Final Thoughts on DeSantis: The One-Way Ticket Few Realized He Carried


Posted originally on the CTH on January 23, 2024 | Sundance

The most common refrain from frustrated Ron DeSantis supporters has been, ‘why didn’t he just wait until 2028’? 

With the exception of a small group of political followers in the State of Florida, few people really understood what the DeSantis 2024 operation was all about.

Ron DeSantis ’24 began long before people were paying attention.  It started when the top echelon of the GOPe UniParty saw candidate Donald Trump win the November 2016 election.

In January 2017, when the DC stop Trump operation known as Trump-Russia took on a new direction, the Republican apparatus was just as much in opposition to the Trump presidency as the Democrat wing.

The Republican politician exodus from Congress in 2018 wasn’t accidental, nor was the weak effort of the GOPe to win congressional seats in that 2018 midterm election.

Given the elements of the ‘stop Trump’ effort, the House of Representatives was part of the overall ‘stop Trump’ design.   House Speaker Paul Ryan didn’t announce his retirement in ’18 ahead of the midterm accidentally; he made the announcement because he knew the Republican leadership’s plan.

Ron DeSantis left Congress, along with Paul Ryan, because Ron DeSantis was going to run for the Florida Governor seat as part of his career move.  The people around DeSantis who supported his political career (Ryan, Bush, approved Republican types), along with the Club4Growth (David McIntosh), helped guide DeSantis with the proactive planning.  The run for governor in ’18 was always done with the expectation and plan to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

Here’s the key point.  DeSantis was always going to run for the Republican Party nomination in 2024.  There was never a consideration not to do so.  He ran for governor in 2018 specifically to set up the run for the Republican nomination in 2024.  That was always the plan.

If President Trump won the 2020 election, DeSantis was positioned to run in 2024.  If President Trump lost the 2020 election, DeSantis was positioned to run in 2024.  DeSantis was going to run in 2024; not running was not an option.  Start from that baseline and everything that took place during his tenure as Florida governor then starts to make a lot more sense.

The professionally Republican DeSantis operation always contained the need to co-opt the MAGA Trump movement.

Just like the Tea Party was infiltrated and diminished back to the control of the GOPe in 2012, so too was the plan to infiltrate MAGA and take control in 2024.  This is the reason why DeSantis ran in 2018 to mirror the Trump agenda.   Winning Florida via overt and very public support for President Trump was part of the design.

The policy agenda of Ron DeSantis was then structured to mirror the priority of the MAGA base.  This was pure strategic and political maneuvering, not a fundamental or ideological alignment in common belief with the priorities of the Trump voter.

Again, begin with the end in mind.  The end goal was always DeSantis ’24.

What Florida voters saw unfold in 2021/2022 (social policy nods to create bonafides) was precisely the DeSantis goal to create a MAGA image where the Florida governor would be the torchbearer for the MAGA standard.  However, quietly behind DeSantis was the originating establishment old guard.

In December of 2021, a full 17 months prior to the May 2023 official announcement, the invitation to the “conservative influencers” was dispatched.  Christina Pushaw was now part of the DeSantis ’24 operation, and she organized the January 6, 2022, meeting (pictured below) for that exact purpose.

This January 2022 preparation was why the people in the photograph were so sensitive about the “invitation” when questioned.

If ordinary voters, MAGA people, realized in early 2022 that Ron DeSantis was recruiting “influencers” for the campaign that was scheduled to begin a year later, it would be a risk.  The hidden agenda behind the operation would potentially be exposed.  The denials about this organization were extreme, and the ridicule over such a simple question was a “telling” indicator.

By the time the calendar took us to mid 2022, the visible datapoints all went in one direction.  The activity indicated DeSantis was going to run for the presidency in 2024, because, well, quite simply, Ron DeSantis was going to run for the presidency in 2024.  It was going to happen, and everything taking place was being done with this in mind.

The advanced scheduling was done with the 2024 campaign as the baseline.  The legislative effort was constructed with the need for policy accomplishments to support the 2023 announcement.  Everything, from the moment Ron DeSantis stepped into office as the Florida governor, was predicated on his prior agreement with the professional Republican apparatus to run for the GOP nomination in 2024.

