The Iowa Caucus is just under two months away, and it still looks like former President Donald Trump has the Republican primary locked up. The efforts of Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), arguably his closest rival, do not seem to be sticking.
Personally, I am fine with it.
I have written before about my worries of Trump being the wrong candidate because the left will do everything in their power to stop him from reaching the White House again, even though they will fight any Republican nominee like hell. Trump just inspires much better hatred among leftists, and his own behavior can turn off undecided voters.
This is not exactly an endorsement of Trump over DeSantis, nor is it lamenting the fact that DeSantis probably won’t be the nominee. Rather, it is acceptance of the fact that none of the other Republican candidates can really compete. Trump is just too popular, and too many people on the right agree he is being unfairly targeted by the Democrats and the Deep State (which he is), making his reelection all the more viable.
So the real question is, assuming Trump is able to actually win in 2024 (barring some horrible means of cheating or suspending elections entirely), will Ron DeSantis remain viable in 2028
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His promoters say DeSantis sticks to conservative principles and always gets the job done (and I would know, living in Florida), which makes him a great successor to Trump in finishing the job of draining the Swamp or rectifying any mistakes Trump made in his second term. Being able to serve two terms back-to-back makes this all the better, because the Swamp quickly reasserted itself once they put Biden back in. Some will argue Trump did not do enough in his first term to fulfill that goal, but he at least made everybody aware of how deep the rot really goes.
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Plus, DeSantis is young compared to Trump, meaning people will not worry about the age of candidates come 2028 like they are now, which is a good reason for DeSantis to stay in the 2024 race although this selling point is not working out for him.
However, the problem is that, much like Trump himself, the online crowd aligned with him holds grudges. That would be the biggest problem for DeSantis in 2028. Not only will he have to contend with a hostile media, but dissent within the Republican Party still under Trump’s sway will make sure he and his own corral of online influencers never forget that DeSantis had the temerity to challenge Trump in 2024 when the nomination was rightfully his, having been cheated out of 2020 (he was, but that is not the point).
Heck, Roger Stone recently called Casey DeSantis, Ron’s wife, a “See You Next Tuesday,” and let’s not remind ourselves how Laura Loomer called Riley Gaines “a low IQ sellout bimbo” and a “f***ing b***h” who “deserved to get beat by a chick with a d*ck” for daring to do a paid speech on DeSantis’s behalf.
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You may say that Trump warmed back up to Senators Ted Cruz (R-FL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), and even put Dr. Ben Carson in charge of Housing and Urban Development despite comparing him to a pedophile in 2016, but this isn’t 2016. Trump’s putdowns and nicknames for candidates do not have that same zing anymore. There is no mirth in calling DeSantis “Rob DeSanctimonious” like there was in calling Cruz “Lyin’ Ted” or calling Rubio “Little Marco,” just a tired, worn-out anger.
Overall, the best way to wrap this up is by saying maybe Trump should just have the 2024 nomination now while he is still extremely popular and before his age becomes too much of a detriment like it is for Biden. At the same time, let’s just hope DeSantis’s 2024 campaign will not kill his chances in 2028, because he’s the other best guy we have.
