Category Governor Ron DeSantis

Mar 23 2023

Returning to Neocon Roots – DeSantis Backtracks on His Tucker Carlson Ukraine Position as Territorial Dispute, Now Says “I think it’s been mischaracterized,” and “Putin is a war criminal”


Posted originally on the CTH on March 22, 2023 | Sundance

After attempting to navigate through the politics in order to curry favor with the base Republican voters on a Ukraine position, when confronted by Piers Morgan who is a pro-NATO war voice, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis now says his former position on Ukraine has been “mischaracterized” and Vladimir Putin “is a war criminal.”

The walk back highlights once again that Ron DeSantis is an empty vessel using poll testing to formulate his policy stances.

The reversing comments on Vladimir Putin and Ukraine come from the interview DeSantis gave to Piers Morgan as noted in a recent New York Post article:

(Piers Morgan, NY Post) – Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis has branded Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and demanded he be “held accountable” for his barbaric invasion of Ukraine.

Taking a tougher tone from his statement last week appearing to dismiss the year-long war as a “territorial dispute,” DeSantis now says Russia was WRONG to invade Ukraine and was WRONG to invade and take over Crimea in 2014, and won’t win the war. And he’s made his strongest attack yet on Russia’s dictator, calling him a loser who is “basically a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons.”

His assertion, in a statement to Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, that it is not in America’s “vital national interests” to become “further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia” was strongly criticized by numerous senior Republicans — including Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Marco Rubio.

When I asked him specifically if he regretted using the phrase “territorial dispute,” DeSantis replied, “Well, I think it’s been mischaracterized. Obviously, Russia invaded (last year) — that was wrong. They invaded Crimea and took that in 2014 — That was wrong.

[…] “There is a move now to hold [Vladimir Putin] accountable for war crimes,” I told DeSantis, “bombing maternity hospitals and genocidal activity in parts of Ukraine wiping out whole cities like Mariupol. Would you support that?”

“I think he is a war criminal,” he replied. “This ICC … we have not done that in the US because we’re concerned about our soldiers or people being brought under it. So, I don’t know about that route, but I do think that he should be held accountable.” DeSantis is convinced Ukraine will eventually prevail in the war. (read more)

The DeSantis team has also hired the notorious dirtbag, Jeff Roe.

You might remember Roe as the former 2016 campaign manager for Ted Cruz who falsely told the people of Iowa, on the night before the primary caucus, that Dr. Ben Carson dropped out of the race.  The Cruz Crew amplified this false message, and duped Carson caucus supporters who subsequently switched candidates on election day to support Ted Cruz.  Jeff Roe created the lie, then tried to deny it.

(Via Politico) – […] Jeff Roe, who previously ran Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign, has signed on to be an adviser to the super PAC, Never Back Down, according to an operative with direct knowledge of the move.

Never Back Down is being spearheaded by executive director Chris Jankowski, another seasoned Republican operative. Ken Cuccinelli, a former top Homeland Security official to Donald Trump, is serving as chair of the super PAC. Over the last several weeks, Cuccinelli has visited four key early GOP primary states. (read more)

A DeSantis political group that would hire Jeff Roe highlights, yet again, how the DeSantis 2024 campaign is a mirror of Ted Cruz campaign in 2016.

Factually, almost all of the 2016 never-Trump Cruz Crew are now members of the 2024 never-Trump Desantis Crew.  To assist this overall ‘never-Trump’ endeavor, in 2024 Vivek Ramaswamy is now playing the former role of Evan McMullin in 2016.

The professional political class of the GOPe, the DeceptiCons, are never as vicious against Democrats as they are against candidates who do not conform to the Republican UniParty orthodoxy.   If you want to see the Republicans fight dirty, just become a Republican political candidate that does not comply with them.  Then, and only then, will you see a side of the Republican wing that doesn’t surface against Democrats.

Threaten their GOPe Wall Street multinational corporate interests, ie. ‘their money‘, and the DeceptiCons get vicious.

