I'm not sure why people think the same college+ whites in the suburbs who were turned off by Trump wouldn't be completely turned off by DeSantis as well?
Because DeSantis is smarter, saner and has a much cleaner personal life?
How many people did Trump actually turn off that way?
Exactly. DeSantis is toxic to the suburbs/college+ whites in the same way Trump was - how they act. DeSantis is a buffoon, and also just a jerk. Trump's messy personal life was just one more thing on top of everything else, but it wasn't really the catalyst for why he was so toxic in the suburbs and to college+ whites.
He's a jerk because he called out the media for a blatant character assassination attempt?
Frankly, I believe the media are the most destructive force in our country today. Anyone who stands up to them gets points from me.
DeSantis is literally a 'own the libs' meme come to life. He doesn't do anything to better the lives of his constituents, it's all culture war stuff and him being a smart alec to reporters, the media, Democrats, his opposition, etc.
He doesn't even try and be diplomatic or fair.
His last major events were dealing with Critical Race Theory and Transgender athletes. Pretty clear he's being purposeful on what he's choosing to focus on - and none of it is tangibly important to people's actual lives. Just more Fox News fodder.
That's why I say he is "Trump without Trump". He basically tries to put the Trump wine in the W/Romney bottle.
Pretty much this but it’s gonna fail spectacularly. Unfortunately for the GOP, their voters don’t fall in line the way Dems do. It is impossible to mix the Romney suburban types with the MAGA crowd, and that’s why they will continue to fail at the national level and be in the wilderness for decades. The GOP just cannot win on their own merit. When they do win, it’s only by accident or technicality (2000, 2016). That said, you could argue 2004 was probably their only true win on their terms (bc of the 9/11 factor) since the Reagan era, which is now ancient history, but even that election hinged on Ohio for several days, so it wasn’t a clean win either.
1988 really was their last sizeable non-contested win.
