2024 Presidential Election

[LFC]

Feb 14, 2022 3:44:45 GMT pnwguy said:

If there was any current GOP politician that might be a worse nightmare winning the White House in 2024 than Dumpster, it would be MTG. 

I can't imagine she has the national popularity among the MAGAts or the pull among the moneyed interests to pull it off. DeSatanist? Most definitely.

[Bact PhD]

Meanwhile, at CPAC in Orlando, the Supreme Emperor of Flori-DUH is staking himself as the presumptive front-runner not named Trump:

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/26/desantis-trump-cpac/

another Republican took the CPAC stage this week to deliver indignation and defiance that left little doubt he sees himself as an heir to the former president’s role as the right’s commander in America’s deepening cultural wars.

Addressing thousands at CPAC’s Orlando confab, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted what he called the country’s “biomedical security state” for encouraging vaccine and face mask mandates. He slammed corporations and universities for being “infected” with a “woke virus” that is trying to “tear at the fabric of society.” And the governor called on Americans to put on the “full armor of God” to combat liberals.

[goldenvalley]

Feb 26, 2022 18:44:49 GMT Bact PhD said:

Meanwhile, at CPAC in Orlando, the Supreme Emperor of Flori-DUH is staking himself as the presumptive front-runner not named Trump:

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/26/desantis-trump-cpac/

another Republican took the CPAC stage this week to deliver indignation and defiance that left little doubt he sees himself as an heir to the former president’s role as the right’s commander in America’s deepening cultural wars.

Addressing thousands at CPAC’s Orlando confab, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted what he called the country’s “biomedical security state” for encouraging vaccine and face mask mandates. He slammed corporations and universities for being “infected” with a “woke virus” that is trying to “tear at the fabric of society.” And the governor called on Americans to put on the “full armor of God” to combat liberals.

Considering that the CDC has issued new standards and so many states have lifted the mask reqs isn't this message going to be so stale that even his followers won't thrill to the bombastic statements about Covid anymore?   Then he'll have to hit the don't say gay and anti CRT issues hard.  

[Bact PhD]

Feb 26, 2022 23:25:14 GMT goldenvalley said:

Considering that the CDC has issued new standards and so many states have lifted the mask reqs isn't this message going to be so stale that even his followers won't thrill to the bombastic statements about Covid anymore?   Then he'll have to hit the don't say gay and anti CRT issues hard.  

Except he's been laying that groundwork for a while now. It won't take too much effort to pivot to screech "anti-'woke' " stuff all the live-long day.

[jackd]

How important to Florida voters is the anti-woke stuff as opposed or contrasted with the vaccine and mask issues?

[LFC]

Feb 28, 2022 2:10:37 GMT jackd said:

How important to Florida voters is the anti-woke stuff as opposed or contrasted with the vaccine and mask issues?

I don't know about voters in general but the Republican base will dutifully wait to be told what they find to be important. Then DeSatanist will use rage to motivate them to vote. Rise, wash, repeat.

[Bact PhD]

Feb 28, 2022 2:10:37 GMT jackd said:

How important to Florida voters is the anti-woke stuff as opposed or contrasted with the vaccine and mask issues?

You would be surprised how many Bible-thumpers there are in this state, especially in the northern part and the I-4 corridor between Tampa and Lakeland. Further, don't underestimate the impact of views on sexuality or the sometime surprising views on race in the Hispanic/Latino demographic.

Feb 28, 2022 13:41:31 GMT LFC said:

I don't know about voters in general but the Republican base will dutifully wait to be told what they find to be important. Then DeSatanist will use rage to motivate them to vote. Rise, wash, repeat.

Yup, rage is that all-powerful tool. When in doubt, get 'em mad at...something.

[LFC]

Aaaaaand presidential debates are dead.

The RNC has decided to take its ball and go home after failing to bully the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) into meeting the GOP’s demands on the structure of future debates: The RNC voted unanimously to withdraw from the CPD on Thursday, the RNC’s final salvo against the organization that Republicans (Trump, specifically) accuse of being unfairly biased against them.

• RNC chair Ronna McDaniel vowed after the vote that her group would find “newer, better debate platforms” to “ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people.”

• The RNC also passed a resolution requiring GOP presidential candidates to pledge in writing that they won’t participate in any debates that haven’t been “sanctioned” by the party. Anyone who refuses to make the pledge or participates in a non-sanctioned debate will be banned from future sanctioned debates, according to the resolution.

