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‘A total failure to launch’: Why Ron DeSantis was doomed from the start
NBC ^ | Jan. 21, 2024 | Matt Dixon

Posted on 01/21/2024 8:46:33 AM PST by conservative98

Iowa was supposed to be make-or-break for Ron DeSantis.

The Florida governor essentially moved his campaign there late last year, and Never Back Down, his allied super PAC, spent tens of millions of dollars knocking on doors in the state.

“We’re going to win Iowa,” DeSantis declared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Dec. 2.

But in the week before the all-important caucuses, Scott Wagner, the recently installed head of the super PAC, was doing something that aides found puzzling: He was literally doing a puzzle.

In the headquarters of Never Back Down in West Des Moines, Iowa, Wagner was, according to some of his staff, spending a significant amount of time in the precious final few days constructing a peaceful 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a landscape.

In a photo taken on Jan. 9, shared with NBC News by a Never Back Down team member, others in the room were hunched over their laptops.

“Staffers are putting their dedication and devotion to electing Gov. DeSantis and they come in and the CEO, the chairman of the organization, is sitting there working on a puzzle for hours,” said a Never Back Down staffer who was there.

Another Never Back Down staffer also said Wagner worked on it for “hours” in the week before Iowa.

The fact that one of the top people in charge of securing a win for DeSantis in Iowa was spending time on something unrelated to the caucuses was emblematic of the mismanagement and wasted efforts that many of DeSantis’ own supporters say have plagued the campaign from the very beginning.

(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: desantis; failuretolaunch; hiringpractices; lousyjob; mismanagement; neverbackdown; nowbackeddown; puzzles; scottwagner; teamdesantis; terriblework; unpresidential; unserious
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1 posted on 01/21/2024 8:46:33 AM PST by conservative98
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To: conservative98

2 posted on 01/21/2024 8:46:49 AM PST by conservative98
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To: conservative98

BTTT


3 posted on 01/21/2024 8:48:24 AM PST by nopardons
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To: conservative98

Omg—DeSantis said it again.

He said he did not spend much money in New Hampshire.

Are you kidding me?

He spent $50 million dollars there—more than Donald Trump:

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1224348004/advertising-campaign-republican-presidential-primary

This is hilarious spinning—spend a fortune in a tiny state—then fail to gain significant support—then claim you “skipped” the state.

Lol.


4 posted on 01/21/2024 8:51:36 AM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: conservative98

Omg—DeSantis said it again.

He said he did not spend much money in New Hampshire.

Are you kidding me?

He spent $50 million dollars there—more than Donald Trump:

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/12/1224348004/advertising-campaign-republican-presidential-primary

This is hilarious spinning—spend a fortune in a tiny state—then fail to gain significant support—then claim you “skipped” the state.

Lol.


5 posted on 01/21/2024 8:51:37 AM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: conservative98

It is because the Republican base voter has become wise to the con that big $ donors are pulling on them.


6 posted on 01/21/2024 8:54:34 AM PST by wildcard_redneck (He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.)
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To: cgbg

RDS seems to enjoy spending other people’s money - but eventually it runs out.


7 posted on 01/21/2024 8:55:53 AM PST by bigbob
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To: conservative98

DeSantis didn’t understand that his support base was primarily also Trump’s support base. The moment he declared for president against Trump most of his support evaporated.


8 posted on 01/21/2024 8:58:21 AM PST by marron
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To: conservative98

Talk about a politician making bad decisions.

DeSantis and his insider donors deciding to go up against the most popular, loved and respected president in American history was probably the worst political decision ever made by anyone.


9 posted on 01/21/2024 8:58:57 AM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: conservative98
True. While early on he was seen as the front runner, he waited too long and Trump had already established a foothold with his early announcement. Would that have been different had he been the first one in?

And would it have made a difference had he been more proactive pointing out Trump’s shortcomings?

