Ron DeSantis Florida

The Decline And Fall Of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis: The New Scott Walker!

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis won a massive victory for reelection in Florida in November 2022, and was seen as a major challenger to Donald Trump for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024.

But his campaign has slumped horribly, and it is now clear that he is the new Scott Walker, the Wisconsin Governor thought to be the likely Republican choice for President in 2016, but ending up as a total flop!

DeSantis has fumbled badly, and is not showing up well in Iowa, where he is spending most of his time.

DeSantis is seen more than ever as an unpleasant, arrogant, nasty, mean spirited, non charismatic individual, and even his own state’s representatives in Congress are not backing him.

His horrendous policies on a multitude of issues, including race, gender, sexuality, health care and education may have won him support in Florida, but Florida is clearly NOT America.

One can only wait for 2026, when Ron DeSantis will finish his second term as governor of the Sunshine state, sadly leaving wreckage in his midst, but with inability to have a third consecutive term, as the Florida Constitution prevents that.

Governorship Term Limits Likely To Affect Future Presidential Campaigns

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The American Presidency was limited in allowable terms of office by the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution in 1951, after passage by Congress in 1947, two years after Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected to a fourth term in the White House, died 82 days into that fourth term.

So even popular Presidents such as Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s, Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, and Barack Obama in the 2010s, could not have returned to the Presidency at any point after their two terms in office.

The issue of term limits also affects state governorships, as 23 states limit governors to two terms maximum consecutive terms. Three other states allow a return after one four year term away from the governorship, and one allows a return after two four year terms away from the governorship. And nine states have a lifetime limit of two terms.

So a total of 36 states limit gubernatorial terms in some form. And one state (Virginia) limits any governor to one term.

So only 13 states have no term limits, including Vermont and New Hampshire, which have terms of two years, not four years!

So when one analyzes these realities, it means governors such as the following, would have to be considered potential Presidential contenders in the future!

Ron DeSantis of Florida
Jared Polis of Colorado
Gavin Newsom of California
Brian Kemp of Georgia
Andy Beshear of Kentucky
Wes Moore of Maryland
Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan
Phil Murphy of New Jersey
Roy Cooper of North Carolina
Doub Burgum of North Dakota
Mike DeWine of Ohio
Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania
Kristi Noem of South Dakota
Glenn Youngkin of Virginia

All of the above 14, 6 Republicans and 8 Democrats, would be out of the governorship, or finishing a second term by the time of the Presidential Election of 2028.

Besides Republicans DeSantis and Burgum, who are already seeking the Presidency, there are strong rumors that other Republican Governors, Youngkin and Noem, might enter the race belatedly, and Kemp and DeWine are long shots for now or 2028!

And certainly, Democrats on this list are not running in 2024, due to Joe Biden, but certainly, it would seem likely that Polis, Newsom, Moore, Whitmer, Murphy, and Shapiro are all likely to plan to run in 2028. Less likely would be Beshear and Cooper, but being from states that Democrats have more difficulty winning, who can say they would not enter the race for President in 2028?

Kamala Harris Starting To Demonstrate Her Strengths As Vice President, And Potential Future President!

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Kamala Harris has been Vice President for two and a half years now, and she has had a poor public image, being often portrayed as weak and ineffective, in public opinion polls.

A lot of this is pure right wing propaganda, with heavy elements of misogyny and racism.

If one examines earlier Vice Presidents of the Republican variety, one realizes how horrendous they were:

Mike Pence, unwilling even now to stand up to Donald Trump for his transgressions, including the threat to the lives of Pence and his family on January 6, 2021.

Dick Cheney, technically qualified, but a miserable wretch of a human being.

Dan Quayle, a total disaster and embarrassment as Vice President.

Spiro Agnew, a crooked felon, forced out of office.

And then the Republican Vice Presidential nominees who, thankfully, never were in that role:

Sarah Palin 2008

Paul Ryan 2012

Jack Kemp 1996

William E Miller 1964

And then, the potential Vice Presidential list for Donald Trump, if he became the Presidential nominee again, a total nightmare of lunacy and insanity!

Meanwhile, Democratic Vice Presidents and nominees were superior by far:

Hubert Humphrey 1964
Edmund Muskie 1968
Sargent Shriver 1972
Walter Mondale 1976, 1980
Lloyd Bentsen 1988
Al Gore 1992, 1996
Joe Lieberman 2000
Joe Biden 2008, 2012
Tim Kaine 2016

The only terrible choices were Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and John Edwards in 2004.

