Well, Monday night kind of sucked. It super sucked. That’s the thing about politics – sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. While my candidate, Ron DeSantis, did come in second and beat 2004’s favorite daughter, Nikki Haley, which was nice, he came in a pretty distant second. I’d like to see a path for him to win the nomination. That would make me happy. He’s a very talented guy who doesn’t have a lot of the problems that Donald Trump has, such as the fact that about 53% of the voters irrationally hate former prezzy. But my party seems to be going in another direction. I don’t see a path for Ron DeSantis to win. New Hampshire’s primary voter roll is full of Democrats and suburban wine women. South Carolina loves Trump. What’s the state after that where he’s going to not just come back, but come back like a tsunami? I just don’t see it, and it doesn’t make me happy to say it. But I have to say what I think. And I think Iowa has made clear that the base is intent on riding Donald J. Trump all the way to the finish line.
So be it.
Should DeSantis get out now? Vivek Ramaswamy did and lavishly endorsed the winner who was dissing him hard last week. His voters are all going to go over to Donald Trump because when Mini Me quits, his supporters go to Dr. Evil, not to Austin Powers. The governor and his people may see a path that I don’t see, but if they don’t see a viable one, he should cut his losses. I know that if he’s in front of me on a ballot and has not dropped out, I’m voting for him. I’m first in line for DeSantis 2028. But real talk – Donald Trump is the prohibitive favorite right now. I would love to see the upset of the century. I don’t think I will. I think this is all going to be a done deal after Super Tuesday. I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before. But the facts are looking like it’s going to be DJT 2.0 vs. Crusty 2.0 again. DeSantis is a smart guy. If he can’t win, the smart play is to punch out and endorse Trump (and bank his remaining cash for next time).
There are people who think Ron DeSantis should not have run in 2024. That’s ridiculous. This was his time. If he didn’t run, he’d be labeled a coward or worse, Chris Christie – a guy who didn’t take his shot when his shot was there to be taken. In retrospect, it seems like Ron DeSantis was destined not to win it this time because the Republican voter base is just not ready to move on from Donald Trump. That’s their right. They are adults, well, most of them. I think they’re wrong, but they think they’re right, and they’re doing what they want. That’s the way it should be.
For all those who are saying that Ron DeSantis ran a terrible campaign, that’s not so. What was the One Neat Trick RDS could have pulled off that would have made people leave Trump? Say meaner things about him? Wonk it up 72%? Smile more? His campaign, like every other campaign ever, made some mistakes. None changed the essential fact – the voters are still for Trump. Ron DeSantis could not have run a different campaign than the one he did, stressing competency and electability, and he ran the one he did technically and tactically proficiently even if, in the end, it hasn’t worked out. DeSantis is in the same lane as Donald Trump for America First policy. If either one of them wins, you are generally going to get the same kind of policies, though DeSantis would be slightly more conservative and probably execute them more smoothly and without a lot of distractions like tweeting that someone is a “horseface.”
When you’re in the same lane, you have to distinguish yourself somehow, and the only real way for DeSantis to do it is electability. He made the case, and people shrugged. The voters chose to stick it to the man over electability. In retrospect, it’s pretty clear that Trump had this nailed down the moment he got indicted by that ridiculous clown – wait, I have to be more specific. That clown in New York. Wait, I have to be even more specific – Alvin Bragg, though the other civil and criminal lawfare against him has only reinforced his support. The voters rally to Trump because they felt, rightly or wrongly, that failing to support Trump is somehow validating this disgusting and disgraceful lawfare, a constitutional abomination that could very well wreck our country. That’s not an insane rationale. It’s more emotional than I like, but you know how many votes I get? I get one. Everybody else gets their one vote, too. And now that the votes have finally started being counted, it seems I’m outvoted.
As for Nikki Haley, she should not drop out because I like watching her lose. She’s going to be Trump’s VP pick (for reason I set out here), so it’s not like she’s going away. She’s no hope beyond being the GOP’s less interesting Selina Meyer. Now it’s a one-on-one fight, the 2024 candidate vs. the 2004 candidate, and may the best man win. Man, because the best isn’t Grrrl Pwwwr Nikki.
I expect this is all going to wrap up in the next six to eight weeks. That’s when the unity starts, not now. Now we play this out. You don’t have unity primaries. That defeats the purpose of primaries. The purpose of primaries is to put various candidates out there and ask the voters which one they want. Their decision in Iowa was pretty clear, though I don’t know if an effective incumbent getting only 51% of the vote is anything to cheer about.
Regardless, I’m going to vote for whoever the nominee is. Now, there are lots of people mad out there because Donald Trump and his supporters were mean to them, and there are lots of people mad because Ron DeSantis and his supporters were mean to them. A lot of people were mean to me. I don’t care. I am completely indifferent to what @FatMagaDeadbeatDad69 thinks or says about me. It is utterly irrelevant to the single objective that I have, which is putting a Republican back in the White House in 2024.
Nothing else matters. I just want the Republican to win in November, and if some silly and annoying people are happy, I don’t care. My advice is to stop caring about such things. Stop caring that people were mean to you during a primary. Stop caring about imperfections. Stop caring that the candidate is not a dude you would choose to be friends with in the real world. Stop caring that the media shafted you. Care about one thing. Care about the United States of America because Joe Biden and his coterie of communist cadre are going to wreck it. He’s going to ruin our country. This is serious stuff. And if you’re in some sort of snit because the other candidate and the people who liked him were mean to you, here’s my advice. Get over it. Do your duty. Elect the Republican, whoever it is.
Though I think it’s pretty clear who it’s going to be. *Sigh*
Look, we need your help to keep up the fight by joining Townhall VIP right now. You get access to a bunch of great stuff, not the least of which is my extra Wednesday column, the weekly Stream of Kurtiousness videos every Friday, my Unredacted podcast every Monday, my VIP members-only direct email address, and more! Join now! Use promo code SAVEAMERICA for 50% off membership.
Follow Kurt on Twitter @KurtSchlichter. Get the newest volume in the Kelly Turnbull People’s Republic series of conservative action novels set in America after a notional national divorce, the bestselling Amazon #1 Military Thriller, Overlord! And get his new novel of terrorism in America, The Attack!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member