This is why the Republican Governors Association gave DeSantis $20,000,000.00 in 2022.  The plan was for DeSantis to transfer the funds to his 2024 campaign, and the RGA was seeding the money in 2022 because they could not do it after he made the announcement in 2023.

It was being done by design, following the originating plan.  No one would question the $20 million, even though he didn’t need it, in a reelection year.  Also, the RGA could not be seen as putting a finger on the scale for the GOP nomination; so it needed to be done early by design.

The professionally Republican elements, including the DC leadership team, knew Ron DeSantis was going to run for the nomination in 2024.  This is the same DC leadership team that supports the removal of MAGA, just like that same leadership team supported the elimination of the Tea Party who were very effective at removing UniParty members through the primary process in 2010 and 2012.  Lessons were learned, now the playbook was being duplicated.

The DC leadership team also knew the DOJ team was going to raid Mar-a-Lago.  After all, the National Archives was working in the background with the DOJ to formulate the justification for the raid.  DC doesn’t keep secrets like this very well and the politically connected knew what was going to happen in advance.

This is the explanation for why the team around Ron DeSantis scheduled his time in the bunker (5 days) to coincide with the ‘shock-and-awe’ FBI raid.

The goal was to hunker down, watch the DOJ/FBI drop bombs on candidate Trump, then have Ron DeSantis emerge from the bunker in Mid-August 2022 with a national endorsement tour, soon to be followed by a soft national campaign kickoff under the guise of a “book tour.”

Hiding this advanced scheduling is why the DeSantis legislative team changed the state rules/laws for tracking the Florida Governor’s travel details.  They left nothing to chance.  The ruse needed to be maintained.  Sunlight, even in hindsight, was/is a real threat.

When you start looking with this specific retrospective in mind, then suddenly there is clarity surrounding the hubris exhibited by everyone in the DeSantis camp, including Casey DeSantis.

Ron left Congress in 2018 to advance his career and position himself for the 2024 GOP nomination.   Waiting and running in 2028 was never an option, because running in 2024 was always the original plan.  It wasn’t only a grossly inflated sense of self-importance that drove the decision, although that has always been a character trait of Ron DeSantis, the 2024 race was the original plan supported by every member of the pro-DeSantis team.

Once you realize the reality of Ron and Casey’s one-way ticket, then you start to recognize how cunning and deceitful they are.   It is not coincidental that cunning and deceptive are also the adjectives used to describe the DC Republican establishment.

Many people were fooled by this establishment Republican plan; but then again, many people were previously fooled by all the professional Republican mask wearers…. So don’t feel bad if you were tricked by the duplicity.

After all, it was not that long ago when Senator Jeff Sessions was the widely espoused “most conservative” member of the upper chamber….

  …How did that work out for us?

REPORT: DeSantis Campaign Looking for a Fat Lady


Posted originally on the CTH on January 20, 2024 | Sundance 

Help Wanted

WHO: Fat Lady
WHERE: South Carolina
WHEN: Soon
WHAT: Sing

According to numerous meatball sources, somebody sneezed.  DeSantis has cancelled Sunday media appearances. It looks like the end is nigh, Armageddon is at hand, it’s over, the drain is circled, a fat lady is needed…

Via DAILY MAIL – […] DeSantis has also in recent days dwelt publicly on the sentiment among Trump supporters he met on the campaign trail, and their pledge to vote for him in the next cycle.

Speaking on Tuesday in South Carolina, DeSantis said that Trump voters in Iowa had told him they would support him in four years.

‘They were coming up to me saying, “We want you in 2028, we love you, man,” he said.

He told a similar story on NBC News.

‘I had people come up to me saying, “I love you, man. I’m going to do Trump this time and you next time,”‘ he said.

‘That’s not what I wanted to hear, but being there we did make an impression and it’s important.’ (read more)

(Via New York Times) – After a humbling loss in Iowa, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is starting to signal that he is building an off-ramp from the race for the Republican presidential nomination, a seeming acknowledgment of his dim prospects of defeating Donald J. Trump given his low poll numbers in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

So far this week, Mr. DeSantis has cast his eyes forward to 2028 with anecdotes about Trump supporters saying they would vote for him next time around if he runs again in four years. He has conceded that Mr. Trump’s thumping victory in Iowa on Monday made for a “good showing in terms of him winning the nomination.” And he has openly admitted that he believes he made a strategic mistake by icing out the traditional media earlier in the campaign.

