It is 3:30am in the DeSantis household.
Ron, who can’t sleep, wanders down to the kitchen to get a glass of milk.
A crowd is waiting for him in the living room.
A gathering of Iowa voters.
They look friendly. Big smiles.
Is that Goofy?
No.
That one looks just like Minnie Mouse.
No, no, it’s an Iowa cornfield. The milk can wait…..
****
REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY
GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS
DES MOINES, IOWA
MAY 30, 2023
First, let me give a big hello to Iowa’s Republicans, who I am here to court for the honor of serving my party as its nominee for President of the United States.
I am here to fight for the nomination against my once dear friend and mentor, Donald J. Trump, our nation’s 45th President, and a man I admire so much for the job he did in taking up the cause of the forgotten men and women of this country.
Men and women who work hard for what they have, and have suffered too much and too long under the policies of those who have captured the Democrat Party, turning it from a party once of the people into one serving bicoastal intellectual elites who live mostly, it seems, to tell the rest of us how we should live, think, and feel. Their condoning every imaginable progressive indulgence to an ethic unmoored from any respect for our beloved conservative values rose to a fever pitch just as our great leader, Donald J. Trump burst on the scene seven years ago to beat those liberals’ favorite liberal, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Mr. President, I stand here today to salute you for what you did then, in beating that woman, and what you did later as President, in giving voice to those too long denied one.
But because I am here declaring myself in opposition to your seeking a second term, it is incumbent upon me to explain myself clearly. How can I now oppose the man who once so befriended me, and so helped me in my own rise to become Governor of the great Free State of Florida?
I come forth here today to make my case for one reason only: My dear Mr. President, as a matter of deep conviction, I must say this to you first and most directly, before I say it to those people whose votes I seek:
I am convinced in my heart of hearts that you simply will not have the support of sufficient numbers of voters outside of your core admirers to beat Joe Biden in 2024. The voters our side needs to win are in the suburbs around every major American city, a group that was disillusioned and disappointed by the events of January 6, 2021, and the subsequent defense of those actions that continue to this day. They are put off by your role in attempting to thwart all the courts and election officials in the collective view that Biden was actually fairly and lawfully elected President.
I make no judgement here on the merits of those voters feelings, nor on the legal merits of the many cases now pending against you. I am neither judge nor jury. I stand here only as a politician, like any other, doing his best to present the merits of my own case to the voters. It is these folks who will in the end decide if a Republican, any Republican, or Joe Biden, will be sworn-in on January 20th of 2025.
Let me be clear: You can’t win the support of enough of those in the outskirts of Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Phoenix.
I can.
But my case to the voters we both will face early next year, our fellow Republicans, must not be simply one of insisting you cannot win a general election.
I must go beyond that to the all too obvious elephant in the room: The unique situation you entail for all of us in politics.
You are under serious investigations for possible crimes you have committed against your own country. There is no denying this. To do so is insane. This cloud of yours will have strong negative ramifications upon voters who are not among what constitute your own personal electoral base.
So there it is, I have said it.
Everyone close to you knows this to be absolutely true. But it seems only I will publicly say it. And say it to your face, directly.
Mano a mano.
Now, having gotten the elephant out of the room, I must turn to address the voters about my own bill of particulars.
Voters of Iowa, why am I here, coming before you to ask you for your support? What makes me fit to serve? What will make me compelling to that broad swath of conversative, independent, and even Democrat voters of a non-leftist bent needed in coalition against Joe Biden in November of 2024?
Much has been made in the press of my likability. This has become a real “thing’” in all of the mainstream media. I am put below the turnip in charisma and charm by them. I admit this caught my attention enough to have me ask Casey about it.
She said “Honey, I married you, didn’t I? Take a look at me. Do you think you were the only turnip in that truck? Honestly, I didn’t marry you just for your brains. No woman does that. And if your voters demand I tell them that, I’m in. Put me on the case.”
I hope I can convince my own campaign, if not the mainstream media, that this likability thing is ridiculous. My wife and kids like me. That’s good enough for me. And it will have to be good enough with you, for whom I’m asking for the vote. We’re not going to try to manufacture a new me, one that aims to win the baby kissing derby. That’s just not who I am.
You might think that because I have excelled in various fraternal activities -- little league, the military, politics -- that I have the skills to be collegial and personable.
I do not.