• The RNC will figure out its criteria for sanctioned debates based on, among other things, “input from presidential campaigns,” in the Wall Street Journal’s words (“approval from Daddy Trump” in my words).

[pnwguy]

Apr 15, 2022 14:29:18 GMT LFC said:

Aaaaaand presidential debates are dead.

The RNC has decided to take its ball and go home after failing to bully the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) into meeting the GOP’s demands on the structure of future debates: The RNC voted unanimously to withdraw from the CPD on Thursday, the RNC’s final salvo against the organization that Republicans (Trump, specifically) accuse of being unfairly biased against them.

• RNC chair Ronna McDaniel vowed after the vote that her group would find “newer, better debate platforms” to “ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people.”

• The RNC also passed a resolution requiring GOP presidential candidates to pledge in writing that they won’t participate in any debates that haven’t been “sanctioned” by the party. Anyone who refuses to make the pledge or participates in a non-sanctioned debate will be banned from future sanctioned debates, according to the resolution.

• The RNC will figure out its criteria for sanctioned debates based on, among other things, “input from presidential campaigns,” in the Wall Street Journal’s words (“approval from Daddy Trump” in my words).

What do you need debates for, when Republicans get their words directly from the Almighty?  There is nothing to debate with Satanists Democrats. It just gives them an additional platform to spout their evil.

[LFC]

Biden supposedly told Obama that he's planning to run in 2024.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 20, 2022 14:24:05 GMT LFC said:

Biden supposedly told Obama that he's planning to run in 2024.

Of course he's going to say that.  To suggest otherwise would make him a lame duck for the next two years.  He'd never get anything through Congress in that status.  He's having plenty of trouble with that now.

[LFC]

Bye-owa?

Democrats may finally knock the Iowa caucuses out of their prized first position in the presidential nominating process, in what could be that calendar’s biggest shakeup in decades.

States that want a shot at holding an early primary or caucus must submit a letter of intent to the Democratic National Committee by Friday, May 6. And the existing early states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina — must reapply, arguing why they deserve their spots.

A total overhaul is unlikely, but Iowa is in real danger of being moved from the start of the early lineup or dropped from it after the botched 2020 caucuses, which were plagued with technical difficulties and extraordinarily slow reporting of results. A new Midwestern state could be added to the mix, as could a fifth early state, and the order could be changed.

Iowa and New Hampshire had placed themselves in front of the pack for decades, but by the mid-2000s Democrats were feeling increasingly queasy about that. Both states are heavily white, and not very representative of the Democratic Party’s voter base. So in 2006, the DNC decided that two more racially diverse states, Nevada and South Carolina, would get special permission to hold early contests (after Iowa and New Hampshire). Republicans followed suit, and despite some ill-fated attempts by other states to move earlier, this four-state roster gradually became the status quo.

But Democrats have grown increasingly dissatisfied with Iowa’s role, for several reasons. Racial diversity remains a concern, with the first two states still being small white ones. Iowa has also become a safely Republican state in general elections, rather than a swing state Democrats hope to keep in their camp. Others have long criticized caucus systems generally for lacking a secret ballot and requiring too great a time commitment from voters.

The biggest problem, though, is that the two most recent Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses were controversial and messy. The issue in 2016 was a lack of a paper trail on the actual vote count for the caucuses (which happen predominantly through in-person discussions). Because of that, reforms for 2020 were aimed at increasing transparency, but in practice they complicated the reporting process, badly slowing down the process of getting results, which ended up taking about a week. Technical difficulties and obvious errors in the count made the whole thing look like a clown show.

Basically, Democrats felt they’ve granted Iowa this enormous authority over their nomination contest for so long, and that lately Iowa has been screwing it up.

[pnwguy]

Winter is coming.  Jan 20, 2025

[goldenvalley]

May 12, 2022 18:44:31 GMT pnwguy said:

Winter is coming.  Jan 20, 2025

I suspect some the "militias" that conducted the 1/6 insurrection thought they'd force the winter to come in 2021.  Maybe the 1/6 Select Committee has unearthed graphics like this one.

[LFC]

a) He's not orange.

b) Aragorn worked with elves, dwarves, hobbits, eagles, and ents. Trump would never put up with those minorities.

[pnwguy]

May 12, 2022 19:42:16 GMT LFC said:

b) Aragorn worked with elves, dwarves, hobbits, eagles, and ents. Trump would never put up with those minorities.