It all amounted to a kind of frankness that Mr. DeSantis has not always shown in his public comments about the nominating contest — and a marked change in tone for a candidate who spent most of last year brashly promising he would win Iowa, which he lost by 30 points.

On Thursday, the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt asked Mr. DeSantis if his campaign would survive through the end of March. The Florida governor replied that things were not necessarily going to plan. (read more)

Come for the Great MAGA King, you gotta get through the MAGA tribe first!!

Not happening !

The Ron DeSantis Closing Message to Iowa is a Perfect Encapsulation of Ron DeSantis


Posted originally on the CTH on January 15, 2024 | Sundance 

I doubt this guy is going to come in second place, maybe third; yet there’s a possibility he could even drop to a devastating fourth.  The short answer about why is in this closing message.  The Florida governor shows who he is.

Giving his closing message to Iowa voters, Ron DeSantis attacks Donald Trump by saying, “if you kiss the ring, he’ll say you’re wonderful.  You can be the strongest, most dynamic successful Republican and conservative in America, but if you don’t kiss that ring, then he’ll try to trash you.”  This comes after Ron DeSantis was desperate in 2018 and likely to lose the Florida governor race to a drug fueled porn addict, so his team begged Donald Trump for assistance.

American voters are not stupid.  The labeling and attacking do not work when it is full of fraud, sanctimony and hypocrisy.  That said, this is also why DeSantis has very few friends and even fewer endorsements amid those in the Florida delegation who know him best. WATCH:

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You know what the strange thing is…. I doubt strongly that Ron DeSantis has any idea just how much damage he has done to himself with this campaign.  The echo-chamber around DeSantis is so necessarily isolating, only after he drops out will he personally begin to absorb just how small, pathetic and insignificant he has become.

LOL – Ron DeSantis Presented a Participation Trophy in Iowa


Posted originally on the CTH on January 13, 2024 | Sundance 

This is more than a little funny.  The stuff people do can just make you laugh out loud sometimes.

Some guy interrupts Ron DeSantis as he begins to start his remarks at a campaign event to present the Florida governor with an actual participation trophy.  It took a few seconds for people to realize DeSantis was being trolled.  Making matters all that much funnier, Casey DeSantis eventually plays the role of security and stands between Ron and the guy with the trophy.  WATCH:

Ouch, what this guy did was brutal; however, the reality of the Iowa situation makes his snarky trolling that much more effective.

Team Ron DeSantis put all their chips into winning the Iowa caucuses.  They visited all 99-counties and spent more time in Iowa than any other candidate.  However, all of that effort exhausted, all of that money spent, all of that strategic planning and DeSantis is now in third place and likely to get beaten by Nikki Haley for the first-loser trophy.

[DATA HERE]

DeSantis Responds to Ramaswamy Challenge to Pull Out of Colorado – Saying: No Way, Those Delegates Are Now Mine


Posted originally on the CTH on December 20, 2023 | Sundance 

Folks, before getting to the substance of what you are about to see and hear, let me point out something very serious.

When you listen to the gleeful whispers of demons on your shoulder, something physically begins to manifest.  Look at Ron DeSantis carefully.  I mean, really look at him.  Do you see it?  Notice the absence of light, joy and happiness around him.  The Florida Governor is traveling in a very dark psychological place, and it shows.

In this interview (prompted), Ron DeSantis is asked about the challenge by Vivek Ramaswamy for all candidates to pull out of the Colorado primary after the state supreme court decided to use black-robed political power in an effort to remove President Donald Trump from the ballot.  DeSantis, dancing with demons, says he is not withdrawing from Colorado, because those precious delegates will now be his.  WATCH:

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Tucker Carlson Calls DeSantis Influencers: “the nastiest, stupidest, and the most zero-sum people I’ve ever seen in my life.”