If the professional Republicans are NOT targeting a Republican politician, you can be assured that Republican politician is a member of the GOPe club operation.

Yes, it really is that simple, and Ron DeSantis is a member of that club.

Mar 22 2023

Ron DeSantis Tells Piers Morgan He Is Willing to Abandon Florida to Pursue His Personal Ambitions as President – Then Books April Appearances in New Hampshire, Michigan, Ohio and Maryland


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

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is playing the running-not-running game as hard as he can, given the Florida ‘resign to run‘ law he is intentionally breaking.  Thus, the severity of the self-centered egoism from the man who calls himself the “savior Top Gov of America,” starts to take on context.

According to the DeSantis media operation known as “Florida’s Voice“, the sanctimonious meatball has already scheduled campaign appearances in New Hampshire, Michigan, Ohio and Maryland for April [SEE HERE]. Then, following the instructions of the brand management team in control of him, Ron DeSantis sat down with Rupert Murdoch’s toady, Piers Morgan, for an exclusive interview in both Rupert Murdoch’s publication, The New York Post, and Rupert Murdoch’s broadcast company, Fox News.

Murdoch, who owns Fox News, had previously given Ron DeSantis several million dollars for his personal wealth via a Harper Collins book deal, another Rupert Murdoch company. With full control over the brand image of the DeSantis effort, Fox News has been promoting the meatball for several months.

Timed to coincide with the Trump indictment, DeSantis sits down with Piers Morgan:

(New York Post) – Ron DeSantis knows everyone is waiting for him to say if he’s running for president. But in our interview, airing on Fox Nation’s “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on Thursday, he made it very clear that if he does, he can win.

“If I were to run,” he said confidently, “I’m running against Biden. Like we [him and Trump] are competing for the Republican, potentially, I get that, but ultimately you know the guy I’m gonna focus on is Biden because I think he’s failed the country. I think the country wants a change. I think they want a fresh start and a new direction and so we’ll be very vocal about that.”

“Do you think you could beat Biden?” “I think so,” he replied, unhesitatingly, and emphatically.

“I won with independents by 18 points,” he said, “and so that will be the same formula that we would take, and honestly forget about me, I think anybody should take the formula like that nationally. You can’t win with just Republicans. You’ve gotta win with independents and you need to convince some of these Democrats, which I was able to do in Florida, because they’re not woke, they don’t like some of the nonsense going on. They want their streets safe, and they want quality education. So I think you could appeal to people across the canvas.”

[…] “I haven’t made a final decision on it. I’ve told people that I’ve got a lot to do over the next few months in Florida. We’re gonna put a lot of points on the board. And then we’ll see how the dust settles after that, but I can tell you a lot of people realize the country is not going in the right direction and believe that what we’ve been able to do in Florida, if we can apply that nationally, we can get America back on track and back on our foundations.

[…] “And so, I take that very seriously, it’s humbling that people have come to me and asked me to do it or urged me to do it. So, stay tuned.”

“That sounds like almost a yes . . .”

“It’s a stay tuned!”

Why wouldn’t he go for it?

“Well because I’ve got a young family. I’ve got different obligations and it’s not the easiest thing in the world to go through and I also want to make sure that I have a very clear rationale for doing what I’m doing. All I’m interested in doing is getting things done and accomplishing things. I don’t need a title. I don’t need fanfare. I just want to know that if I put my mind to this, if we ever did that, and we’re successful, what could I do to make a difference and that’s what I have to have.” (read more)

I was always hesitant to say the Florida Governor himself knew about the Mar-a-Lago raid in advance. However, as time provides more hindsight and datapoints to review, this entire DeSantis operation reeks of coordination with the deepest elements of the DC Deep State.

Mar 21 2023

Ron DeSantis Delivers Rehearsed Sanctimonious Comments About Potential for President Trump Arrest in Manhattan, “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star”


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

We all know the traits of Ron DeSantis, his handlers and his influencers when we encounter them in our lives. They are generally insecure people, constantly showing annoying traits of weaponized superiority and passive aggression. That said, notice the background mechanics of the Ron DeSantis statement today and you will notice why I keep pointing out that everything in his orbit is managed by a stable of handlers.