Hey, they are acceptable as workers.  Dumpster was hiring plenty of "illegals" at his resort properties, since they were easy to exploit.

But if it involves counting his money, only Jews are to be trusted with that.

[Bact PhD]

Don’t try to convince me that the Supreme Emperor of Flori-DUH has no further ambition than serving a full second term—not with this sort of moolah flowing towards Tallahassee. Long article heavily excerpted due to paywall.

www.gainesville.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/05/25/ron-desantis-campaign-billionaire-supporters-florida-governor-election/9707459002/

TALLAHASSEE – An astounding level of wealth is lined up behind Gov. Ron DeSantis as he seeks reelection, with at least 42 billionaires and members of billionaire families worth a combined $275 billion contributing to the governor, a vast campaign money supply that he may be able to tap repeatedly in 2022 and beyond.

Political experts say that level of billionaire support in a governor’s race is remarkable, and speaks to his star power within the GOP.

It also raises questions about how his ties to economic elites, a group he appears to be heavily courting despite public spats with companies such as Disney, could impact policy decisions.

The governor’s billionaire contributors have a combined net worth greater than the gross domestic product of Finland or Pakistan. They hail from 15 states. They include well-known names and obscure figures. Some have been dogged by scandal. One even was pardoned by former President Donald Trump.

Many of the billionaires donating to DeSantis’ reelection bid did not support him during his first race. But, as his political profile has increased, so has his billionaire support.

“That is an extraordinary number,” said Darrell West, a Brookings Institution scholar who wrote a book about billionaire political involvement. “Billionaires are getting more involved in politics, but having that many is very unusual. It shows the governor’s ability to raise money among the big-money crowd.”

A stampede of ultra-rich donors began lining up to get on the DeSantis reelection train early, likely for a multitude of reasons, from his push against COVID-19 business regulations to the belief that he is the future of the party and a likely GOP presidential nominee.

Some also have their eyes set on state policy.

Billionaire Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, for example, pushed for a $5.8 million annual tax break exempting Formula One Grand Prix tickets from sales tax. Ross’ Hard Rock Stadium hosts the Miami Grand Prix auto race. Ross gave DeSantis $100,000 in April, shortly before the governor approved the tax break.

Other billionaires who donated to DeSantis also have vast investments in Florida, including a number with massive real estate holdings.

The donors represent some of Florida’s most famous fortunes, including Publix heiress Julie Jenkins Fancelli, who gained notoriety for helping to finance a rally staged by Trump on Jan. 6, 2021…

There are well-known conservative mega-donors on the list of DeSantis’ billionaire contributors, such as Chicago hedge fund giant Ken Griffin, Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus and Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn.

There also are billionaires who have been accused of behaving badly.

Wynn recently was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice, which accused him of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for China. He resigned from his casino company and as Republican National Committee finance chair in 2018 after being accused of sexual misconduct. Tampa billionaire Edward DeBartolo Jr. pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony after giving a $400,000 bribe to the former governor of Louisiana for a riverboat gambling license.

… Wynn and DeBartolo each gave DeSantis $100,000.

Three billionaires have given DeSantis seven-figure sums, while two have contributed just $10,000.

All of them could be important to the governor’s political future, though, if they continue to give money.

Even small contributions can lead to big things down the road. DeSantis’ stable of billionaire backers could make him a formidable presidential candidate.

“The signal there is more that there’s a relationship and an alignment and there can certainly be a future,” said Melissa Stone, a GOP consultant who ran U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s 2014 campaign for governor and served as his chief of staff. “Almost no donor gives everything they’re going to give the first time, even a small dollar donor.”

Billionaires have become increasingly prominent in politics, with some running for office and many more donating to campaigns on both the right and left.

Much of their focus has been on presidential and congressional campaigns. …

Gubernatorial races, especially in large states like Florida, Texas, California and New York also have attracted interest from billionaires.

Most big-time campaigns now seem to have at least a few billionaire backers, and DeSantis was no different when he ran for governor in 2018.

[snip]

All of these billionaires also contributed to DeSantis’ reelection bid, but many more mega-wealthy individuals are now backing the governor.

Of the 42 billionaires and billionaire family members identified by the USA Today Network-Florida as contributing to DeSantis’ reelection bid, only 17 – or 40% – gave to DeSantis when he first ran in 2018.

“In the first election, it wasn’t the same,” said DeSantis fundraiser Brian Ballard, an influential lobbyist, adding that the governor had a more “traditional” fundraising operation centered around many of the usual GOP donors in Florida, including some billionaires.

