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The Ron DeSantis wind-up doll is about to walk into a right-wing wall [1]

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Date: 2023-03-15

As observed this week by The New York Times’ Reid J. Epstein and Maggie Haberman, the Republican political landscape is littered with the bodies of formerly viable candidates who have fallen victim to the Wrath of Trump. No longer do we hear the plaintive speeches of Jeb Bush promising a softer, genteel facade for conservatism’s lethal aims; no longer are we troubled by the wonky, opportunistic aspirations of Marco Rubio, the original “Tea Party” senator; nor are we beset by the strange and improbable presidential fantasies of Texas’ Ted Cruz. All of these putative “contenders” to the GOP throne in 2016 have slunk off into their little sinecures, each one resigned to the fact that their dreams of power will remain forever dashed as long as their orange-hued nemesis continues to walk the earth.

This has nothing to do with their personal platforms or pet policies. They all offered Americans only slightly varied shades of the same tasteless right-wing pablum. But they quickly found that their policies didn’t matter to a Republican base far more eager for entertainment and the stimulating prospect of bread and circuses than actual governance. And in terms of entertainment, Donald Trump’s performances were untouchable. Trump dispatched these so-called establishment Republicans with almost no effort, singeing their hides and forcing them into that shadow realm where failed Republican presidential hopefuls pine away the rest of their days, dreaming of what might have been.

Which is why the media’s breathless endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as someone who might conceivably challenge Trump’s hegemony rings weirdly hollow. Pundits point to DeSantis’ ability to ape Trump’s performative cruelty, as if that could possibly distinguish DeSantis from the pack of also-rans in 2016. What they don’t seem to understand is that it’s not only Trump’s cruelty and channeling of hate and racism that his followers admire. It’s his ability to constantly surprise, his unpredictability, and the fact that his entire personality seems to be guided by whims effortlessly plucked out of the air.

If former Trump supporters claim to like DeSantis, it’s only because in their heart of hearts they want a front-row seat to watch Trump destroy him. And Trump is going to oblige them.

RELATED STORY: Team Trump is readying a barrage of attacks on DeSantis

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/15/2157914/-The-right-wing-s-Ron-DeSantis-wind-up-doll-is-about-to-walk-into-a-wall

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