Harris has had an impressive career in California Government, and has been, by necessity, the most active Vice President, due to the narrow division of the Senate, necessitating that she break more tie votes in the Senate than any Vice President, surpassing John C. Calhoun under President Andrew Jackson from 1829-1832, recently!

Harris is now becoming significant, as she makes the issues of women’s rights and civil rights the center of attention, including attacking the end of abortion rights, and the promotion of outrageous interference with the teaching of American history and slavery, as advocated by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and spreading nationwide in Republican states!

This is raising her profile, as she would certainly be the frontrunner to be President after Joe Biden, either when he leaves office, or if he was unable to finish his time in office!

Another Florida Republican Presidential Contender Flops: Florida Is NOT America!

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The state of Florida may be the third largest state in population, but it is clear that despite the Republican Party domination of state government in the past generation, that its office holders have very little appeal nationally.

So in 2016, former Governor Jeb Bush and Senator Marco Rubio both flopped badly, and now Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, despite an early boost after his 59 percent victory in the gubernatorial election is 2022, is on the way to a total collapse in his campaign to stop Donald Trump from being the 2024 Republican Presidential nominee.

Even in Florida, DeSantis is way behind Trump in public opinion polls, and his extremist right wing agenda is not having any success on a national level.

Trump, himself, resides in Florida part of the year at Mar a Lago, but was really a New Yorker, and has never run for public office in Florida.

DeSantis’s mean spirited, nasty, narrow minded, and unlikeable personality is flopping badly, and law suits are in process to stop his hateful legislation toward women, African Americans, Gay and Transgender Floridians, undocumented immigrants, and his censorship in Education, and Health Care intervention in a dictatorial manner!

Clearly, Florida is NOT America!

Only One Republican Senator And Many Republican Governors In Presidential Race Of 2024!

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With the Presidential Election campaign beginning with the announcement of numerous Republicans having declared their candidacy or about to announce, an odd point to make is that ONLY one Republican Senator, Tim Scott of South Carolina, has announced his candidacy, and it is highly unlikely any other Republican Senators will join the fray.

Instead, the bulk of candidates are those who have served as Governors in the past or the present.

This includes Ron DeSantis (Florida), Nikki Haley (South Carolina), Mike Pence (Indiana), Asa Hutchinson (Arkansas), Doug Burgum (North Dakota), Kristi Noem (South Dakota), Chris Christie (New Jersey), Chris Sununu (New Hampshire), Glenn Youngkin (Virginia), and Greg Abbott (Texas).

In 2016, the following US Senators ran for the Republican Presidential nomination: Ted Cruz (Texas), Marco Rubio (Florida), Rand Paul (Kentucky), Rick Santorum (Pennsylvania), and Lindsey Graham (South Carolina). All except Santorum are still in the Senate, but not choosing to run this cycle!

There are also other Republican Senators rumored to have Presidential ambitions, including Rick Scott (Florida), Josh Hawley (Missouri), and Tom Cotton (Arkansas), but they have chosen to stay out of the race.

New Hampshire And South Carolina Republican 2024 Presidential Primaries Could Be Very Interesting!

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With two and possibly three Republican Presidential contenders being residents of two of the three earliest states to conduct primaries in 2024, the situation presents the possibility of a unusual set of circumstances.

At the moment, Donald Trump is far ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and leagues ahead of everyone else who has entered the competition, or plans to do so.

But if New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu enters the competition, the possibility exists that he could surprise the field, and win his state’s Republican primary.

And two South Carolinians, former Governor and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Senator Tim Scott, have entered the Presidential race, and one or the other could surprise and defeat both Trump and DeSantis.

However, the complication in South Carolina is that Senator Lindsey Graham and Governor Henry McMaster both have endorsed Trump.

The involvement of DeSantis in this situation is hard to conceptualize, as he would seem to have little chance to win either New Hampshire or South Carolina.

At this point, all that can be said is that the early primaries will be very interesting and significant to watch!

Ron DeSantis Strikes Out On Day One, And All Downhill From Now On For Good Reasons!

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Ron DeSantis “struck out” on Day One, having problems on Twitter Audio with Elon Musk, and it will be all downhill from now on.

Instead of speaking before an audience of supporters, DeSantis is isolating himself, and talking only to right wing cable and radio shows.

And he is telling us he will be more hardline than Donald Trump was on immigration! And he will consider giving pardons to Insurrectionists from January 6, and even to Trump, if he is convicted!