Once DeSantis was in office, and especially after COVID-19 hit, conservatives across the country started paying more attention to him, including ultra-high net worth donors, Ballard said.

“Really since he’s had an opportunity to demonstrate his governing style the fundraising is incredible,” Ballard said. “It’s based on people supporting how he governs.”

Among DeSantis’ new billionaire donors, 80% are from outside Florida, including five from Texas, five from New York and four from California.

They include New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, Trump’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Illinois sandwich restaurant chain founder James “Jimmy John” Liautaud and Julia Koch, the widow of the late David Koch,…

[snip]

The USA Today Network-Florida reviewed every contribution to DeSantis’ political committee in 2019, 2020 and 2021 that was five figures or more – and some below that level – along with many of the larger 2022 contributions through the end of April, checking the donors to see if they were on Forbes’ billionaires list or had been identified as billionaires by other reputable sources.

The list of 42 billionaire DeSantis contributors includes 36 people or families on Forbes’ billionaires list and others identified as billionaires by Bloomberg, the Los Angeles Business Journal, Haaretz and AffluenceIQ. Among the 42 are two billionaires’ wives and five billionaires’ families, or individual members of these families, such as Fancelli, the Publix heiress.

Among the people with billionaire family fortunes who contributed to DeSantis are members of the DeVos family, …who are heirs to the Amway fortune and also own the NBA’s Orlando Magic. ... They gave DeSantis a combined $273,000.

Fancelli gave DeSantis $25,000 for his reelection and also contributed to his first campaign. She is the daughter of Publix founder George Jenkins….

[snip]

Experts say there likely are a variety of reasons billionaires are flocking to the governor.

Brigham Young University political science professor Jay Goodliffe, who wrote a book about money in politics, said surveys of small dollar donors indicate they mostly have ideological motivations, not economic motivations, for supporting candidates. Big donors likely are the same.

“Often a big-money donor is giving to a candidate because they already like them, they agree with them ideologically,” Goodliffe said.

Many billionaires likely are responding to DeSantis’ status as a rising GOP star, his performance during the pandemic and his conservative views. Others could be seeking policy influence, or believe DeSantis generally will push policies that benefit them.

DeSantis has been engaged in a high-profile fight with Disney over the company’s opposition to a bill restricting how issues of sexual orientation and gender identity can be discussed in schools, and his supporters point to the dustup as a sign of his independence from big donors.

“Rest assured: Governor DeSantis’ policies are always going to be in the best interest of Florida citizens, not on the musings of woke corporations,” DeSantis’ campaign touted in a recent email.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has been engaged in a high-profile fight with Disney over the company’s opposition to a bill restricting how issues of sexual orientation and gender identity can be discussed in schools.
Disney gave DeSantis $100,000 for his reelection but he went after the company anyway, drawing a rebuke from Griffin, the Chicago billionaire donor, who said “It’s important that the leaders in both parties stay above the fray when it comes to retaliation against corporate America.”

The governor also recently vetoed a bill sought by Florida Power & Light, another campaign contributor and hugely influential company.


These positions play well with a GOP grassroots that is increasingly wary of corporate America, and are in line with the populist direction of the party under Trump.

Yet Republicans are still strongly supportive of corporate America on many issues, including lower taxes and regulations. DeSantis’ big stable of billionaire donors is a sign that economic elites view him as an ally, undercutting his populist image.

“In general there’s a tension and challenge with running as a populist as part of a party that’s aligned with big business,” said Barnard College political science professor Matthew Lacombe. “The DeSantises of the world and the Trumps of the world need to show they’re not beholden to these elite figures who are deemed as anti-American, while simultaneously maintaining those relationships.”

DeSantis has generally backed policies favorable to businesses, including pushing to quickly reopen companies after a brief lockdown in the early part of the pandemic and signing big tax-cut packages. He ended Florida’s involvement in a supplemental federal unemployment benefit program early, responding to business owners who said they couldn’t find workers.

Stone, the GOP consultant, noted that many billionaires have businesses that were impacted by COVID-19 restrictions.

“Some of the guys at the top might have multiple business and tens of thousands of employees and when (business closures) became an issue during COVID it took on supreme importance,” Stone said.

Many of the billionaires began contributing to DeSantis as he rose to fame during his battle against COVID-19 restrictions and positioned himself as what Stone describes as a “fighter for personal freedom and personal liberties when big government is on the other side.”


