Today has pretty much convinced me that Ron DeSantis could never beat Donald Trump or fully garner the support of Trump's followers. And the reason is very simple.
Thread:
Donald Trump is a leader. Ron DeSantis is not.
You might not like what Trump does with his leadership...
abilities and positions. You might not like what he inspires or brings out in his followers. But it's very clear that Trump leads. He doesn't care what his followers think or want to hear. He says what he thinks, and people who like him respect that enough, even when they...
disagree (which, yes, happens; but Trump followers don't care because they don't want Trump obedient to them).
DeSantis can't even correct basic information––that he knows is false and damaging––stated in front of him.
Ron DeSantis is scared of his fans. Donald Trump is not.
People realize this and respect it. You might think Trump voters are dumb, but they're not. They just know what they want and what they like. And they like how Trump leads. DeSantis can't lead, and that means he can never fully capture the energy Trump found.
Now, in a national
race and environment without Donald Trump, could DeSantis win an election? Sure. Could he be President? Sure. But it won't come from him replacing or moving on from Trump. If it happens, it will come because enough voters view him as not as bad as the alternatives.
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Whoa! Huge surprise in Iowa's legislative special. 75% of the vote reported (including absentees, I believe), and Andrea Phillips (D) has a 300-vote lead. She got apparently got massive election day support today relative to her 2020 E-Day numbers.
I don't know which precincts haven't yet been counted, so this still could be a relatively easy gap for Bousselot (R) to overcome. Or it could be very difficult. But it's a lot closer than I ever expected it to be after 8,700 votes were counted.
The next precinct came in, and Bousselot (R) now has a 57-vote lead.
Republicans won this seat by 6% in the 2020 general.