Category DeSantis Super pack Funding Drys up

Feb 1 2024

Follow the Bouncing Ball – DeSantis Super PAC Paid Club for Growth Super PAC to Target Donald Trump…. But Wait…


Posted originally on the CTH on January 31, 2024 | Sundance

This is kind of a funny and very real political story if you follow the mechanics of it.   Essentially, it starts out with Politico noting the Ron DeSantis’ Super PAC Never Back Down, paid the Club for Growth Super PAC, Win It Back, $2.75 million dollars to run attack ads against Donald Trump.  {Background Story}

Apparently, Ron DeSantis didn’t want to attack Trump directly, so using the Machiavellian tactics the professionally Republican group is known for, DeSantis funded a third-party to attack Trump on his behalf.   A lot of people take issue with this discovery, but the story is actually deeper, and yes, even more Machiavellian.

You see, you might remember the DeSantis Super PAC was actually funded from the remaining campaign funds of Ron DeSantis in 2022.  This was done with forethought and by specific design.  This part is even noted in the Politico outline.  However, what is missing is the other layer.  The DeSantis campaign was funded with $20 million by the Republican Governors Association (RGA).   That is a big part of the money that was later transferred to the super PAC.

So put this in context, because this is the non-pretending reality that was built into the program.

The RGA gives DeSantis $20 million in 2022 knowing it will be transferred into his presidential campaign super PAC in 2023.  A part of that money – $2.75 million – is then sent to the Club for Growth (C4G).  The Club for Growth then attacks Donald Trump.   In essence, the Republican Governors Association funded the attack against Trump using DeSantis as the broker.  Three layers of plausible deniability built in.

Now, ask yourself, who exactly does the RGA support?    What is the goal and intent of this “approved Republican” political system that operates in the background of our national politics?    When you answer those questions, you realize why the RNC has no support from Republican base voters.

The systems of the RNC and RGA are not about supporting “Republican” politics; these institutional systems, like the RGA and RNC, are entirely focused on retaining the business model that exists within DC and the UniParty assembly.  Club for Growth is simply a K-Street political lobbying firm with the intention of paying for policy they create.

Not only did Ron DeSantis support the attacks against Donald Trump, but his campaign also financed those attacks in common alignment with the RGA, RNC and Club for Growth.  This is a great example of the “illusion of choice” we have often discussed.

Tell me again about this magnanimous and manufactured political hero called Ron DeSantis…lolol.   Now, do you see what I meant:

The Ron DeSantis campaign was built upon a foundation of fraud. Long planned as an effort to destroy the threat that MAGA represents to the Republican apparatus, nothing about the DeSantis campaign was grassroots, authentic, natural or real.  The Sea Island organized campaign was a specific and detailed approach driven by the professional political class.  Ron DeSantis was a vessel, a willing vessel, for the deliberate schemes and Machiavellian intents of the worst elements in USA Republican politics.

WE CANNOT UNITE with that group.  Think about it.

Supporters of Ron DeSantis either knew of the Never Trump intents, or they were not smart enough to see the supernova flares of manipulation that were triggered from the outset.  Either way, cunning or stupid, I do not want to camp with them.  It is what it is. (MORE)

It is worthwhile revisiting the outcome from this collaboration as we discussed in 2023:

It is important, VERY IMPORTANT, to remember the Club for Growth (CfG) is the Ron DeSantis career financial vehicle {GO DEEP}.  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 Super PAC 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)

The Sea Island Group

Ron DeSantis

Never Back Down PAC

David Macintosh

Win it Back PAC

Club for Growth

Republican Governors Association

Republican National Committee

…. Yes, MAGA crushed them all, using Donald J. Trump as our weapon.

We ain’t done yet.

Have an awesome day!

Jan 22 2024

DeSantis Out


Posted originally on the CTH on January 21, 2024 | Sundance

Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the 2024 Republican primary.

The career diminished Florida Governor is trying to save face and has endorsed Donald Trump.  The announcement comes at 02:20 of the video below. WATCH:

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The next few days will be fraught with demands to unite the clans.  However, please remember the proven and demonstrably accurate axiom:  Never Trust a Never Trumper. 

The Ron DeSantis campaign was built upon a foundation of fraud. Long planned as an effort to destroy the threat that MAGA represents to the Republican apparatus, nothing about the DeSantis campaign was grassroots, authentic, natural or real.  The Sea Island organized campaign was a specific and detailed approach driven by the professional political class.  Ron DeSantis was a vessel, a willing vessel, for the deliberate schemes and Machiavellian intents of the worst elements in USA Republican politics.

WE CANNOT UNITE with that group.  Think about it.

Supporters of Ron DeSantis either knew of the Never Trump intents, or they were not smart enough to see the supernova flares of manipulation that were triggered from the outset.  Either way, cunning or stupid, I do not want to camp with them.  It is what it is.

Take the endorsement and carry on.

Ron and Casey will be divorced within two years.

Jan 21 2024

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 !

Jan 16 2024

After Visiting All 99 Iowa Counties and Failing to Win a Single One, Ron DeSantis Declares Victory “We Got Our Ticket Punched”


Posted originally on the CTH on January 16, 2024 | Sundance 

After visiting all 99 counties in Iowa and failing to win a single one, specifically because he visited all 99 counties in Iowa, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared the dark, unknown and mysterious forces of universe tried to stop him, “threw everything at him,” yet he alone stands victorious.

Yeah, he actually said that.

The DeSantis campaign put most of their resources into Iowa and gained a total of 23,000 votes (roughly 21%), quickly declaring victory in a tenuous 2nd place finish and proclaiming their victory ticket has been punched.  The cognitive disconnect is exceptionally strong; but hey, everyone has a role to play – right?  WATCH:

IOWA – DeSantis took the stage for a few minutes at a campaign party in West Des Moines after he secured second place.

“Because of your support, in spite of all of that they threw at us, everyone against us — we’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa,” he said.

DeSantis spent millions in the Hawkeye State, visited all 99 counties and cultivated the endorsements of popular Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting his candidacy, also spent more than nine months building a ground game and appointing 1,600 precinct captains across the state. (MORE)

Jan 16 2024

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.

Dec 19 2023

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.  

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:

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Longer excerpt below.

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