Yet while many billionaires may be philosophically and economically aligned with the governor in general, others have seen specific economic benefits under DeSantis, such as the tax break on racing tickets that Ross pushed for.

Ross didn’t respond to a request for comment. Ron Book, a lobbyist for Ross’ Hard Rock Stadium, told the Orlando Sentinel that Formula One asked race hosts to seek such tax breaks.

The governor also signed a toll road bill that will bring a road through areas in the Big Bend region of Florida, north of Tampa, where Peterffy has large real estate holdings, potentially increasing the value of that land. Some of the toll roads in the controversial bill were later repealed, but the road through Peterffy’s land remains, in a revised form.

Peterffy told the Tampa Bay Times he didn’t advocate for the road and didn’t even know about it until he read it in the newspaper. He was an early DeSantis supporter.

The governor’s campaign did not respond to questions about his billionaire donors.

DeSantis relied more heavily on support from billionaires such as Peterffy during his first campaign, when he raised much less money, much of it from larger donors.

The governor’s enormous fundraising success heading into 2022 has made him less dependent on billionaire backers.

DeSantis raised $114 million through the end of April for his reelection bid, a staggering sum that puts him in elite company for political fundraising.

“It’s a formidable (fundraising) operation,” Ballard said. “Other than the Trump operation it’s the most formidable in the country and I don’t think there’s anyone really close.”

The 42 billionaire DeSantis donors identified by the USA TODAY Network – Florida have contributed $12.5 million, or 11% of what DeSantis has raised.

That’s significant, but DeSantis also has developed one of the strongest small dollar contribution networks of any politician in the country, raising money from email solicitations and selling campaign merchandise. And he has many donors who write big checks but aren’t billionaires.

“He has the farthest reach of any governor I’ve raised money for,” Ballard said.

The breadth of DeSantis’ appeal among GOP voters is evident in his donors, and is the reason he is often hyped as a presidential candidate.

Said BYU’s Goodliffe: “I do suspect that DeSantis’ war chest is related to rumblings about him running for president. If he were simply going to stay governor, while he would raise a lot of money I don’t think it would be on the level that we’ve seen.”

Yeeaahhh…the Disney dust-up is looking more and more like performance art for the benefit of the Fox-watching rubes who screech about “the GAYS!!” Betcha that the resolution to that situation barely creates a ripple much outside Orange and Osceola counties in FL. Meanwhile, toll roads will be built where nobody, and I mean NOBODY who lives in the area wants them (cue up Joni Mitchell).

[Bact PhD]

The latest analysis of the field from Q-Ville. Not surprisingly, the Supreme Emperor of Flori-DUH figures prominently in the conversation.

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/11/republican-president-2024-trump/

One day last month, Mike Pence secretly huddled with some of Michigan’s top donors, including the kingmaking DeVos family, as he pitched his vision for the Republican Party before flying to Georgia to campaign against former president Donald Trump’s choice for governor.

Tom Cotton, the Republican senator from Arkansas, has developed a long PowerPoint presentation about how previous candidacies for president failed — and has shown it to donors and others during meetings on how he would run a successful campaign.

Advisers and allies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, have discussed the margins for his 2022 reelection that would help put him in position to run for president in 2024 — aiming to beat the three percentage point margin that separated Trump and President Biden in the state in 2020.

With months to go before the midterm elections, the shadow campaign for the 2024 Republican nomination is well underway, with at least 15 potential candidates traveling the country, drawing up plans, huddling with donors or testing out messages at various levels of preparation. The quadrennial circus — described by more than 20 people with direct knowledge who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private machinations — has kicked into gear despite the public hints from Trump that he too plans to join the scrum “a third time.”

Interviews with over a dozen GOP operatives indicate he is not clearing the field, and a range of candidates plan to take him on from different angles.

“They’re all going to run against him,” said Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s longtime pollster. “If you have the former vice president running, what does that say for the loyalty argument?”

[jackd]

I've been reading that DiSantis is actually neck and neck with possible Democratic nominees for the governor's race. What do you think?

[goldenvalley]

Jun 12, 2022 21:00:10 GMT Bact PhD said:

The latest analysis of the field from Q-Ville. Not surprisingly, the Supreme Emperor of Flori-DUH figures prominently in the conversation.

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/11/republican-president-2024-trump/

One day last month, Mike Pence secretly huddled with some of Michigan’s top donors, including the kingmaking DeVos family, as he pitched his vision for the Republican Party before flying to Georgia to campaign against former president Donald Trump’s choice for governor.

