The Daily Caller is hosting a debate over DeSantis versus Trump. Some say the biggest debate ever. In the enclosed article, I argue that DeSantis is the best choice and the time is now for a Gen X president. Both articles pro and con enclosed.
BIG TENT IDEAS
CHRISTIAN WHITON: Ron DeSantis Will Beat Donald Trump And Bring On A New Generation Of American Greatness
February 22, 2023
Editor’s note: Big Tent Ideas always aims to provide balancing perspectives on the hottest issues of the day. Below is a column from former State Department official Christian Whiton arguing that Ron DeSantis will defeat former President Donald Trump in the presidential primaries. You can find a counterpoint here, where Project 21 member and political commentator Rasheed Walters argues that DeSantis will lose the GOP primary if he challenges the man who boosted his political career.
You have to hand it to Donald Trump: the man isn’t a quitter. From defying advice as a young man to stay out of cutthroat Manhattan real estate to ignoring nearly every expert predicting “Donald Trump will not be the next president” at some point in the 2016 cycle, Trump doesn’t give up easily. He loses some fights and he compromises on others, but surrender is alien to the man.
That fighting spirit brought him improbably to the pinnacle of power in 2016 and created a New Right in American politics whose early chapters are only just being written as it reshapes our country. But it also is leading him into a presidential race in which he may face humiliation at the hands of Republican voters who once revered him, or barring that, loss at the hands of an easily beatable Joe Biden or other Democrat.
To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, the time has come to pass the torch to a new generation. Specifically, it’s past time for the Baby Boomers who have run the country since Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 to give way to Generation X, which hopefully can deploy some of its trademark detachment and nonchalance to governing with less hysteria.
It’s not just an age thing. While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who leads many early polls for the Republican nomination for president, is a 44-year-old breath of fresh air, his primary appeal is based on accomplishment. First, he has accelerated Florida’s transition into the state where people and businesses want to be amid an exodus from Democrat-run states. Second, he is a winner with a demonstrated record of bringing new voters in to the Republican Party. This last feat was made quite clear in elections last November in which DeSantis creamed his opposition and won Democratic strongholds like Miami. This contrasted with Trump, whom many blamed for Republicans’ mediocre performance elsewhere, including his choice of poor candidates in Georgia and Pennsylvania that left Democrats in control of the Senate.
That’s why it’s odd that those who want Trump back as the Republican candidate in 2024 argue that Trump is more electable than DeSantis. The opposite is almost certainly true. In 2016, Trump won independent voters by four percent, white women by nine percent, and suburban voters by two percent. This coalition has turned away from Trump and isn’t coming back. Furthermore, Trump’s ability to attract blue-collar workers in 2016 will be hard to replicate in 2024 if unemployment remains low.
DeSantis wins by delivering on economics but not shying from cultural issues where Republicans have an advantage. He wasn’t afraid to take on Disney for its woke advocacy in his state. He just signed a law preventing financial services companies in Florida from discriminating based on lefty “environmental, social, and governance” fads. He has acted against critical race theory in schools and suspended school boards and prosecutors who thought they could ignore state laws.
More and more voters are seeing that DeSantis has the same willingness as Trump to fight without apology and reject the rules and narrative of debate established by the Left and its media allies. However, he lacks the baggage of Trump, especially Trump’s lack of discipline and inability to translate sentiment and pronouncements into actual government policy and law.
The other argument of those who want Trump back in 2024 is that DeSantis is ungrateful to challenge Trump since Trump supported DeSantis in his tight race for governor in 2018. By extension, this argument holds that DeSantis should stand aside, likely allowing Trump to lose to Biden or another Democrat in 2024, and then reemerge in 2028, two years after leaving the governor’s office, to try to mount a comeback to the level of attention and popularity he enjoys today. Do we really want a Republican nominee or president who is meek and diffident enough to accept this reasoning? Or do we want one with a sense of timing and pride in his accomplishments to know that now is the time to go for the kill and take back the White House.
