Agree with everything except the last sentence. MAGA was there before Trump. He just distilled it, and poured off all of the waste products of previous versions of conservatism. Now there's nothing else left. If Trump decided to spend the rest of his life playing golf, we wouldn't see a re-emergence of fusionism or anything like it.
But Trump won't retire. He'll win in 2024, legitimately or otherwise, and entrench Trumpism indefinitely.
I'll push back on your praise of DeSantis---but he's a more policy-oriented pol than Trump is, that's for sure. His stunt with Martha's Vineyard is pure lib-owning.
I completely accept that I will get lots of pushback, from the center and left, for being a DeSantis > Trump guy. I know that the prevailing opinion is that DeSantis = Trump, or, even, that DeSantis is worse than Trump, since as you put it he would be more competent from a policy perspective. But I maintain that while DeSantis *resorts* to stunts and political theater, that sort of thing is central to who Trump is *at his core*. I'd prefer the former to the latter any day.
Fundamentally, I don't disagree that in pure terms, DeSantis > Trump, although neither is desirable. I do think that DeSantis, if we had to make that horrible choice between him and Trump, at least understands the need to govern, unlike Trump. A good example is his handling of Hurricane Ian.
It doesn't solve it, though. It's all stunt politics and lib-owning---a more serious leader would have coordinated with blue states to give them a heads up.
Agree with everything except the last sentence. MAGA was there before Trump. He just distilled it, and poured off all of the waste products of previous versions of conservatism. Now there's nothing else left. If Trump decided to spend the rest of his life playing golf, we wouldn't see a re-emergence of fusionism or anything like it.
But Trump won't retire. He'll win in 2024, legitimately or otherwise, and entrench Trumpism indefinitely.
Trumpism isn’t finished but Trump is his movement’s own worse enemy.
I think he’s proven to be an exceptionally talented politician thus far. It’s no surprise he’s emerged as the non-Trump frontrunner.
I'll push back on your praise of DeSantis---but he's a more policy-oriented pol than Trump is, that's for sure. His stunt with Martha's Vineyard is pure lib-owning.
I completely accept that I will get lots of pushback, from the center and left, for being a DeSantis > Trump guy. I know that the prevailing opinion is that DeSantis = Trump, or, even, that DeSantis is worse than Trump, since as you put it he would be more competent from a policy perspective. But I maintain that while DeSantis *resorts* to stunts and political theater, that sort of thing is central to who Trump is *at his core*. I'd prefer the former to the latter any day.
Fundamentally, I don't disagree that in pure terms, DeSantis > Trump, although neither is desirable. I do think that DeSantis, if we had to make that horrible choice between him and Trump, at least understands the need to govern, unlike Trump. A good example is his handling of Hurricane Ian.
It doesn't solve it, though. It's all stunt politics and lib-owning---a more serious leader would have coordinated with blue states to give them a heads up.