10 posted on 01/21/2024 8:59:53 AM PST by joesbucks (It's called love-bombing. Claiming he's saving the world. This is a cult. Just back away. )
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To: conservative98

Here is a classic quote from the article:

“Never Back Down boasted of knocking on nearly 3 million doors across Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Jess Szymanski, a spokesperson for the PAC, said DeSantis’ opponents would “stop at nothing to undermine the fact that we’ve built the largest, most advanced grassroots and political operation in the history of presidential politics.”

That is a process paragraph.

Now—let us look at what the results are—known and projected:

—Iowa—worst second place finish in the history of the Iowa Republican caucus
—New Hampshire—polling at single digits
—South Carolina—polling at single digits

It is actually hard to achieve failure at this scale.

This campaign is one for the ages....


11 posted on 01/21/2024 9:01:31 AM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: marron
What you point out is Bush/Cheney level strategery. We will do a deal with the radical left. They can have whatever they want if they support us in invading Iraq, fixing the Middle East and cementing our control over the global rules based order upon which Western Civilization apparently depended.

Left took one look and said done and dusted. And here we are.

DeSantis 2028 would have been a perfectly sensible plan, and maybe letting people know that he is around if Trump gets blowed up like everyone was plotting. But instead he tried to become the blower upper and sabotage 2024. All he did was sabotage himself.

Like they say, if you don't know who the mark in the room is, it's you, RDS.

12 posted on 01/21/2024 9:04:46 AM PST by AndyJackson
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To: conservative98

Where DeDeepstate went wrong was conspiring with a bunch of globalist traitors like Paul Ryan to undermine the MAGA movement. Epic fail Ron. GTFO!


13 posted on 01/21/2024 9:05:32 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: AndyJackson

I remember Democrats who had just voted for the war jumping in front of a camera within minutes to denounce the war they had just voted for. That way they were covered either way.


14 posted on 01/21/2024 9:10:46 AM PST by marron
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To: conservative98

DeSantis would have done better to wait until 2028 election, but also make himself available to step in just in case President Trump is not on the ballot—in fact being a surrogate and torch bearer for Trump would have put him in a great position as a possible 2024 saviour...

But no...he had to run against President Trump when he said he wouldn’t.


15 posted on 01/21/2024 9:11:16 AM PST by abigkahuna (Honk Honk. It’s Clown World Out There. )
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To: Georgia Girl 2

Desantis did get his name out there nationally- but for Trump supporters like myself it was ALMOST ALL NEGATIVE.

I am a Fla citizen but now he has exposed himself as being the same $hit Nicki is= for sale.

I’ll MAYBE vote for him in the future but if the idiot keeps it up and gives ANYTHING else negative, he will be primaried for whatever he runs for.

I thought he had more sense than to get aligned with traitors in the leftist movement.


16 posted on 01/21/2024 9:11:57 AM PST by politicianslie (SAFE and EFFECTIVE has become SUDDEN and UNEXPECTED. Use Dr. McCullough protocol to beat death! )
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To: conservative98

Sad to see this transpire. He may have wasted any future opportunity to be president. Good news for you Floridians though, you get to keep your governor.


17 posted on 01/21/2024 9:12:19 AM PST by McGruff (Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f*** things up - Barack Obama)
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To: conservative98

Starting with the lie that he didn’t want to run for president was the first mistake.


18 posted on 01/21/2024 9:13:10 AM PST by roving (Deplorable Listless Vessel Trumpist With Trumpitis and a Rainbow Bully)
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Talk about a politician making bad decisions.

DeSantis and his insider donors deciding to go up against the most popular, loved and respected president in American history was probably the worst political decision ever made by anyone.

__________________________________________

ALSO he could not read the people. He failed to see Trump has a welded bond with millions of his supporters, it’s historic and not been seen in modern America. You’d have to dial back to the founders to see this type of relationship between a leader and the people...It was like DeSantiz was so full of himself with arrogance, he was blinded and unable to see the political landscape.


19 posted on 01/21/2024 9:13:31 AM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: politicianslie

Ron will likely try to run for the senate after his term in the governors office ends. Do you really want this guy in the US Senate? He’s another uni party sellout.


20 posted on 01/21/2024 9:15:01 AM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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