Ron DeSantis is imploding

| 9:09 am EDT August 11, 2021
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is so committed to his belief that pandering to Trump’s base is the best way to keep his political fortunes afloat, he’s trying to enforce a statewide ban on school mask mandates, even though 62% of Floridians disagree with him. This is going so poorly for him that his already-unimpressive poll numbers are dropping, and multiple major school boards are openly rebelling against him.

Yet even as DeSantis flounders like this, there are still a number of liberal media pundits pushing the narrative that by putting kids’ lives at risk, DeSantis is somehow setting himself up for a 2024 presidential run. To be frank, this is one of the silliest narratives in recent memory.

By continuing to double down on his idiotic anti-mask stance, DeSantis is making himself less popular in Florida and nationwide. By trying to bully school districts, only for them to turn around and thumb their noses at him, DeSantis is painting himself as an ineffective punchline. Yes, he’s pleasing the minority of voters who are on his side on this issue, but those are the people who are already going to vote for him anyway.

Ron DeSantis is making the exact same kinds of mistakes that Donald Trump made. Once in office, Trump continued pandering solely to his too-small base, while actively alienating everyone else, instead of understanding that incumbents have to work to broaden their support in order to overcome inevitable base burnout. Now DeSantis is employing the same stupid strategy in Florida, with the same ugly results. DeSantis is now losing his reelection bid for Governor in one recent poll – and the way this is going, his numbers should continue getting uglier.

There’s no need to pretend that Ron DeSantis’ evil deeds are part of some secret evil genius strategy that’s going to magically propel him to the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. It’s okay to acknowledge the fact that DeSantis is an idiot, in over his head, who’s in the process of screwing himself on a state and national level.

It’ll still take work to defeat DeSantis in Florida in 2022, because defeating anyone in a close election always takes work. But pretending that DeSantis is on some secret evil genius glide path to success? That’s just an excuse to give up and not have to put in the work required to defeat him. DeSantis is now stupidly doing everything he can to derail his career. It’s time for us to seize the opportunity and help DeSantis finish himself off.