I could not skillfully host “The Apprentice” or preside over the patio at dinner at Mar-a-Lago, checking on how everyone else is enjoying their steaks.
That’s not me.
Having said that, let me ask all of you out there a question.
Would someone focused on likability as the most important thing even be up here taking on Donald J. Trump, monster of political debates and combat, the all-time greatest no-holds barred political in-fighter of all times?
No Mr. or Ms. Congeniality would have the guts to do what I am doing. Taking on the loudest, strongest, meanest man ever to successfully run for any office, let alone President. So, if my personality comes across as lacking a bit of charm, I ask you to listen to Casey and give me a break. Charm has the same chance to cut it against Mr. Trump as that proverbial snowball in hell.
I don't do interviews or press conferences with the national media much because they are liberally biased and interested in gotcha questions, not concerned with the ways to make the lives of real people better.
But I also don't talk to them because they don't like me. And they don't like me because I don't court them, I don't suck up to them, I don't fly them around on my private plane or have them to my fancy club.
You know, like the way Donald Trump does.
He claims not to like the Fake News media, but he's obsessed with them. I am not. I am obsessed with saving this country from the agenda of the far left so YOUR families can live in peace and freedom and safely.
Here is explicitly what I have to put up against the Trump brand and character:
I am a proven patriot of this country, having served in its armed forces with pride, distinction, and years of service. Trump never served, and cheated to not have to.
I am a proven believer in the laws of our nation. I have more than obeyed them. I have prosecuted those who have broken them. I have written them. I have signed them. I know in my bones from all of that, done over many years, that we are a nation of laws and not men. I have fought for my policies, some quite controversial, only with laws, laws in many cases which I myself have written and signed. That is my way, not brute force. My devotion is to doing things by the law, not by unilateral unlawful action. This I have proven as a matter of a broad public record of service.
Mr. Trump has made it clear by his many deeds and pronouncements he will happily put himself above the law if he can but get away with it. He understands his supporters not only do not mind this in the least, but revel in it as proof of him, and through him, of them owning the libs. It is their constitutional right to feel as they do, and given their hatred of the liberal philosophy, it may even be understandable, but I want to own the libs lawfully, and I have shown how one goes about doing just that.
Look at what I’ve done in Florida. It cedes nothing to Trump policy-wise. It is even more conservative than his own agenda, but is fully lawful and above board.
It is not necessary to destroy the Constitution to own the libs. I promise this to the bottom of my heart. I will at the core of my Presidency be a great implementer of true conservative ideas, all done fully within the Constitutional limits imposed by our Founding Fathers. I offer as proof of this my accomplishment of turning a purple state red, and in the process beating Democrats far more fit than Joe Biden.
Our movement won reelection by almost 20 percentage points. We won the backing of the support of the majority of independents, Hispanics, and women, while winning Democrat counties that had been carried by Joe Biden. Donald Trump can’t do that.
Why have you heard of me? Why am I the only Republican candidate who can beat Donald Trump and Joe Biden? Why have I received such extraordinary grassroots and financial support from around the country?
It is because I know how to govern. Whether it was during the pandemic, when I kept my state free and prosperous and safe, or during the kind of storms Iowans know well, I have a proven record of leadership in government.
And a record of victory on the battlefield of ideas and at the ballot box.
This isn’t about insulting nicknames or opposition research battles. As important as President Trump’s 2016 victory was for all of us, since then he has lost. The cause of freedom and liberty was not served nationally in 2018, in 2020, in 2022. We know our agenda is the right one, but it can’t be implemented if we lose another election under the Trump banner. The stakes for our children and grandchildren are simply too high.
I stand here before you because I cannot abide this feeling of doom coming over me about the reality of a continuing Biden administration, with four more years to further install the bicoastal liberal agenda, knowing in my heart this will be the result if I do not steel myself to put myself into opposition against our former President, knowing full well I must sacrifice for common cause, at least for a while, my old friendship and admiration for him and what he did. I hope you can all understand my motives in this.
In closing, let me share an anecdote I heard the other day:
One of President Trump's advisers asked, "Why would anyone want a Rolling Stones tribute band when the real Rolling Stones are still on tour?”
I ask you, between Trump and myself, who is the real conservative, and who is the tribute conservative?
We all know the answer.
I’m asking for your support.
Thank you all very much, and my God bless our Nation, and protect our troops.
