According to Rolling Stone, Rupert Murdoch is wavering in his support for Ron DeSantis:
In recent weeks, the Murdochs have grown increasingly displeased with the DeSantis campaign’s perceived stumbles, lackluster polling, and inability to swiftly dethrone Trump....According to two of the sources, Murdoch has privately winced at DeSantis’ nonstop cultural-grievance strategy, arguing that it is being executed sloppily.
Let me get this straight. Murdoch isn't especially concerned about DeSantis's ceaseless and repellent pandering to haters and the ignorant. He's only concerned that DeSantis isn't doing it very well.
Good to clear that up.
DeSantis is not only wacky but he comes across as mean spirited and lacking a sense of humor.
Murdock etc al seem to be warming to Youngkin of Virginia as an "anyone but Trump" alternative.
this is like stepping into a puddle of #1 only to put the the other foot into a pile of #2
????????????????
Trump is a 21st Century Ronald Reagan. The hatred is there, but his followers see him as a misunderstood good guy who only wants what’s best for the country. They can support him because he makes them feel good about their hatred. It’s not hatred at all, just a righteous defense of their values. He puts up a fun house mirror and they look in it and see patriots fighting for freedom.
DeSantis is a 21st Century Nixon. The hatred is there for all to see. It is unvarnished. DeSantis makes them see their own hatred for what it actually is. He puts the mirror up and they look in it and see the monsters they actually are.
Honestly, I don’t see how Trump does it. He and DeSantis seem like pretty much the same guy to me.
Trump is a showman. Deep down, I suspect he knows his shtick is all bullshit.
On the other hand, DeSantis believes his own bullshit.
A "showman"? I'd say "con man."
False dichotomy. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Trump is the only US president ever inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2013, celebrity category).
Trump is well-versed in the use of kayfabe. And his culture war antics are mostly kayfabe because his agenda is the same as the other plutocrats: tax cuts, rightwing judges to protect the interests of the wealthy and the dismantling of the regulatory state. As president, he delivered brilliantly on the first two and made some progress with the third, although he needed a second term to finish it.
The GOP establishment grumbles over his crass style but if he is the nominee in 2024 they will get behind him because his agenda is their agenda.
"... his agenda is the same as the other plutocrats: "
That is too friendly to him. In addition to what the plutocrats want, he also wants to abolish democracy and rule the countery "with strength" like Putin, Xi and Kim.
“I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.”
-- Peter Thiel
You look at a man who built a transnational multibillion-$$ business based on "ceaseless and repellent pandering to haters and the ignorant", and wonder that he doesn't want to employ someone who sucks at that game?
(I realize "employ" isn't quite the right word, but I'm not sure we have one for that relationship. Mutual parasitism isn't a thing, but is close to the meaning. Maybe human centipede-ouroboros?)
Murdoch has privately winced at DeSantis’ nonstop cultural-grievance strategy, arguing that it is being executed sloppily.
He's not wrong.
Twice today I heard that Murdoch is looking at Youngkin and that scares me to death. Youngkin is a bamboozler. He's every bit as bad as Trump, Pence, DeSantis, et. al. but he has an "aw shucks" routine in a fleece vest and too many rural people in Virginia bought it.
Actually, the problem isn't the rural people. They were going to vote "R" come Hell or High Water. The buyers were the 'burbanite women who thought that "Glenn" was a nice guy like their husbands, all tweedy and pipey and all. Those years toiling away as an executive at Carlyle smoothed off the "harsher" edges of Randism.
He literally "fleeced" the electorate of Virginia, and stands a very good chance of doing it to America as a whole. His "Super-power" may well be that he doesn't give a rodent's hindquarters what Donald Trump thinks of him. He's a LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT....LOT! richer. So Trump can taunt and he'll just ignore the noise while towering over him.
Turns out that being a Principal Partner in Hedge Funds is a lot more lucrative than bankrupting casinos. And it takes a LOT more smarts.
The one good thing about Youngkin is that he has investments in Europe. He probably won't let Ukraine fail.
The Murdochs want their effing tax cuts. The bigotry is merely a means to that end.
I hate how the American media normalizes an Australian media mogul's grip on this country.