Tom Cotton, the Republican senator from Arkansas, has developed a long PowerPoint presentation about how previous candidacies for president failed — and has shown it to donors and others during meetings on how he would run a successful campaign.

Advisers and allies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, have discussed the margins for his 2022 reelection that would help put him in position to run for president in 2024 — aiming to beat the three percentage point margin that separated Trump and President Biden in the state in 2020.

With months to go before the midterm elections, the shadow campaign for the 2024 Republican nomination is well underway, with at least 15 potential candidates traveling the country, drawing up plans, huddling with donors or testing out messages at various levels of preparation. The quadrennial circus — described by more than 20 people with direct knowledge who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private machinations — has kicked into gear despite the public hints from Trump that he too plans to join the scrum “a third time.”

Interviews with over a dozen GOP operatives indicate he is not clearing the field, and a range of candidates plan to take him on from different angles.

“They’re all going to run against him,” said Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s longtime pollster. “If you have the former vice president running, what does that say for the loyalty argument?”

I bet none of them has the guts to actually run against him. They're hoping Trump will stroke out by late 2023.

[indy]

Jun 13, 2022 5:35:31 GMT goldenvalley said:

Jun 12, 2022 21:00:10 GMT Bact PhD said:

The latest analysis of the field from Q-Ville. Not surprisingly, the Supreme Emperor of Flori-DUH figures prominently in the conversation.

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/11/republican-president-2024-trump/

I bet none of them has the guts to actually run against him. They're hoping Trump will stroke out by late 2023.

They ain't the only ones.

[Bact PhD]

Jun 13, 2022 2:47:32 GMT jackd said:

I've been reading that DiSantis is actually neck and neck with possible Democratic nominees for the governor's race. What do you think?

Where are you reading that?? It sounds like wishful thinking on someone’s part, unless that poll has been taken in the last very few days or so.

On the Dem side, one candidate, a state Senator little known outside South Florida has already bowed out of the race. It’s down to current Congressman (and former Governor) Charlie Crist versus current Ag Commissioner Nikki Fried. To date, I haven’t seen *any* report of a poll that has Supreme Emperor with anything less than a double-digit lead over either potential Dem nominee; the spread is closer to 20 percentage points from what I’ve seen.

I’d like to see the source, if it’s possible to dig it up…

[Bact PhD]

And from the “I’ll Die from the Heart Attack from Not Surprised” Department:

www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/state/2022/06/15/tesla-spacex-founder-elon-musk-likes-gov-ron-desantis-president/7632716001/

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk told his 98 million Twitter followers Wednesday that he is leaning toward supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if he runs for president.

Musk was asked by a Twitter user which candidate he is "leaning towards" for president in 2024, and he replied "DeSantis."

[snip]

"I supported Yang last time, but DeSantis has a better chance of winning," Musk said.

Asked about Musk's comments Wednesday, DeSantis said he's focused on his reelection bid but added that "With Elon Musk what I would say is: You know I welcome support from African Americans, what can I say." Musk is from South Africa.

[snip]

Musk has supported Democrats in the past but said last month that he now favors Republicans. He wrote on Twitter that he voted for a Republican in a congressional race this week, saying it was the first time he voted Republican.

“In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican," Musk tweeted.

DeSantis is frequently mentioned as a potential presidential candidate. Earlier this month he won the Western Conservative Summit's straw poll, with 71% of the activists gathered at the event saying they want him to run for president, compared to 67% for Trump.

[pnwguy]

Jun 15, 2022 18:26:48 GMT Bact PhD said:

And from the “I’ll Die from the Heart Attack from Not Surprised” Department:

www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/state/2022/06/15/tesla-spacex-founder-elon-musk-likes-gov-ron-desantis-president/7632716001/

“In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican," Musk tweeted.

Of course he must be still smoking weed with Joe Rogan to believe it's the Democrats who are all about division & hate.  I think the willful ignorance translates into "The GOP will let me become a Trillionaire tax free (as long as I bribe them)".  

[jackd]

@bact Phd, re: polls in the governor's race, I haven't been able to get a source. The statements are made in PAC's like RonBgone.org and candidate solicitations for contributions from both Crist and Fried campaigns. A quick internet search hasn't raised anything and the solicitations do not give sources. Maybe it's all hype but it seems like the sort of lie that would get them into political, if not legal, trouble.