Many of the well known political commentators on Substack have already dismissed the DeSantis campaign as a dismal failure, a train wreck about to happen, and all because of the candidate himself who is now reduced to flying commercial. It’s true that his far right, fascist policies are not selling that well. And, as I have previously discussed, he is being mocked by both Republicans and Democrats over his feud with Disney. What’s left of his team is working to reverse the trend. According to a bunch of leaked memos developed to prepare Ron for the big debate Wednesday night, one key strategy is to defend Trump. This is consistent with Ron's politics, wherein he wants to be Trump-like, leaning even further right, but without some of the drama. So, model yourself after a twice impeached guy who is out on bail in 4 criminal trials totaling 91 felony counts - pure political genius.
In an interesting yet depressing story by the Washington Post, we see how the ethics of our part time governor are just as sketchy as Trump’s. According to the Post, the efforts by DeSantis to effectively auction off his leisure time to those seeking to influence state policy created a special pathway of access for wealthy donors to the governor that is striking in the way that it was documented in writing, ethics experts said. Beginning when he took office in 2019, Ron and his campaign team kept a list of lobbyists with a target figure for each for contributions that the lobbyists would be expected to raise from client companies in exchange for face time with the governor. And, a game of golf, a favorite sport of Ron's, offers plenty of face time.
There were other events such as lunches, tours, meetings, etc. that were used as donation vehicles, but golf was a special favorite of Ron DeSastrous. He visited one private club so often (without joining) that the club asked him to pay up or stop coming. Lobbyists were monitored and pressured if they weren't meeting their goals for contributions.
While "unseemly" as these arrangements appear, they are not technically illegal under Florida campaign finance law which has as many holes as Swiss cheese when it comes to campaign contributions. Lobbyists often aggregate contributions from multiple clients to reach a goal. At the federal level such arrangements have to be disclosed, but not in Florida. So, do wealthy contributors achieve policy wins? Yes, you can make that inference in many instances according to the Post. But, the big losers are the ordinary citizens of Florida who can't afford to play golf with the governor. He doesn't care about them.
Bottom line, do I agree that the DeSantis campaign is failing? I am struggling with a major case of cynicism but I sure as hell hope so. Of course, in Florida we’re stuck with him. As president, I think he would be worse than Trump and he is just as serious a threat to our democracy. Even worse, the Republicans don’t have anything better, not a single credible, ethical, moral, or intelligent candidate. Profiles in courage? Not in today’s Republican party. We have to hope the Democrats can prevail for the survival of our country.