ANDREW SULLIVAN: THE SKEPTIC’S CASE FOR RON DESANTIS. At Hot Air, John Sexton writes:
Andrew Sullivan doesn’t exactly sound eager to support Gov. DeSantis’ possible bid for the White House in 2024, but he does tick through the arguments against him and suggests that given a choice between what we have now and a return of Donald Trump, DeSantis may in fact be the best choice.
So get real: If you really believe that Trump remains a unique threat to constitutional democracy in America, you need to consider the possibility that, at this point, a Republican is probably your best bet.
One stands out, and it’s Ron DeSantis, the popular governor of Florida. And yet so many Never Trumpers, right and left, have instantly become Never DeSanters, calling him a terrifyingly competent clone of the thug with the bad hair. He’s “Trump 2.0” but even “more dangerous than Trump,” says Dean Obeidallah. “He’s dangerous because he is equally repressive, but doesn’t have the baggage of Trump,” argues a fascism scholar.
“DeSantis has decided to try to outflank Trump, to out-Trump Trump,” worries Michael Tomasky. He’s a clone of Viktor Orbán, says Vox, and on some issues, “DeSantis has actually outstripped Orbán.”Then there’s Max Boot: “Just because DeSantis is smarter than Trump doesn’t mean that he is any less dangerous. In fact, he might be an even bigger threat for that very reason.”…
I don’t really have a solid grasp of his core character, and I have to remain a skeptic on this, but his steadfastness and independence of mind under Covid was encouraging. He served his country in Iraq. He works hard. He is a devoted family man. In all this, he is not just not-Trump. He is his opposite…
DeSantis sure isn’t my dream candidate. But the currently viable alternative — we must always remember — is a nightmare.
Personally I was never a never Trumper. In fact, I voted for him but I won’t be voting for him again. I won’t go into my reasons except for this one: He’s too damn old to run again. Yes, I know he’s not Joe Biden but in two years he’ll be 78-years-old, which means if he won he’d be 82 in his final year in office. No one knows what that would look like and I don’t think the GOP should make the same mistake the Democrats made with Biden, especially when there’s a candidate who is currently 43 years old and who lacks all of Trump’s considerable baggage.
If DeSantis is the GOP front-runner in 2024, it will be fun to read Andrew’s reason for bailing on him:
● “Kerry may be the right man — and the conservative choice — for a difficult and perilous time.”
—Sullivan in the London Sunday Times, July 25th, 2004.
● Goodbye to All That: Why Obama Matters.
—Sullivan in the Atlantic, December 1st, 2007.
● The Conservative Case For Obama – Again.
—Sullivan on his Daily Dish blog, July 30th, 2012.
● Andrew Sullivan slams Clinton even as he intends to vote for her, his first vote as a citizen.
—The Daily Kos, October 25th, 2016.
● Healing From The Center Out: Joe Biden, a president for all Americans, period.
—Sullivan on his Weekly Dish Substack, October 30th, 2020.