Why did "anti-Trump" Republicans like DeSantis in the first place?

[Lincoln Project]

ITT:  some big copes from our #1 resident D hacktivist

1) Gillum was expected to win in 2018.  Both the Atlas hive and mainstream pundits had Gillum as a heavy favorite going into election night.  Any Monday-morning QB'ing making Gillum into a loser who was never going to win is a COPE.

2) There's no reason to think Kasich would have done better than Trump in 2016.  I think it more likely that Kasich would have outright lost to Hillary Clinton, given that he wouldn't have animated the "hidden" Trump vote that gave the GOP wins in PA, WI, MI, etc.

All I'm reminded of is what RINO Tom said a few days ago:  the notion of a "sane Republican" is a fake unicorn created by partisan Democrats so that they can constantly move the goalposts to paint every Republican as somehow worse than the last.  That dye has been cast against DeSantis for years now (but it has been turned up in the last few weeks, since y'all are now thinking you smell blood in the water LOL.)  At this rate, Trump is going to be more popular among Atlas posters than he is among Republican primary voters.  It's so obviously him that y'all want to run against...

Nothing would be more destructive to the globalist crime syndicate in Washington than a second Trump term. That’s why they’re trying to take him off the ballot now.

[Lincoln Project]

ITT:  some big copes from our #1 resident D hacktivist

1) Gillum was expected to win in 2018.  Both the Atlas hive and mainstream pundits had Gillum as a heavy favorite going into election night.  Any Monday-morning QB'ing making Gillum into a loser who was never going to win is a COPE.

2) There's no reason to think Kasich would have done better than Trump in 2016.  I think it more likely that Kasich would have outright lost to Hillary Clinton, given that he wouldn't have animated the "hidden" Trump vote that gave the GOP wins in PA, WI, MI, etc.

All I'm reminded of is what RINO Tom said a few days ago:  the notion of a "sane Republican" is a fake unicorn created by partisan Democrats so that they can constantly move the goalposts to paint every Republican as somehow worse than the last.  That dye has been cast against DeSantis for years now (but it has been turned up in the last few weeks, since y'all are now thinking you smell blood in the water LOL.)  At this rate, Trump is going to be more popular among Atlas posters than he is among Republican primary voters.  It's so obviously him that y'all want to run against...

Nothing would be more destructive to the globalist crime syndicate in Washington than a second Trump term. That’s why they’re trying to take him off the ballot now.

With that being said, I 100% agree with you on the “moderate Republican” BS.

[Lincoln Project]

https://www.businessinsider.com/desantis-underwhelms-in-london-with-boring-speech-report-2023-4

Bernie predictions of a landslide

The self-loathing communist billionaire? Give me a break.

[The Mikado]

I think these images from the CBS poll speak volumes. How do you run against a favorite when most of your potential voters don't even want you mentioning the guy's name but the guy's gonna try to run your name into the mud 24/7 no matter what you do? Trump attacking DeSantis day in and day out and DeSantis holding back is going to make him look like the weakest cuck in the world, but attacking back alienates the vast majority of GOP primary voters.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

It won't be hard for DeSantis to get the backing of almost 30%, and less than one-quarter considering "only Trump" is not a bad thing for him.
But getting 30% is far from sufficient to win against Trump. And the spread between 7% (criticize) and 37% (show loyalty) more than undoes the good that Trump's floor being so low does for DeSantis. In fact, it's outright lethal for his odds in this context.