Ron DeSantis: The ‘Right’ Career Politician?

Ron DeSantis: The ‘Right’ Career Politician?

Just how ugly will this Republican presidential primary get?

Javier Manjarres
Javier Manjarres
|
May 22, 2023

On the eve of his 2024 presidential announcement, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continues to be labeled a “RINO,” a “Globalist,” and even a “career politician.”

Now, considering that most of the labeling and name-calling is coming from fringy and anonymous Twitter handles that appear to support former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and by Leftists who have also compared Gov. DeSantis to Adolf Hitler, the name-calling should be taken with a grain of salt.

To be fair, President Trump was the first individual to go after DeSantis, labeling him “Ron DeSanctimonious” and questioning his loyalty for even considering challenging him in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race.,

No sooner than President Trump began his nonstop “Ron DeSanctimonious” campaign, Alex Bruesewitz, who is arguably Trump’s biggest online cheerleader and attack dog, began the heavy lift of dogging DeSantis at every turn, on every issue, and ridiculing him on the cowboy boots he wears, quirks, and has now referred to him as a “career politician.”

“He’s a career politician who is beholden to this donors and the ruling class,” stated Bruesewitz.

Bruesewitz, who has also posted very questionable Twitter jabs against former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis and former Trump supporter and now DeSantis “influencer” John Cardillo, is not wrong when he calls DeSantis a “career politician.”

Since first running for elected office, DeSantis has railed against big government, The Swamp, and all the career politicians who make the very DC Swamp he and President Trump detest and have campaigned against.

In addition, DeSantis has always been in support of term limits for Congress, and even refused to take a congressional pension and accept government-funded Obamacare healthcare.

But in looking at his career, it is hard not to say that DeSantis is the poster child for a typical “career politician” who has always looked ahead to the next rung on the political ladder to climb.

Let’s break down DeSantis’s career in politics.

DeSantis’s political career started in 2011 when he first decided to run for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Having won his 2012 House race and reelection in 2014, DeSantis, who co-founded the House Freedom Caucus, decided to run the the U.S. Senate when Senator Marco Rubio ran for President in 2016.

DeSantis and the other few Senatorial candidates, former Senator George LeMieux, Adam Hasner, and Carlos Lopez-Cantera, where all down in the polls against Democratic senatorial candidate  Rep. Patrick Murphy (D).

It wasn't looking good for Republicans.

Sen. Marco Rubio
Sen. Marco Rubio

After Sen. Rubio lost to Trump in the presidential primary, he decided run for re-election to the U.S. Senate after being asked to do so by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

As I sat waiting to get four new tires mounted on my SUV, on the Monday before he announced his reelection run, Sen. Rubio called to tell me that he had to do it because he and members of the Senate believed that no one, including DeSantis, could beat then-Rep. Murphy.

All of the Republican candidates, DeSantis included, dropped out of the Senate race to accommodate Sen. Rubio's Senate run.

DeSantis then announced his House reelection campaign.

He won his primary race and the eventual general election.

At this point, DeSantis was sitting on the career politician, consummate candidate fence.

Fast forward less than a year later, and DeSantis was mulling over another run for office, this time he was eyeing a statewide seat in Florida.

No, he wasn’t fixed on running for Governor.

For awhile, DeSantis tinkered with the idea of running for Attorney General.

Eventually, he decided to run for Governor and not AG, which turned out to be the right move for him, and for Floridians.

It goes without saying that DeSantis barely won the general election. It’s no secret that if it wasn’t for Trump, DeSantis would not have been governor.

I disagree with Trump that DeSantis would have been working at some law firm or pizza restaurant.

DeSantis probably would have looked for another congressional seat to run in, or positioned himself for an appointment within the Trump administration.

That’s my take.

Gov. Ron DeSantis
Gov. Ron DeSantis

DeSantis’s 2020 reelection as governor was all him. He crushed it, but no less than 7 months after winning a second term as Governor of Florida, he is now running for President of the United States.

Here is the itemization of DeSantis's  political career:

2012 U.S. House of Representatives (Won)

2014 U.S. House of Representatives (Won)

2016 Aborted U.S. Senate run

2016 U.S. House of Representatives (Won)

2018 Governor of Florida (Won)

2022 Governor of Florida (Won)

2024 President of United States (?)

Does running for elected  office (7) times in 12 years make DeSantis a career politician? If it does, that could be OK with many Republican voters, especially those living in Florida.

But while he and Trump, and just about every single voting American detest career politicians, is DeSantis the kind of career politician everyday people will find palatable, likeable, and willing to make an exception for?

The answer is probably ‘Yes.’

Can Ron DeSantis Win the Presidency?

The answer is maybe.

Big “D” as his father calls him checks off all the boxes for Republican voters.

He’s has the beautiful and smart wife who with a little help from a nanny, holds down the fort and controls three little rugrats in Tallahassee.

