The California governor has been trying to get his Florida Republican counterpart to engage. On Wednesday, he got it.

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[–] 36 points 3 years ago (13 children)

I mean this in the least condescending way possible, but you don't understand how American politics works.

The absolute best scenario for Democrats is for the Republicans to split their ticket between Trump and DeSantis - or anyone else, but there doesn't seem to be anyone else thus far with his pull on the national stage.

It'll be Clinton-Bush-Perot but in reverse.

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  • [+] 10 points 3 years ago (6 children)
  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (5 children)

    Isn't that the most significant part of trump's personality, too? Trump just also has the indictments and history of losing.

    Personally, my parents are lifetime Republicans and are looking to vote for anyone that's not Trump, because they see him as a distraction that is hard to portray as "better than the libs," especially since they are nominally Christian.

    So I think there's a decent chance of DeSantis pulling at least a 5-10% of conservatives away from Trump.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    DeSantis stealing Trump votes requires him to run as an independent. If he loses the primary and doesn't go independent, all those votes just go back to Trump. I haven't heard anything about an independent run from him, but I might have just missed something.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago* (1 child)

    I don't know if DeSantis would run as an independent, but I do know that my parents would vote for him if he did, especially since they live in CA where they're convinced their views in presidential elections don't make a bit of difference. I absolutely guarantee that Trump would run as an independent if he doesn't get the nomination, since admitting defeat gracefully is not something he is able to do.

    Plus, we just need more people thinking DeSantis has a chance before the primaries and the situation for the RNC gets even more muddled

    Edit: plus, Republicans getting upset or ambivalent about the nominee is a sure way to depress voter turnout, so the more infighting, the better for Democrats, even if DeSantis doesn't run as an independent

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    Definitely. I was hoping that DeSantis would just barely sneak by Trump in the primaries so Trump would have to run independent, and spoil the vote. It was extreme wishful thinking, but we all gotta dream, right?

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    How would Republicans split the ticket? Are you assuming one would run as independent after the primary?

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago

    Yeah I don't buy it - if trump was the runner up, I could totally see him running as an independent, but I don't see it for DeSantis, and even if he tried, I don't think he has the base anymore to actually pull it off.

    You need the kind of blind adoration that Trump (for some reason) has in his following to make a 3rd party bid remotely feasible, DeSantis just doesn't inspire that in people.

    Out best hope for a split conservative base was DeSantis winning the primaries and Trump switching to independent (because he's absolutely stubborn and prideful enough to do it), I don't see it happening the other way around

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