So DeSantis is against the rule of law, and supporting the sedition and treason of the Insurrectionists, which should, automatically, kill his candidacy!

DeSantis is coming along more than ever as an extreme right wing Fascist, who wants to take away the freedom of women, gays and transgender people, and immigrants!

And he is ignoring evidence of antisemitism in Florida, and warring on Disney, and banning books, and dictating curriculum in public schools and universities, and promoting racism and white supremacy!

Remember he was one of the founders of the Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives, and a TEA PARTY activist under Barack Obama’s Presidency!

And he wanted to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid while in Congress, and has used his power to fix legislative and congressional districts to promote gerrymandering, which took away representation from African American in the state of Florida!

He has a wife who is very ambitious and dominating, and he has come across as very phony in his public persona, laughing hysterically that looks preposterous, and lacking any empathy, sincerity, compassion, or common decency!

He is the direct opposite of the personality and character of President Joe Biden, and for anyone to support him as the “better” alternative, would need his or her head examined!

Republicans, Conservatives, And Disrespect For Immigrants: Infuriating!

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America is a nation of immigrants, and all of us are “immigrants”, in the sense that our ancestors, if not us, migrated to America, and found the only true “natives”, native Americans, whose land and resources were taken from them by European settlers.

America, historically, has mistreated native Americans in a horrible, horrendous fashion, and still do so when they decide to do mining on native lands, one of the major reasons why organizations, such as the Conservation Lands Foundation, exist, to promote proper treatment of the “original” Americans.

But America is also a nation that constantly, throughout history, has treated various groups migrating to North America, in a totally unacceptable fashion.

This has occurred to the Irish; the Italians; the Polish; the Jews; the migrants from Japan and China and elsewhere in Asia; people from Latin America; and of course the treatment of people of African origin, both slaves and those who have migrated since the end of the ugly institution of slavery!

It is infuriating when Texas Governor Greg Abbott makes the comment about the horrendous gun murders in Cleveland, Texas, referring to the victims as “illegal immigrants”, as if their status matters, as if their lives do not matter!

Immigrants come to America to excape persecution, bloodshed, discrimination, looking for a better life, as generations of immigrants have done, and they contribute their talents and skills to their adopted nation.

Just because they speak a different language, are possibly of different skin color and religion, does not make them inferior or unworthy of our sympathy, empathy, compassion, and to be treated with respect!

People like Greg Abbott, Ron DeSantis, and others who are bullies and have no regard for human life, unless it is white European Christians, need to be drummed out of office by demand of decent Americans, who do not want such despicable people to govern us!

It is past time for Republicans and conservatives who are only pro-life on fetuses, but not for gun regulation, or women’s rights, to be repudiated, and allow American to move forward in a positive fashion, and stop promoting hate!

Republican Party Committing Suicide, Except For Asa Hutchinson And Chris Christie!

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It is beyond all sanity that just about ALL Republican Party leaders and office holders are rushing to the defense of Donald Trump, and interfering with a local New York investigation into his financial wrongdoings!

Only at this point do we see former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who has just announced his Presidential candidacy, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who is expected to announce his Presidential candidacy soon, willing to back away from Trump, and indicate they would not support the idea of his becoming President again via the Presidential Election of 2024!

To see former Vice President Mike Pence condemn the indictment by the Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is shocking, as well as the outrageous statements of Senator Lindsey Graham, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, and a multitude of others, who clearly think the rule of law does not apply to a former President who abused the Constitution and undermined civil order in the nation!

MAGA House Republicans Visit Criminal Insurrectionists In DC Jail!

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The MAGA House Republicans, who are beyond the pale in their behavior, visited criminal Insurrectionists who were engaged in the January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack a couple of days ago.

Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and about 20 others, claimed these insurrectionists were “political prisoners”, and complained about their jail conditions.

But two Democrats who went with the Republicans to monitor the situation–Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Congressman Robert Garcia of California–made clear that the conditions of the DC jail are far superior to the general jail and prison conditions in most American states, and particularly in southern states.

These same MAGA Republicans also are pressuring, illegally, that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg testify about the “Stormy Daniels” case against Donald Trump, which seems likely to lead to an indictment.

This is totally illegal, for Congress to intervene in local investigations and prosecutions.

The fact that MAGA Republicans are still willing to back Donald Trump no matter what the circumstances is a development that is very worrisome.

And the fact that Donald Trump is still seen as the favorite for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, even over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, is horrifying and a sign that American democracy is under dire threat!