Posted originally on the CTH on December 18, 2023 | Sundance

Oh snap, this is buckets of funny.  The DeSantis influencers are having major ‘splodey heads right now.  The meltdowns are too funny.  What makes this even more hilarious is that DeSantis online influencers considered Tucker Carlson to be a major player in their tribe.

Speaking at the Turning Point USA event to Tim Pool {Direct Rumble Link}, Tucker Carlson gave his opinion on the Ron DeSantis online influence campaign; saying, “the people who represent him online are the nastiest, the stupidest, and the most zero-sum people I’ve ever seen in my life.”  WATCH:

It’s funny, because it’s true.

Christina Pushaw put all of her attention into recruiting online “influencers” in 2022, and they turned out to be the most rude, obnoxious, nasty people on all social media.  It’s just too funny, because we watched it unfold in real time.  

Jeff Roe Resigns from Ron DeSantis Super PAC After Staff Leaks Massive Turmoil Amid Campaign Collapse


Posted originally on the CTH on December 16, 2023 | Sundance 

Following a scathing insider report of the turmoil within the campaign and SuperPAC for presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, chief strategist Jeff Roe resigns.

It is stunning to contemplate the starting point of $269,000,000.00 [and more since] has essentially done nothing except destroy the public image and brand of Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis.   No presidential campaign has ever amassed such a proactive funding war chest and blown it to smithereens before the first votes have even taken place.

Never Back Down Super PAC Chief Strategist, Jeff Roe, delivered the following statement via Twitter:

The Washington Post presented a scathing report [SEE HERE] outlining details provided by 22 people in the DeSantis campaign and Super PAC.   Within hours of that report being posted, Jeff Roe quit.

WaPo – […] With just weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses, the experiment is now in tatters. The super PAC that funded almost all of the DeSantis advertising and field programs and much of the candidate’s travel and events has been sidelined by the people that created it.

[…]  Five senior officials have left Never Back Down since late November. Three officials with Roe’s firm were fired, and the board chairman and the founding chief executive both resigned, amid internal concerns about legal compliance. A verbal conflict from inside the group’s Atlanta offices became public, as did DeSantis’s own misgivings about the outside group’s leadership. The governor and his campaign staff have been frustrated by reporting on the drama around Never Back Down and critical of the group’s ad strategy, with DeSantis’s second campaign manager, James Uthmeier, publicly instructing donors to give elsewhere for TV ads.

Rather than a new playbook for presidential campaigns, the broader DeSantis project has exposed the dangers of depending on emerging loopholes in campaign finance law that allow candidates to turn over traditional election efforts to groups that can take donations of any size from corporations or individuals.

“The super PAC model of winning a presidential primary, I think, is staggering, if not on the ropes,” said one DeSantis donor. “And if you’re going to have a successful presidential primary campaign you need to be able to raise hard dollars.”

[…] On Saturday, a top official at Never Back Down elaborated on the firings in a statement that for the first time publicly suggested their rationale. “Following mismanagement and conduct issues, including numerous unauthorized leaks containing false information, senior officials were terminated,” said Never Back Down chairman Scott Wagner. “We don’t have time to indulge false narratives from those with ulterior motives.”

The Post asked employees for a response. A lawyer for the employees then contacted Wagner claiming his assertions were categorically false and he revised his statement, replacing the first sentence with: “Following some opinions regarding mismanagement and conduct issues, including some who believed there appeared to be numerous unauthorized leaks containing false information, NBD and some senior officials parted ways. ”

A representative for the three former employees declined to comment Saturday.

Three people familiar with the super PAC’s decision-making described reasons for suspecting the three fired officials of wrongdoing, but the organization did not provide clear evidence implicating them. Two other people familiar with the inner workings of the group said they are not aware of proof.

[…]  Still, some in DeSantis’s orbit are holding out hope for a comeback. During his first campaign for governor, DeSantis won despite shaking up his team late in the race.

“Clearly, we are underperforming. Clearly we haven’t lived up to the billing. But I do think this adaptive behavior is going to produce better results in the end,” said Dan Eberhart, a DeSantis donor. “Clearly, Haley has some momentum nationally. Clearly, Trump is lapping the field. But I think he’s got an underdog’s chance at pulling off a humongous upset.” (read more)

The DeSantis loyalists promise to keep swinging for the fences.  However, everything around their effort was/is built upon fraud, manipulation, deceit and astroturf.  This outcome should not come as a surprise to those who have followed along.

