a Drag Queen or Trans!

 

Kent Stermon, Jacksonville Florida political donor, found dead

DeSantis rented condo owned by campaign donor after redistricting

 

Damn, that's the only thing more embarrassing than being exposed as a DeSantis donor

 

Thanks. Very informative. The first article obviously reported him taking his own life and his political prominence, and that he was under criminal investigation for sexual misconduct. In a quick read, I did not see any reference to the fact that the sexual misconduct involved a minor. But I may have missed it.

 

Nothing embarrassing about it. He wasn't gay. Exploiting underage girls is okay in their world

 

Although it's still very early in the process if the trend of endorsements continues it's not good news for Ron DeSanctimonious.
Trump beating DeSantis in Florida endorsement race

 

Former President Donald Trump has clinched the endorsement of three more Florida House members, with GOP Reps. Greg Steube, John Rutherford and Brian Mast backing his 2024 White House run this week.

Trump has now picked off seven members of the Sunshine State's congressional delegation over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to announce a presidential campaign but has been spending time in early primary states.

Before this week, Florida Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, Cory Mills and Byron Donalds had endorsed Trump.

Trump now has backing of SEVEN of Florida's Republican members of Congress | Daily Mail Online

 

When asked about DeSantis, Steube noted that he just got reelected and said he hoped that he would continue “to concentrate” on his job as governor. “I hear from constituents all the time that want him to finish out his term and support President Trump,” Steube said on Newsmax. Steube then even took a bit of a swipe at DeSantis, noting his pending trip to D.C. and South Carolina while the Florida Legislature is in session. “His focus should be in Florida. Floridians want to be focused on Florida. That’s what he signed for his job for reelection to do.”

Trump adds Florida endorsement ahead of DeSantis' D.C. swing

 

Just ask Steube, who told Playbook in a brief interview last night that DeSantis has never once reached out to him during his five years in Congress nor replied to his multiple attempts to connect. He recalled a recent news conference dealing with damage from Hurricane Ian where the governor’s aides initially invited him to stand alongside DeSantis, only to tell him that he wouldn’t be part of the event when he showed up.

Trump, on the other hand, was the first person Steube remembers calling him in the ICU to wish him well after he was injured in a January tree-trimming accident. “To this day I have not heard from Gov. DeSantis,” he said.

Playbook: How Trump ambushed DeSantis in D.C.

Meatball Ron doesn't know how to connect with people.

 

On a group chat of wealthy DeSantis donors, images of which were reviewed by Rolling Stone, participants exploded with alarm last week over the Florida governor’s presidential prospects — and his primary chances against Donald Trump.

“What the fuck is wrong with RD?” one participant wrote after DeSantis did not curtail his out-of-state publicity tour to return home amid massive flooding in the Fort Lauderdale area.

-----

Other donors have begged DeSantis’ close associates to convince the governor to stop being such a “damn wimp” — in the words of one DeSantis donor — with Trump, imploring him to hit back harder against Trump’s attacks, according to two donors to DeSantis.

Ron DeSantis Donor Meltdown Revealed in Private Chats – Rolling Stone

 

Dude is seriously flaming out....brutal comments today in response to a WSJ editorial that tried to be pro Bootsie & anti Trump.

 

Desantis’ problem, whether it’s an “act” or not, is that he chose the Trumpista lane. Going full grievance and culture wars, instead of trying to reclaim traditional chamber of commerce republicans. You can’t out Trumpista the orange god himself.

Desantis could have portrayed himself as a strong conservative who stands up to Trump crazy and promotes positive (but conservative) values. Instead, he “took on” Mickey Mouse, did performative stunts trafficking immigrants, and corrupted the state University System.

 

wow. And he hasn’t yet entered in the knife fight/primaries with trump. Maybe why RD is holding off on announcing his candidacy to get a better idea of his chances.

 

Kevin Drum agrees - Ron DeSantis is losing his chance at the presidency - Kevin Drum

But banning discussion of gender identity completely? Taking over a public university because he didn't like its curriculum? Banning abortion at six weeks? Going to war with Disney as an act of state-sponsored revenge? Claiming that the Federal Reserve is trying to mount an economic coup using digital currency?

Some of these seem like transparent pandering. Some seem like dangerous extremism. Some are flat-out conspiracy theory lunacy. And some, like the Disney war, are scaring the business wing of the Republican Party, which tolerates the GOP's culture war agenda only as long as they're left out of it.

DeSantis is acting like the United States is just an extension of the most conservative parts of Florida. It's not, and DeSantis has put himself into a pickle. He's obviously too weak and insecure to deny anything to the MAGA cesspool, and this is ruining his chances of appealing to anyone else. He needed to appear strong enough to control the MAGA beast, not become its kept man.

I have two thoughts. First, DeSantis may still just be positioning himself if Trump drops out due to legal or claimed medical issues. It is supposedly a strong possibility.

But more significantly, I'm starting to question how many of DeSantis moves are true "pandering", i.e., things he doesn't personally agree with but does just to pander to the extreme right. I believed that for a long time. Now I'm not so sure. The way he acts and speaks, I'm not so sure that he does not really believe some of the transparent craziness and culture war tropes he is advancing. I no longer am sure it is pandering

 

I don't think he's a 'panderer' in the sense that's he's doing things just for immediate political reward or resume building. If people read the stuff he's written, he's long been a certified crank, not some country club Republican going through the motions. The Fed speech was the big give away, he was basically sounding like Ted Cruz and any other crank who's been inhaling right-wing discourse since they were like 20.

 

1 thing Bootsie’s taught me is that you can be too much of a radical commie even for Pubs. Shocking, but true

 

I'm starting to agree. In addition to his philosophical inclinations, I think it's just a guy who major Cartman tendencies about respecting his authority. Cannot seem to accept any type of even light disagreement. He is temperamentally unsuited to lead anything, much less the third-largest state with a supplicant legislature and courts

 

I do think he took the wrong political lessons from Trump, and that 2020 broke his brain a long with many other people's (nationwide racial justice protests spooked the hell out of them). Also, I think the one area he is 100% pandering is the anti-vax/Covid stuff. He totally got vaxxed as soon as he could and initially was Mr. safety on it, which is probably his default inclination. I think he saw an opening to contrast himself with governors of big states like NY or CA, and even other Republican governors in light red/purple states.

 

I think that's right. But he really seems to thinks in a conspiratorial manner, and seems unnecessarily cruel and sadistic

 

He does, but anyone right-wing thinks conspiratorially, its part of the ethos, since they cant do class politics