Christian Whiton was a State Department senior advisor during the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations. He is a senior fellow at the Center for the National Interest.
URL: https://dailycaller.com/2023/02/22/opinion-president-trump-its-time-to-pass-the-torch-to-ron-desantis-christian-whiton/
BIG TENT IDEAS
RASHEED WALTERS: Donald Trump Will Wipe The Floor With Ron DeSantis In The Primaries. Here’s Why
February 22, 2023
Editor’s note: Big Tent Ideas always aims to provide balancing perspectives on the hottest issues of the day. Below is a column from political commentator Rasheed Walters arguing that former President Donald Trump will top Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP primary. You can find a counterpoint here, where former State Department official Christian Whiton argues that DeSantis is the best choice for a new generation of American leadership.
If Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis were a true believer in President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement, he would have waited until 2028 to ensure the Republicans maintained control of the White House for a full 8 years. DeSantis will lose the 2024 presidential primary.
His presidential run in 2024 will only prove one thing: DeSantis is disingenuous. The performances of former President Trump in the Republican presidential primaries are nothing short of extraordinary and unprecedented. Trump received 14 million votes in 2016 and 18 million votes in 2020. Trump received more popular votes than any candidate in a Republican primary, which demonstrates Trump’s control over the party and the receptiveness of his populist America First agenda with a large number of Americans who either don’t vote or haven’t voted in years. The Republican Party transformed from being dominated by neocons, globalists, and elites to becoming a party of the common man and woman, led by nationalist ideals.
In 2016, Americans elected Donald Trump the 45th President of the United States because they believed in his America First agenda. Trump’s presidency proved America First is the answer to the issues facing our nation, and it is feasible to put into practice. These accomplishments alone make it near impossible for any Republican to beat Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Trump’s historic 2016 win and the subsequent shift within the Republican Party’s ethos paved the way for others to achieve prominence. One of the brightest stars to emerge from this phenomenon was Republican U.S. Congressman Ron DeSantis, who at the time was running for governor of Florida against Democratic Mayor Andrew Gillum in 2018. Ron DeSantis was on the verge of defeat before receiving a crucial endorsement and assistance from then President Trump. In a campaign ad with his family, DeSantis boasted Trump’s endorsement and playfully had his daughter build a wall with toy blocks, and read “The Art of the Deal” to his son.
Trump’s sway in Florida, and his support for DeSantis, was decisive in the election’s outcome. Even though DeSantis defeated Democratic U.S. Congressman Charlie Crist in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial race, Trump received over a million more votes in Florida during the 2020 Presidential election than DeSantis did in either of his gubernatorial elections.
For a long time, DeSantis was seen as Trump’s natural successor. DeSantis has adopted several of Trump’s demeanors, such as radiating strength and not being politically correct. From his crusade against “wokeness,” to firm stances on illegal immigration and harsh criticism of the Biden administration’s failures, everything about DeSantis, from his personality to his approach to governance, is reminiscent of Trump.
Many in the Republican Party’s establishment and the swamp are furious with what Trump has done to the party, and for the country. Many of these people saw the MAGA movement as only a passing fad that Americans would eventually outgrow. Nothing could be further from the truth: MAGA is a movement that is here to stay. Establishment Republicans long for a return to “business as usual” under the globalist, neocon, and America last status quo. The only thing standing in their way is Donald Trump.
The Establishment desperately needs a viable candidate to run against Trump. Ron DeSantis is ideal for them because he lacks that which allowed Trump to avoid being corrupted by the establishment, which is money for self-funding. To win over the Republican base and become the party’s nominee for president in 2024, authenticity is highly valued. When compared to Trump, DeSantis seems almost identical. His defeat in 2024 will be the result of his campaigning against the same person and ideal he claims to support.
Rasheed Walters is an entrepreneur, political commentator and historian who resides in Boston. Follow him on Twitter @rasheednwalters.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Pointless speculation at this time. Trump remains formidable despite efforts to trash him. My hope is later this year we have more choices.