The Republican primary is all but over as DeSantis drops like a rock in the Granite State.
Their primary, just like the clown show in Congress, is a cruel distraction
This week CNN and the University of New Hampshire released a poll of Republican presidential primary voters in that state. CNN reports that Mr. Trump is dominating the field- the first choice of 39 percent of the voters. Ron DeSantis, at just 10-percent, trails Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and Chris Christie. Poor Mike Pence comes in at two percent.
There is so much to unpack in this delicious poll. First, it’s hardly a surprise that Mr. Trump is in front. He dominates the national news coverage like no celebrity since, well ever. He is our national addiction, as bad for the country as fentanyl, and even more widespread. Look no further than the formerly important news show, Meet the Press, where they disgracefully debuted a new anchor by giving her a long one-on-one with the liar-in-chief. It was not news. It was barely fact checked. It was just celebrity crack for consumers who cannot get enough of this man. So, of course, Trump, is dominating the GOP primaries.
Though, honestly, scraping together 39-percent of the Republicans in New Hampshire is not what anyone would call a mandate even among Republicans.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to be in big trouble as a general election candidate. That’s because most of the country thinks our President should not be a rapist and worries that it might be a distraction from the big job to also be a criminal defendant in multiple jurisdictions. There’s also this: huge coalitions have formed to advocate for reproductive freedom, progress on climate change, an economy that works for working people, and safe gun laws- all things Mr. Trump fought against.
Even Republicans don’t think he can win, which is way they are working so hard to cheat. Still, it’s his party, and no one should be shocked by his 39 percent of GOP primary voters in the Granite State.
What does surprise some people, particularly the GOP dark money crowd, is collapse of the much-hyped and deeply-funded campaign of Ron DeSantis, the autocratic leader of the MAGA Protectorate known as Florida. For a time, Rupert Murdoch, invested heavily in DeSantis, thinking he would become their standard bearer. Reportedly, Murdoch predicted the faithful of Iowa would not stomach a candidate convicted of what the judge said we should all understand to be rape. Slipping a bit, Murdoch failed to understand the power of his own propaganda. This week, he stepped down as Chair of FOX’s various propaganda enterprises. Now a new generation will advance that network further into conspiracy-hyping and irrelevance as news consumers cut the cable cord and advertisers flee.
Photo-Illustration: New York Magazine’s Intelligencer; Photo: Fox News
But DeSantis’ big war chest was not just a Murdoch creation. The GOP dark money machine was behind him as well. They saw in DeSantis their fantasy candidate. Shrewd, capable, corrupt and in love with displays of power. What’s not to like? After all, the money guys know what they are buying and have a track record of successfully corrupting the powerful. If that sounds outrageous, please read up on Justice Thomas. Or listen as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse explains how bipartisan bills to clean up the environment all died the week after Citizens United unleashed gobs of corporate, fossil fuel cash into the political system.
The CNN – UNH poll shows that issues do not really matter to the GOP as much as having a fun time at the expense of anyone who actually cares about governing. (To be fair, there have been moments in my own life when I’ve said a pox on all of them. But I always sought to make things better, not to blow things up.) In today’s GOP, a guy like Vivek Ramaswamy does very well. He is energetic, fun, and he pledges the political equivalent of a gallon of gasoline to every arsonist who would destroy the institutions of democracy. Defund, shut down, undermine, it’s all the same to them.
And the much-discussed religious right in America? The one candidate who dutifully espouses their core principles is stuck at two percent. How very medieval. Give us an anti-abortion judge and you get an indulgence that forgives your earthly sins- things like groping, assaulting, and raping a woman in clothing store changing room. Today’s GOP is an invitation to its own Reformation.
All of this, all of it, is an inexcusable, dangerous, and deep pocketed effort to distract the country from the work we need to do. And, so long as the future earnings of companies like Exxon hangs in the balance we should expect the money to flow, well, like oil.
These guys think that if we can be sufficiently distracted, Americans will think there are two similarly corrupt parties, and the Supreme Court will have space to continue to erode the government’s ability to regulate the money men and to tip the balance in favor of the powerful at the expense of the rest of us.
But here’s the thing. They can’t really distract us any more because the damage is so real. They will shut down the federal government, push more illegal and discriminatory electoral maps in Ohio and other places, attempt to nullify the election of a State Supreme Court judge in Wisconsin, ban books in Florida, rescind investment in clean energy, and force young rape victims to endure a forced pregnancy and poison the planet.
Most Americans have figured this out. We will not let them win. This past week we extended our string of victories in two special elections. Early voting is starting in Virginia for important statewide elections. And every day they put on their clown show, those of us who love this country and see our future as one we all share together, we get more motivated.