Almost everyone in the operation and in the promotion thereof, are retreads from the failed Ted Cruz campaign of 2016.  Someone in professional GOPe circles had the idea to enmesh the Never Trump group with the Bush team and try to build a brand image for Ron DeSantis that could co-opt the MAGA base.

It was a stupid strategy from the outset, made even worse by their tone-deaf missing of reality.  Tens-of-millions of core base voters have their eyes wide open now.  They are not going to destroy the movement, and the collapse of Ron DeSantis just shows how strategically smart the base voter has become.

At a certain point, the pretending hits the sunlight of reality.

Report – Team DeSantis Splitting from Superpac Amid Anger Over PAC Inability to Boost Florida Governor


Posted originally on the CTH on December 2, 2023 | Sundance

There is an interesting report from Politico expanding on the conflict between the campaign of Ron DeSantis and the Never Back Down SuperPAC that was intended to support him.  [SEE HERE]

Essentially, the Politico sources from within the DeSantis operation are claiming the campaign is furious about how the SuperPAC has spent tens of millions, yet the Florida Governor is less supported now than before the campaign launched.  As the article is framed, we are watching the final stages of the DeSantis implosion as a more favored new SuperPAC is launching for a last-ditch effort at rebranding.  That would be reboot 5.0.

That said, I would caution applying too much credit to the actual split, because Ron DeSantis previously deposited his entire leadership and leftover campaign account from his Florida race into the NBD SuperPAC.  DeSantis is stuck with Jeff Roe and Ken Cuccinelli regardless of their incompetence.

(Politico) – Tensions between Ron DeSantis’ struggling presidential campaign and his allied super PAC are boiling over, with the campaign losing confidence in Never Back Down’s leadership and ability to orchestrate a TV advertising campaign, according to two people close to the Florida governor.

The criticism comes amid mounting questions about the strength of DeSantis’ campaign, and that of Never Back Down. The super PAC has suffered two major departures over the last week, with the organization’s CEO, Chris Jankowski, and its chair, Adam Laxalt, stepping down.

Earlier this week, DeSantis campaign manager, James Uthmeier, wrote a memo to donors in which he praised Never Back Down for its field operation and urged the group to focus on that going forward. But he implicitly suggested a newly formed pro-DeSantis super PAC, Fight Right, take the lead on TV advertising. Campaign officials believe the PAC’s TV ads have been ineffective, according to two people close to DeSantis and granted anonymity to speak freely.

“The campaign doesn’t think NBD’s current interim leadership should be within a mile of a TV budget,” said one of the people close to DeSantis. A Never Back Down representative declined to comment.

[…] “The last few weeks have caused the campaign to lose confidence in multiple top NBD officials as a result of poor performance as well as rampant leaking to push false, unauthorized narratives to the press,” the person close to the governor said.

Never Back Down has emerged as the highest-spending super PAC of the presidential campaign so far. According to media buying figures, the organization has spent more than $39 million on advertising. But there has been little evidence the barrage has helped, with DeSantis sliding back for months in public opinion polls. He is not only running far behind former President Donald Trump, but is locked in a battle for second with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. (read more)

The wheels on the bus go woomp woomp woomp“… 

DeSantis on War with the Bahamas? Re-Posted Nov 14, 2023 By Martin Armstrong 


DeSantis initially attempted to remain a bit vague on where he stands on America’s participation in foreign wars. He redacted a statement made early on in his campaign about America’s involvement in Ukraine, saying they are, in fact, deserving of US resources. Ron DeSantis did a good job as the governor of Florida by putting Florida first, but would he put America first as president?

DeSantis showed great leadership when he sent two planes into an active warzone to retrieve American citizens. He has vowed to deport pro-Hamas protestors, which is at least a US-related issue. Ron went overseas to visit Netanyahu, who called him a “friend of Israel.” “We didn’t talk about American politics,” Netanyahu said. “I have enough politics here.” Once again, a US politician is failing to put America first.