At the conclusion of his remarks about central bank digital currencies, the first question from the media came from Megan Nager – of the Florida Standard. DeSantis was prepped and ready, complete with reference points on the podium if needed. It’s almost certain that Pushaw and crew coordinated the first question for Ms. Nager, as they knew people were awaiting to hear DeSantis’ opinion.

Watch his response through the prism of rehearsal and management, and the flow of the response becomes brutally obvious. Video at 22:30 (prompted) WATCH:

“We have no interest in getting involved in what is a political spectacle created by a Soros-funded prosecutor.” … “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair”…

Ron DeSantis says whatever his managers and handlers tell him to say.  It really is that simple.  He is an empty vessel. There is not an authentic bone in his body; everything comes from a controlled and consulted script.

Mar 11 2023

DeSantis Appears in Iowa as Campaign Manager and PACs Begin Positioning for Likely May Announcement


Posted originally on the CTH on March 10, 2023 | Sundance

The question of Ron DeSantis entering the race for the 2024 GOP nomination is an issue of ‘when’ not ‘if’.  Anyone who is still holding the opinion that nothing is certain until everything is certain are simply being obtuse in the extreme.

Before getting to the current status of the Florida governor appearing in Iowa, the context for the appearance needs some background.

With former Cruz Crew leader Ken Cuccinelli coordinating the latest Political Action Committee (PAC) “Never Back Down”, the motives clarify when you consider the need to transfer the excess DeSantis 2022 campaign money into a federal race.  The best mechanism to accomplish the transfer legally is through a PAC that is prepositioned to defer initial campaign expenses and launch the effort.

The campaign doesn’t need to coordinate closely with the PAC, because the larger goals are unified. This is where Cuccinelli’s disposition as a political grifter makes him the perfectly corrupt insider vessel to use the opportunity.  Transferring approximately $100 million from the governor state account into the PAC is a lucrative incentive for a character like Cuccinelli.

The second PAC, a SuperPAC called “Ready for Ron,” has been positioned as a data mining operation, registering names, phone numbers, etc. in a preposition status for the 2024 launch.   A nonprofit called “And to the Republic,” run by Republican operative Tori Sachs, has been picking up the expenses for DeSantis’ cross country tour under the auspices of a Rupert Murdoch funded book launch (Harper Collins).  All of this activity is being managed by the same team that launched after the 5 days in the bunker in early August 2022.

At this point, anyone claiming the 2024 Ron DeSantis campaign has not been a long time carefully planned operation, really needs to be laughed out of the conversation.

The footprints of the groundwork for this campaign are visible going back to the late fall of 2021. Yes, this means the 2022 reelection campaign was a complete fraud, and Ron DeSantis never intended to fulfill a four year term as Florida governor.

The fraud behind him, not necessarily DeSantis himself, has been my biggest issue with his political leadership since the summer of last year.

By my back of the envelope math, Desantis Inc. has secure financing of around $500 million currently.  Based on the known assembly of constructs that have been positioned in the past four to six months, I would say there’s easily another $500 million that will be directly inbound to the campaign within the first week of the official launch itself – likely to happen in May.

This is the time frame, immediately after the legislative session, when Florida will be abandoned by the DeSantis management team and Ron DeSantis himself.

$500 million in current secured financing, and $500 million in immediate launch financing, explains the intoxicating allure of the grift currently being used to entice the “influencer” crowd.  Lots of conservatives will make money from this DeSantis national launch.

Use this scale of financial context to explain how The Daily Wire business model can afford to offer podcasters $50 to $100 million for four year contracts.   A thousand million on the table buys a lot of influencers – who feed like a frenzied swarm as fed by the Cuccinelli types.

