Unpopular take; Trump is still a stronger R nominee than DeSantis

[Dan the Roman]

Desantis's GE strength is overhyped by his fans, but that is the case with every candidate. It is also inflated in some hypothetical polling where he functions as that mythical entity "generic" which can be whatever anyone wants it to be, and most importantly not Trump.

He does have some flaws

1. Height
2. Sunbelt - Florida is not a branding asset to people who do not move there in large parts of the country. It is where their annoying neighbors moved and won't shut up about it. DeSantis has branded himself as the perfect Florida  candidate, but that involves having a superiority complex v. the rest of the country in the same way being a MA/CA Democrat does. The Dukakis comparison above is relevant but not entirely in the way it appears. It is less about charisma than it is that DeSantis' brand is he ran a "laboratory of conservatism" and in the process of selling it as a success he is de facto telling everyone Floridians are better than they are.
3. "Charisma" is less of an issue than manner. He comes across as angry and pugnacious. Major risk here is it being associated with weakness. He would be well advised to watch the Ryan/Biden debates to see how that can be made to come off as insecurity.

However

1. He has probably the best 21st century media operation in history. The best on the planet. An A+ operation can make up for a B- product
2. Trump is also now a Florida resident
3. Trump is also a loser

If this was between Donald Trump circa 2015 and DeSantis this thread might have a point. A NYC businessman tired of Democratic BS with close ties to every ethnic group? Would clobber a sunbelt promoter. But the problem is Donald Trump by moving to Florida, and losing has forfeited every one of his possible advantages. So he is left only with disadvantages.

Republicans who think DeSantis = 400 EV, 60 Senate seats and a thousand year reich are delusional. But this take doesn't stand up to minimal scrutiny.