DeSantis is now saying that Israel’s response to the attack by Hamas is inevitable. “What are you supposed to do? I mean, I used to say even when they would just fire the normal rockets because they’ve been firing these rockets for years and years. And I thought to myself, like, if the Bahamas were firing rockets into Fort Lauderdale, like, we would not accept that for, like, one minute. I mean, we would just level it. We would never be willing to live like that as Americans,” DeSantis said.

Now, the Bahamas has no plans to attack Florida, and the analogy is a bit ridiculous. Florida-Bahama tensions are non-existent. But most importantly, DeSantis is showing that he would pledge full support to Israel if elected president and escalate this war in accordance with the globalist agenda.

The presidential hopeful has stated that America is responsible for protecting Israel. He is ramping up fears of nuclear war to explain America’s involvement. “Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons creates a risk like you’ve not seen in this region,” DeSantis said. “It’s an existential threat to the state of Israel and to the United States of America.” The media loves the old “weapons of mass destruction” tactic.

Now, this is the man who once called the war in Ukraine a “territorial dispute” before changing his mind and condemning Putin as a war criminal. He is not coming out as a blatant Neocon like Haley, but make no mistake about it: DeSantis is a pro-war candidate.

Ron DeSantis Wins Endorsement From “America’s Most Unpopular Governor”


Posted originally on the CTH on November 5, 2023 | Sundance 

The timing here is just splendid.  According to multiple MSM sources, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is scheduled to endorse Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP nomination.  The endorsement is scheduled to be announced tomorrow in Iowa.

This endorsement comes on the heels of a recent Morning Consult poll [SEE HERE] showing Governor Kim Reynolds is “America’s most unpopular governor.” How appropriate is that?!

[…] “Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa) is America’s most unpopular governor, with a 47% disapproval rating, up from 39% in the first quarter of 2023. Her unpopularity increased partly because of a surge in negative sentiment among independent and Republican voters during a year in which she signed a strict anti-abortion law and took a lashing from former President Donald Trump over her apparent closeness with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.).” (link)

[Source Link]

You might remember when I said, and repeated, to “watch the RGA.”  Well, surprise, surprise, guess who is the current RGA Chair?  Yup, Kim Reynolds. {link}  These people are entirely predictable.

[CTH, January 2023] […] “As I’m watching President Trump doing the familiar targeting of the GOPe roadmap, in this instance hitting the Club for Growth (CfG), my spidey senses are telling me their modified 2024 path will involve increased emphasis on the Republican Governors Association (RGA).

In the 2020 midterms, the RGA headed by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey was positioning: specifically positioning Ron DeSantis.  If the modified establishment roadmap rolls out as it looks right now, I suspect the RGA will play a key role in it.”  (keep reading)

You might not have remembered the way the RGA was positioning [reference the $20 million donation to DeSantis in April 2022, which was always intended as a laundry operation for the 2024 GOP primary], which always had this Reynolds endorsement lined up to be triggered, but at least we know Donald Trump saw the roadmap as outlined.

Back in February, 2023, President Donald Trump was noting the same strategic plays that we were.  Fortunately, he was keeping an eye on how the Republican Governors Association (RGA) was intending to execute their anti-MAGA moves against the base working class voters. [Trump Truth]

[Background Article]

Once you see the strings on the marionettes, it becomes impossible to return to that moment in the performance when you did not see them.

Lastly, while this endorsement was pre-baked into the 2024 roadmap and entirely predictable, it has been triggered early.

Kim Reynolds endorsing Ron DeSantis is a break from tradition.  The Iowa governor rarely endorses a presidential candidate; hence, that was the motive for the plan.  The roadmap added this little ‘shock and awe’ move as part of the design long before people were even willing to admit that DeSantis was running.  However, the endorsement was not supposed to happen until after the 2023 holidays, when it would be closer to the Iowa caucuses and carry more benefit.

Why did the DeSantis handlers need to trigger this endorsement early?  Because DeSantis is going backward in Iowa and Nikki Haley is now pushing ahead of him.

The more the Iowa voters get to see Ron DeSantis, the less they like him.

The GOPe roadmap is collapsing… the timing of this predictable move by the RGA component shows desperation.

The billionaire class of the professional Republican manipulators are failing, Bigly!

Be of good cheer, we are kicking their ass! 

[Source]