My wife read How Fascism Works last year. We talked about the GOP's current brand. And talked. And talked. Still do. While someone like Wallace can give well-enunciated, methodical, pointed speeches, America was apparently primed for a more casual fascism. An "oh well if you think I went too far, then I was just kidding" type of fascism. Maybe it is a blessing in disguise that the GOP is still in Trump's stranglehold, but DeSantis is a-knockin'. And I think he's far more dangerous/capable, policy-wise. Trump needed his media savviness to rise to the top, especially in the primaries, but DeSantis doesn't, the conservative media apparatus will coalesce around anyone they think can take back power, and with none of the initial skepticism given to Trump.
Now I will grant you that I don't spend a lot of time studying Ron DeSantis. He may have displayed moments of pure electrical charm. But every time I see him, he looks like a mall cop whose turn to wear the manager shirt coincided with the day someone's emotional support ferret bit a girl at Hot Topic. Trump is not a particularly charismatic individual either, but he spent what? Ten years? being portrayed as an insightful, straight-shooting business mogul by a team of four hundred television technicians. I used to make that sausage and I'm here to tell ya I can make you pay eight bucks for possum assholes on a bun. But not before you make the sausage. And I ain't makin' sausage without a substantial payoff. Mark Burnett turned Donald Trump into presidential material. I've watched him do it. He's an incredibly savvy guy, and he knows exactly how to make people happy. I did Season 1 of the voice and had Carson Daly on mic when Mark Burnett walked over to him and said "so we've got a problem the judges have voted down too many people to actually make their teams." It's like... you didn't consider this possibility before rolling on an auditorium with 800 people in it? So I got to hear them come up with a solution on the fly (convince the judges to give certain candidates "another listen") in a way that was both manipulative, crowd-pleasing and free. There are no Mark Burnetts interested in turning Ron DeSantis into the next Trump. All the Mark Burnetts, in fact, have quit the Republican Party in outrage. You do not fly Briscoe Cain up to DC to stand Rudy Giuliani in front of Four Seasons Landscaping when you've got Mark Burnett on speed dial. And you definitely don't have Mark Burnett on speed dial after Four Seasons Landscaping.Maybe it is a blessing in disguise that the GOP is still in Trump's stranglehold, but DeSantis is a-knockin'.