Raising three little kiddos is a heavy lift. Tell me about it. All my kids are very close in age to DeSantis’s kids.

I have four, he has three.

DeSantis’s policies for Florida and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic have helped him ascend to be “America’s Governor.”

If it wasn’t for Trump being in the race, DeSantis would be the frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential race, but then you would have the likes of Sens. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, Josh Hawley, and others in the race instead.

Also, it’s important to remember that if it wasn’t for Trump, DeSantis would not be in running for president.

Trump is responsible for the “Trump fatigue” that has permeated within the Republican ranks across the country.

Still, like Trump, DeSantis is considered his own worse enemy.

Former staffers and campaign workers, and current supporters and donors,  have alleged that DeSantis has a very dry, distant, dismissive, and disloyal personality.

Republicans, and many DeSantis supporters, including the aforementioned John Cardillo, have made the case that Trump is his own worst enemy, and because of his loose lips and spirited personality and demeanor, he has alienated thousands of Independent and Republican voters.

Cardillo and company do not believe Trump can win the general election , and are now calling the former president a “RINO” Republican presidential candidate.

Team DeSantis has enlisted a group of mainly Florida-based "influencers" put together by former press secretary Christina Pushaw, and while they can be seen clam0ring on to DeSantis at both campaign and official events across the state, their main focus appears to be that of trying to dismiss Trump's massive leads in just about every single national public opinion poll.

Trump also has a handful of influencers that have been countering Team DeSantis, including veteran Republican strategist Roger Stone, the aforementioned Bruesewitz, and conservative journalist and activist, Laura Loomer.

Loomer, who blames DeSantis for her congressional loss in 2022, has been nothing less than brutal to DeSantis.

"Election interference via Big Tech, the UniParty, and our crooked law enforcement agencies is the 2024 playbook for stealing the election. Why do you think the Deep State loves DeSantis so much? He was once a federal prosecutor. He’s one of them," stated Loomer.

President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump

Can President Trump Win the Presidency?

The answer is also, maybe.

Trump, who is running for reelection  for the second time to the office he once held, has an advantage over DeSantis because he commands the MAGA base of the Republican Party.

As we stated, all of the public opinion polls show Trump crushing DeSantis, and the 30-35% of the hardcore, MAGA faction of Republican voters will come out to support the former President.

Trump can point to his past economic and foreign policies to make his case for reelection. Just like DeSantis did for Florida, Trump did for the entire U.S.

There lies one of the biggest differences between the two men, because there isn’t much daylight between Trump and DeSantis when it comes to policy.

Both men are hawkish to protect U.S. sovereignty, and against injecting the nation into needless wars and potential foreign affairs disasters that past presidents could not avoid.

Oh, and that Durham report that all but vindicates Trump, fuels the growing belief throughout the Republican voting base that Trump was right all along, and that he has been the target of a Democratic Party and "Deep State" influenced "witchhunt" against him.

Show me the Money

Contrary to what most people believe, Trump is not self-funding his presidential campaign, nor is DeSantis.

Both men are receiving campaign donations from individual donors across the country, with DeSantis locking up huge support from millionaires and billionaires who appear to have been affected by "Trump fatigue."

Much like Trump is pouncing DeSantis in the polls, DeSantis is way ahead of the former president in fundraising. Way ahead.

Both Trump and DeSantis have raised millions of dollars from special interest groups since they began their political careers. In DeSantis's case, the question can be asked," What special interest group hasn't donated to DeSantis over the years?"

Team Trump is already hitting DeSantis on his donor base, hence the narrative that he is "beholden" to his donors and is a "globalist" for taking big money from whomever, or whatever special interest, is. cutting the check.

Again, DeSantis is days away from announcing his run, and the bitter civil war between waring Republican factions has hit an ugly fever pitch.

Can it get any worse?

Oh, yeah.

This will be the ugliest and most brutal Republican presidential primary races in recent history.

Will the Republican Party recover from this civil war, or will it continue to sink into the "culture of losing" as DeSantis recently stated.

“I think the party has developed a culture of losing. I think that there's no accountability, and I think in Florida we really showed what it takes to not just win, win big, and then deliver big."—Gov. Ron DeSantis.

President Donald Trump appears to hold the advantage in this race, but because this is American politics, let's see how this all plays out.

Remember what happened with former Sen. John McCain during the 2008 GOP presidential primary race?

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Javier Manjarres

Javier Manjarres

Javier Manjarres is a nationally renowned award-winning political journalist and Publisher of Floridianpress.com, Hispolitica.com, shark-tank.com, and Texaspolitics.com He enjoys traveling, playing soccer, mixed martial arts, weight-lifting, swimming, and biking. Javier is also a political consultant and has also authored "BROWN PEOPLE," which is a book about Hispanic Politics. Follow on Twitter: @JavManjarres Email him at Diversenewmedia@gmail.com

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