Last year, based on the visible assembly, I saw DeSantis entry into the 2024 contest as the last entrant.  Meaning all other enlisted GOPe foot soldiers would precede a DeSantis entry. This looks to still be the plan; however, fewer political operatives are now projected to be in the DeSantis strategy.  Everyone in the race, sans Trump, is only in the race to advance Ron DeSantis.  This is just how the professional GOPe Sea Island assembly and professional donor class roll.

In Republican politics everything is an illusion.  Everything is preordained and the entirety of their effort is about creating the illusion of choice or outcome.  Remember, Republicans care about money; Democrats care about ideology.  Republicans use power to get money; Democrats use money to get power.  This is why the ideology of the Democrats continues forward; they have no ideological opposition.  As long as Republicans are getting paid, “we good” is the mantra.

The billionaire class paying both wings of the UniParty doesn’t care if the presidency is held by Gavin Newsom or Ron DeSantis, as long as the system that affords them the influence and affluence is maintained.  The only thing the billionaire class are against is any entity that would disrupt the system; ergo, Donald Trump is horrible.

In the biggest of big pictures, Ron DeSantis is in the race (paid to play the role) to ensure Donald Trump doesn’t get the nomination and present as the alternative to the UniParty outcome.  It is Trump’s America First economic policies that must be avoided by the insurance policy that DeSantis represents.

From this baseline of globalist thought, if DeSantis wins – great.  If DeSantis doesn’t win the primary, then all the money backing him will support the Democrat.  It is the MAGA agenda that must be eliminated.  It doesn’t really matter who eliminates it.  This is the core dynamic in the background of the 2024 election.

(Via Washington Post) -DAVENPORT, Iowa — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has indicated privately that he intends to run for president, according to two people familiar with his comments.

A political committee that seeks to draft DeSantis into the race launched Thursday and is likely to serve as an approved outside spending vehicle for his campaign, three people familiar with the planning said.

And DeSantis will visit the early nominating states of Iowa on Friday and Nevada on Saturday as he tours the country promoting his memoir.

The public and private movements underline how far along DeSantis and his allies are in their preparation for the 2024 campaign, even as the Florida governor has not said publicly that he will enter the race.

Allies do not expect him to announce a run until after the Florida state legislative session ends in May. But in recent conversations, DeSantis has described his presidential plans without any caveats that would suggest he’s still deciding, according to the two people familiar with his comments who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private remarks. (read more)

Mar 3 2023

Laura Ingraham Interviews Presidential Candidate After Spending Weekend Retreat With Him, and Never Mentions It…


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

According to Jacksonville 4 News Governor Ron DeSantis spent last weekend “huddled behind closed doors at a south Florida luxury hotel for a “Freedom Blueprint” retreat with more than 100 donors, elected officials and conservative influencers.”  According to the report from those present, “Laura Ingraham hosted a fireside chat with DeSantis on Sunday.” 

You would think this ongoing network and relationship would need a mention, perhaps even a disclaimer, if the Fox News pundit was going to follow up with additional promotion of the same candidate.  Alas, as more people become familiar with the tactics of the professionally Republican, what ends up being highlighted is the transparent effort to manipulate the viewer.  WATCH:

Factually, I’m tired of the lies and manipulations.  It is difficult not to loathe these creatures now.

Ms Ingraham continues her hypocritical false front as a conservative. {GO DEEP} This weekend the multinational lobbying group Club for Growth, headed by David McIntosh, are assembling a strategy session with big Wall Street donors to organize the multi-candidate roadmap for Ron DeSantis.

(Via CBS) – A GOP source familiar with the closed-door donor retreat by the conservative Club for Growth confirmed to CBS News that the group is hosting a closed-press donor retreat for 2024 hopefuls during the same time as CPAC this week. 

Club for Growth’s annual retreat will be held at the opulent Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, just three miles from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. However, Club for Growth, which has been public about looking to move the GOP past Trump, did not invite the former president to the retreat. 

Trump posted on Truth Social on Tuesday morning about Club for Growth, derisively  calling them “Club for NO Growth,” and saying the group “is an insignificant group of Globalists who I have beaten badly because of their anti America First views. They will only get the ‘stragglers.’” 

