Not sure if you’ve noticed, dear reader, but there has been a lot of rumbling about who is to blame for these, let’s face it, not GREAT midterm election results. It’s looking more and more like we’ll win the House (C’MON ALREADY) but when Republicans out-voted Democrats by 6 million votes, by all accounts this should have been a Red Wave.
So what went wrong?
Lots of people already pushing the debate over who would be a better candidate for Republicans in 2024 … while there are also plenty of us who just want to get through this freakin’ election first. And with the pushing and debating, we’re seeing ‘infighting’ with some folks, especially about Trump and DeSantis.
Luckily, Glenn Greenwald put this whole Trump/DeSantis thing into much-needed perspective:
DeSantis v. Trump wouldn't just be about personalities. DeSantis is traditional GOP. Many Republicans like that! They liked the pre-Trump GOP and want to return to that.
But Trump ran in 2016 against GOP dogma because (as Ron Paul also showed) a big part of the base rejects it. https://t.co/K0NEteyxnU
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2022
Keep going.
DeSantis is a very smart politician so he adapted to the Trump era. He also got COVID right by relying on science, and adeptly uses the culture war.
But if you look at his House voting record, he's like Pompeo: supports the foreign and economic policy which Trump 2016 rejected.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2022
Look at Glenn, making a case for each man without taking either one out or attacking them.
Here's Pompeo on Ukraine: exactly the same as Dems, neocons, Biden, etc. He's a foreign policy hawk, never opposes wars, wants pro-corporate policies, tax cuts for the rich etc. That's largely DeSantis' record, too. But much of the GOP base opposes this.https://t.co/Hj71T8Tzrt
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2022
There's real and substantive internal division on the US right in both foreign and domestic policy. The early Tea Party and Ron Paul's relative success captured that before Trump used his celebrity, charisma and media attention to win with it. These debates don't exist with Dems.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2022
Absolutely true.
They are very much ‘Blue No Matter Who.’ Look at who they elected in Pennsylvania. A dead guy and Lurch.
I can see why many conservatives want to move beyond Trump. Maybe there's someone like Josh Hawley who could more effectively advocate the 2016 iteration of Trumpism (that often wasn't reflected in his Admin). Or maybe only Trump can. But this debate is needed and is healthy.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2022
This debate is needed and healthy.
We repeat, needed and healthy.
Democrats NEED us to ‘feud’ amongst ourselves. Let’s not give it to them.
And on DeSantis, what @ZaidJilani says is true. I'm not assuming DeSantis still advocates old GOP foreign policy. Many people evolve as they see more (smart people by definition do so). Just saying his House votes were aligned with traditional GOP policy:https://t.co/ZZfqmzvgbW
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2022
People evolve.
No way.
One last point on DeSantis' record in the House on foreign policy and how it compares to Trump's 2016 campaign vision (which, again, Trump's Admin often did not follow). DeSantis did denounce and oppose Obama's intent to use military force in Syria:https://t.co/ZfBtvP31XY
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2022
And here's @justinamash — always a consistent voice and vote against needless US wars and surveillance — on both DeSantis and Pompeo, with whom he served in the House. It'll be interesting to see how DeSantis positions himself now on foreign policy:https://t.co/6qcjn2f6u3
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2022
This entire RACE will now be interesting, considering DeSantis hasn’t even really thrown his hat in the ring. Could he? Absolutely. Should he? Also, absolutely. That’s what our primaries are for – we should make our leaders and would-be presidents WORK for our votes, yes? Prove to us they are the right person for the job.
As Glenn said, this is all healthy and needed.
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Related:
Ummm … did we just see a Twitter employee tweeting smack at Elon Musk get FIRED in real-time?
Alexander Vindman’s annoying wife uses her husband’s account to try trolling Dana Loesch and OUCH
James Woods says OUT LOUD what the mainstream media refuses to about FTX, Ukraine, and Democrats
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