****
ESSENTIAL READING
* The Associated Press on the debt ceiling and budget talks:
Days from a deadline, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are narrowing in on a two-year budget deal aiming to curb federal deficits in exchange for lifting the nation’s debt ceiling and staving off an economically devastating government default.
The Democratic president and Republican speaker hope to strike a budget compromise this weekend. With Republicans driving for steep cuts, the two sides have been unable to agree to spending levels for 2024 and 2025. Any deal would need to be a political compromise, with support from both Democrats and Republicans to pass the divided Congress.
But the budget flow isn’t the only hang-up.
A person familiar with the talks said the two sides are “dug in” on whether or not to agree to Republican demands to impose stiffer work requirements on people who receive government food stamps, cash assistance and health care aid, some of the most vulnerable Americans.
HALPERIN SAYS: This is no longer about the Biden-McCarthy deal. It is now about the split responsibilities of McCarthy and Hakeem Jeffries to figure out in tandem how to cobble together an overall majority that includes a majority of the majority and a near-majority of the minority. Good luck!
****
* The New York Times out of nowhere slips into their DeSantis daily story this Mother-of-All Expectations Setting:
Mr. DeSantis is expected to need a victory in Iowa and at least a close second-place finish in New Hampshire to show that he can effectively challenge the former president, especially as other candidates, potentially sensing a political opening for a bid, jump into the race.
HALPERIN SAYS: “Is expected” is one of journalism’s great weasel expressions. And/but in this case, the Times is right!
****
* The volume of social media, blogs, and news story content featuring (and often driven by) the back and forth between Team Trump and Team DeSantis is already mind-boggling high. There is no way for even this newsletter to chronicle it all.
The main thing you need to know a day out from the Sunshine State topper’s Twitter debut is that he is winning back his place as THE Trump alternative, despite another national poll showing the frontrunner way in front.
The latest signs that the Not-Again-Trump Establishment is gearing up to fuel #2 into the top spot:
A. You might not have heard of Andrew McCarthy, Ike Brannon, Corey DeAngelis, Dalibor Rohac, and Bethany Mandel, but the New York Post ed board bundles up mini essays from these leading lights of the center right to make a shadow endorsement of DeSantis.
B. Marc Thiessen writes what is, by my loose count, his 18th “DeSantis is better than Trump” column.
C. Check out these quotes from the Associated Press roundup that includes DeSantis’ impressive first-day money haul:
[M]any Republican officials, donors and early state activists suggested there would be few long-term consequences.
“Look, I like Elon Musk, but apparently he fired one too many IT guys,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a 2024 Republican presidential prospect himself and a periodic DeSantis critic, said on ABC’s “The View.” “You can’t blame Ron DeSantis for that.”
“I mean, if Elon Musk told me, ‘We’re going to stream it,’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah, this guy knows what he’s doing.’ It didn’t work,” Sununu added. “Ron’s job was to deliver the speech and make the points. I think he did a pretty good job of that.”
Republican strategist Terry Sullivan, who managed Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign, suggested that DeSantis is well positioned to overcome an early stumble.
“Big presidential campaign announcements are only about getting a short-term bounce (in the polls) and raising money online,” Sullivan said. “DeSantis doesn’t need either of those. He just needed to get in the race and start campaigning. Mission accomplished….”
There remained “a high level of interest” in DeSantis, according to New Hampshire Republican Party Chair Chris Ager. He said multiple Republican Party groups are requesting DeSantis to speak at their events.
“I think it was a pretty bold move to try something totally new in an announcement,” Ager said.
And while early polls show Trump with a wide lead over DeSantis among New Hampshire primary voters, Ager said a lot can change over time.
“I fully expect the race will tighten up,” he said. “Gov. DeSantis is definitely a serious and legitimate contender for the top spot.”
HALPERIN SAYS: It is all about Iowa and New Hampshire now, which makes DeSantis’ trip to FITN Land next week hugely important. If he closes the gaps in those two magical lands, his national poll numbers will improve, and the support from the Never-Again-Trumpers will rise even more. Right now, the greatest danger he faces comes from Tim Scott, who the Never-Again-Trumpers are holding onto as their DeSantis backup.
* The Washington Post and the New York Times would both like you to get ready for Jack Smith to indict Donald Trump for obstruction of justice.
HALPERIN SAYS: Smith will want to fight this out in the courtroom; Trump will want to fight it out in the court of (Red) public opinion. For about the first time ever in Donald Trump’s life, the evidence might actually matter most.