Category DeSantis Running Worst Campaign Ever

Dec 17 2023

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.

Dec 3 2023

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“… 

Dec 2 2023

Chairman of Ron DeSantis Superpac, Never Back Down, Quits


Posted originally on the CTH on December 1, 2023 | Sundance

It’s like watching a slow-motion train wreck of Sea Island billionaires.

Last week the Chief Executive Officer of the DeSantis “Never Back Down” super PAC, Chris Jankowski, backed down and quit.  This week the Chairman of the SuperPAC, Adam Laxalt, quits.  …And Florida now dislikes DeSantis, so there’s no easy return home.  Best primary election ever.

Associated Press – The chairman of the most powerful independent group supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential ambitions has resigned, marking the second major departure at the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC in the last two weeks.

Never Back Down Chairman Adam Laxalt, the former Nevada attorney general and a close DeSantis confidant, submitted his resignation on Sunday, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Associated Press on Friday. The New York Times first reported Laxalt’s decision.

“Effective immediately, I am resigning from the Board of Directors of Never Back Down. After nearly 26 straight months of being in a full scale campaign, I need to return my time and attention to my family and law practice,” Laxalt wrote to the super PAC board. “I will continue to support Governor DeSantis in whatever ways I can, and I hope and pray that his campaign will be successful.”

Last week, the super PAC’s chief executive, Chris Jankowski, also resigned.

The moves come as DeSantis struggles to redirect his stagnant presidential campaign, which has fallen far short of expectations. The 45-year-old Florida governor entered the 2024 GOP primary this spring as the chief rival to former President Donald Trump. Now, he’s locked in a fierce contest for a distant second place with former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley as Iowa’s make-or-break presidential caucuses loom just six weeks away. (read more)

All of these characters were former Ted Cruz 2016 guys.  Too funny.

Nov 3 2023

Shrinking Ron DeSantis Goes Shopping for a Lift With MSNBC, Morning Joe, Viewers


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

The guy gets more pathetic with every poll that shows him shrinking.  The latest strategy to garner Republican support is for the Florida governor to appear on MSNBC “Morning Joe” to participate in the orange man bad conversation.

The devolution of DeSantis is actually quite funny; it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of visible desperation.  We all knew this was going to happen, but it’s still pathetic to watch it play out in real time.  In the big picture, the arc of this collapsing narrative was very predictable, because Ron DeSantis winning the 2024 GOP nomination is not the goal of the people who funded and talked him into this mission.  The real goal is to stop Trump, and that brings forth all of the silly desperation as Trump keeps dominating.

As Ron DeSantis brags on his electability, MSNBC runs graphics showing how badly his campaign is doing.  Too funny.  Additionally, Ron DeSantis now pushes the narrative that Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election and took nuclear secrets to his home in Mar-a-Lago.  WATCH:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=TVUloqDbzYo%3Ffeature%3Doembed

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Longer excerpt below.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=BSZzIIrjd7I%3Ffeature%3Doembed

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Oct 29 2023

What the Heck Is on His Feet?


Posted originally on the CTH on October 28, 2023 

This is not an intelligent man of temperate disposition.  This is an empty vessel filled with the thoughts, catchphrases, and opinions of others, including his apparel.

What is this choice of goofy footwear supposed to represent?

DeSantis spoke with DailyMail.com ahead of his remarks at a breakfast with Nevada Republicans at Treasure Island on the Las Vegas Strip. (Source)

Someone once swore to me that a person very close to DeSantis was intentionally undermining his effort because they quietly disliked (immensely) the fraudulent operation surrounding this long-planned 2024 presidential bid.  I laughed it off, but they were very serious.  As time goes on, and these subtle exhibitions of his authentically stupid persona surface, I no longer dismiss that prior statement.

Oct 22 2023

New York Times Confirms Details of Pushaw Created DeSantis Online Influencer Effort, With Daily Emails to Create Astroturf Campaign


Posted originally on the CTH on October 21, 2023 | Sundance

CTH readers don’t need to spend too much time digging into the granules of this recent New York Times article about how Christina Pushaw organized an online “influencer campaign” for Ron DeSantis that has failed miserably [SEE HERE].   However, it’s still funny to see the confirmation, and the people from inside the operation telling the NYT the group gets daily email instructions.

I wrote about the obvious transparency of the effort well over a year ago, and then continued to track it as the operation unfolded and grew just before the “official launch” of the DeSantis campaign.  “In late 2021, early 2022, Ms. Pushaw invited a group of “influencers” to spend time with Governor DeSantis.  It’s not a debatable event. Factually, the collective group took gleeful pictures of their first visit on January 6, 2022, and continued to post frequent pictures on their social media of events throughout last year.”{link}

As the DeSantis operation collapses into a parody of itself, some of the recruited influencers are now speaking about how the astroturf operation was organized.  Everyone who watched it unfold, knows it was the stupidity of Pushaw who tried to fake the support system, built the operation on fraud and then sold it to a bunch of billionaires who now -according to the Times reporting- have major regrets.

(New York Times) – In early May, as Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida prepared to run for president, about a dozen right-wing social media influencers gathered at his pollster’s home for cocktails and a poolside buffet.

The guests all had large followings or successful podcasts and were already fans of the governor. But Mr. DeSantis’s team wanted to turn them into a battalion of on-message surrogates who could tangle with Donald J. Trump and his supporters online.

[…]  Four months later, those worries seem more than justified. Mr. DeSantis’s hyper-online strategy, once viewed as a potential strength, quickly became a glaring weakness on the presidential trail, with a series of gaffes, unforced errors and blown opportunities, according to former staff members, influencers with ties to the campaign and right-wing commentators.

Even after a recent concerted effort to reboot, the campaign has had trouble shaking off a reputation for being thin-skinned and meanspirited online, repeatedly insulting Trump supporters and alienating potential allies.

[…]  Ms. Peck exercised little oversight of the campaign’s online operations, which were anchored by a team known internally as the “war room,” according to the three former aides. The team consisted of high-energy, young staffers — many just out of college — who spent their days scanning the internet for noteworthy story lines, composing posts and dreaming up memes and videos they hoped would go viral.  At the helm was Christina Pushaw, Mr. DeSantis’s rapid response director.

[…]  In early August, the aerospace tycoon Robert Bigelow, who had been by far the largest contributor to Never Back Down, the pro-DeSantis super PAC, said he would halt donations, saying “extremism isn’t going to get you elected.” Money from many other key supporters of Mr. DeSantis has also dried up, including from the billionaire hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin.

Terry Sullivan, a Republican political consultant who was Senator Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign manager in 2016, said the bizarre videos amounted to a warning sign for donors that Mr. DeSantis’s campaign was chaotic, undisciplined and chasing fringe voters.

[…]  The existing network of DeSantis influencers has presented challenges for the campaign. Online surrogates for Mr. DeSantis have repeatedly parroted, word for word, the talking points emailed to them each day by the campaign, undermining the effort to project an image of widespread — and organic — support.

Last month, for example, three different accounts almost simultaneously posted about Mr. Trump getting booed at a college football game in Iowa. Bill Mitchell, a DeSantis supporter with a large following on X, said the identical posts were coincidental.

“I talk with all of the team members when necessary but other than the daily emails get no specific direction,” he said. (read more)

The pathetic nature of the failure is ironically apropos for Ron DeSantis.

Everything about the DeSantis operation was/is fabricated, fake, constructed to give appearances, inauthentic and astroturf.  Voters are not stupid; they can see it and feel it in the construct as delivered.  The effort of the DeSantis operation, from Sea Island to Christina Pushaw, highlights how little they think of the American electorate.  They actually believed this con would work.

Pushaw thought she could mold DeSantis into the next Zelenskyy by using the same operation in the USA that was used in Ukraine.   It didn’t work.

[BACKSTORY Previously Outlining the Nonsense]

Oct 7 2023

Local Florida News Station Broadcasts Reality of DeSantis Campaign


Posted originally on the CTH on October 6, 2023 | Sundance

WFLA news broadcasts in the Tampa Bay area of Florida.  Recapping Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign trip in the area, the broadcasters were brutally honest.

According to the reporter on the ground, about 200 people showed up for DeSantis, and things get worse as the political analyst explains the status of nonexistent campaign funds and donors pulling away from the governor in his doomed bid to reestablish the Bush era in national politics.  WATCH:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dEryt_JOSP4%3Ffeature%3Doembed

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DeSantis haz sad….

Oct 6 2023

Florida Power & Light Successfully Lobbied DeSantis


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Oct 6, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Florida Supreme Court denied Florida Power & Light’s request to spike energy rates by 20%. The court demands that state regulators properly explain the need for the drastic spike in rates. Floridians Against Increased Rates, Florida Rising, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, and the League of United Latin American Citizens of Florida took the energy company to court and stated it violated state law and public interest. So where does DeSantis come into play?

DeSantis appoints the Florida Public Service Commission, and he approves the board. Who donated $9.5 million to the DeSantis campaign? Florida Power & Light. The governor is responsible for their jobs and budget. The originally approved money grab cost Floridians $692 million last January, followed by an additional $560 million after the most recent hike. People here will tell you that their energy bills have doubled, if not more. FPL is one of many energy companies in the state that are taking advantage of the people.

The Supreme Court said that they could not find any justification for the increased energy costs. “In this case, after hearing from 60 witnesses and receiving 635 exhibits into evidence, the commission produced an explanation of its public interest determination that spanned little more than a page,” Justice John Couriel stated. “The order provides conclusory statements about the virtues of the settlement agreement, not the reasoned explanation required for our review.”

The energy company’s reply is contradictory to everything DeSantis is campaigning on. “FPL customers are already benefiting from this agreement, which enables the company to continue making sustained, customer-focused investments in infrastructure, clean energy and innovative technology while keeping bills as low as possible,” the statement said. DeSantis claims he is against the push for sustainable clean energy. In fact, he denied accepting funding from the Inflation Reduction Act that would have provided Floridians with rebates for installing green energy measures.

I am a bit disappointed in Ron DeSantis. I can discuss the insurance crisis in Florida in another post, as insurance companies have fled Florida and the ones that are left are demanding double-digit increases each year. As I am writing this post, word came in that Progressive Insurance is pulling out of Florida now too. A lot of people here pay more for insurance than taxes. So while it is a low-tax state, the rising insurance and energy costs are quickly making up for those costs.

We all saw the first GOP debate where DeSantis looked around the room before raising his hand to say he was against additional aid to Ukraine. Looking around the room before giving a response is not indicative of a leader. I initially liked DeSantis, but now his integrity is in question.

Oct 1 2023

Desperate DeSantis Appears on Bill Maher Show to Defend Joe Biden from 2020 Election Questioning


Posted originally on the CTH September 30, 2023 | Sundance 

With Donald Trump holding an unbreakable majority lead with the base voters, and with Nikki Haley now surging to take the lead over the Never Trump Republicans, Ron DeSantis is watching his lane disappear.

Last night, in a desperate move to appeal to the left, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appeared on HBO with Bill Maher to defend Joe Biden from criticism.   Mr. Maher was more than happy to bring up the issue of 2020 “election deniers” like Kari Lake, and DeSantis was more than willing to join the Maher parade.

Amid DeSantis’ 12% support system, there was likely a percentage of Trump supporters who were willing to grant benefit of doubt; that segment will likely now disappear. WATCH:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lNb6ftILwtM%3Fstart%3D254%26feature%3Doembed

Think about it….  DeSantis claims, without evidence, that he alone would have possessed the fortitude and determination to push back against the entire global professional medical establishment during the 2020 COVID-19 madness, and yet he buckles on the soft ball about the 2020 election fraud.  This guy is as phony as the Sea Island/Jeb Bush operation behind him.

Sep 29 2023

Club For Growth Cries Uncle – McIntosh Tells Donors No Attack Effort Against Trump Is Working


Posted originally on the CTH on September 29, 2023 | Sundance 

It is important, VERY IMPORTANT, to remember the Club for Growth (CfG) is the Ron DeSantis career financial vehicle.  Ever since his first steps into Congress, CfG has been the primary financial sponsor for the now Florida Governor.  There is no moment in the political career of DeSantis where CfG does not exist.

While the DeSantis SuperPAC Never Back Down is the mechanics of the DeSantis election strategy, CfG is the well invested advising side, and David McIntosh has been the source of DeSantis’ career guidance for a decade.  That’s how intrinsically connected Club for Growth is to Ron and Casey DeSantis.

CfG has also opposed Donald Trump for his “America First” economic plan from the moment they realized Trump was serious about economic nationalism, control over immigration, a renewal of the American manufacturing sector, balanced trade and reciprocal tariffs.  All of these policy points are against the interests of McIntosh and the larger Club for Growth agenda.  The CfG has been working against Trump since 2016.

That is the appropriate context for a memo written by David McIntosh to those who fund Club for Growth, as reported by the New York Times.  McIntosh writes a brutally honest letter to the professionally Republican donor class, saying all of their efforts against Trump have been futile, and there is no effective strategy that will break the bond the American middle-class voter has with President Donald Trump.

(New York Times) – A well-funded group of anti-Trump conservatives has sent its donors a remarkably candid memo that reveals how resilient former President Donald J. Trump has been against millions of dollars of negative ads the group deployed against him in two early-voting states.

The political action committee, called Win It Back, has close ties to the influential fiscally conservative group Club for Growth. It has already spent more than $4 million trying to lower Mr. Trump’s support among Republican voters in Iowa and nearly $2 million more trying to damage him in South Carolina.

But in the memo — dated Thursday and obtained by The New York Times — the head of Win It Back PAC, David McIntosh, acknowledges to donors that after extensive testing of more than 40 anti-Trump television ads, “all attempts to undermine his conservative credentials on specific issues were ineffective.”

[…] “Even when you show video to Republican primary voters — with complete context — of President Trump saying something otherwise objectionable to primary voters, they find a way to rationalize and dismiss it,” Mr. McIntosh states in the “key learnings” section of the memo.

“Every traditional postproduction ad attacking President Trump either backfired or produced no impact on his ballot support and favorability,” Mr. McIntosh adds. “This includes ads that primarily feature video of him saying liberal or stupid comments from his own mouth.”

[…] The memo says this of Win It Back’s most promising pandemic-themed ad: “This ad was our best creative on the pandemic and vaccines that we tested in focus group settings, but it still produced a backlash in our online randomized controlled experiment — improving President Trump’s ballot support by four points and net favorability by 11 points.”

Win It Back did not bother running ads focused on Mr. Trump as an instigator of political violence or as a threat to democracy. The group tested in a focus group and online panel an ad called “Risk,” narrated by former Representative Liz Cheney, that focused on Mr. Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021. But the group found that the Cheney ad helped Mr. Trump with the Republican voters, according to Mr. McIntosh. (read more)