Trump, meanwhile, will be headlining CPAC, which will be holding its annual conference in Maryland the same weekend. 

[…]  DeSantis and Pence declined invites to CPAC. Haley and Ramaswamy are the only two declared presidential candidates who are attending both CPAC and CFG events. Representatives of Scott had been discussing his attendance at CPAC with event organizers but as of Tuesday morning, Scott does not plan on attending the annual Republican cattle call.

Some GOP operatives associated with the non-Trump political operations have told CBS News that CPAC has become too closely associated with Trump and his campaign, and not worth attending, especially with the annual straw poll likely going to Trump. (read more)

The more DeSantis speaks, the smaller in worm stature he becomes…

People are catching on.  People are really catching on.

Mar 3 2023

Florida Republican Bill Would Require Bloggers to Register with the State in Order to Criticize State Government Officials, Including Ron DeSantis


Posted originally on te CTH on March 2, 2023 | Sundance

Comrade ‘crackers‘, there were moments in the before time when many people, most believing the narrative engineering from the professional political media, thought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be a voice for freedom and democracy.  However, those thoughts dispatched quickly when the actions of the former comedic actor showed a deep red totalitarian underbelly and opposition parties were made illegal, the state took control over all media and even religion was deemed adverse to the interests of the state.

History indeed rhyming, as the ‘new Ukranian democratic norms‘ merged with the totalitarian fiats and timing around the pandemic.

Perhaps we should not have been surprised given that Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the entire European Union were quick to exploit the opportunity COVID-19 created.

Essential citizen definitions quickly promoted, digital identifies manifest, vaccine passports rushed to assembly, bar and QR code scans for human activity created gateways for permission granted by the state.  Meanwhile unregistered movement was restricted, quarantine camps set up and mandatory vaccine compliance was the law.

So, we travel 5,000 miles west from Ukraine, arrive in the sunshine state of Florida circa 2022/2023 and watch as State government takes control over private industry, new laws dictate rules upon local school boards, proposed laws now discussed to ban opposition parties, state officials inserted into newly created government agencies as monitors to regulate commercial activity, and then suddenly something within the latest development under Governor Ron DeSantis starts to rhyme with Ukraine.

FLORIDA – […] Senate Bill 1316: Information Dissemination, would require any blogger writing about government officials to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics.

Yes comrade crackers, the skin of the state is so thin to criticism that words create harm against public officials and must be regulated.  Permission to criticize must now be requested and registered with the state government or face financial penalties.

[…]  In the bill, Brodeur wrote that those who write “an article, a story, or a series of stories,” about “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature,” and receives or will receive payment for doing so, must register with state offices within five days after the publication of an article that mentions an elected state official.

If another blog post is added to a blog, the blogger would then be required to submit monthly reports on the 10th of each month with the appropriate state office. They would not have to submit a report on months when no content is published.

For blog posts that “concern an elected member of the legislature” or “an officer of the executive branch,” monthly reports must disclose the amount of compensation received for the coverage, rounded to the nearest $10 value.

Failure to file these disclosures or register with state officials, if the bill passes, would lead to daily fines for the bloggers, with a maximum amount per report, not per writer, of $2,500. The per-day fine is $25 per report for each day it’s late.

The bill also requires that bloggers file notices of failure to file a timely report the same way that lobbyists file their disclosures and reports on assessed fines. Fines must be paid within 30 days of payment notice, unless an appeal is filed with the appropriate office. Fine payments must be deposited into the Legislative Lobbyist Registration Trust Fund if it concerns an elected member of the legislature.

[…] Explicitly, the blogger rule would not apply to newspapers or similar publications, under Brodeur’s proposed legislation. […] Should the bill pass, it would take effect immediately upon approval. (read more)

Why would I provide the context of Ukraine for an outline highlighting the totalitarian mindset that is sweeping through Florida?

The answer is a very simple and visible connective tissue, a connection born from within the schools funded by George Soros, linking both the installation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the branding, management and handling of a notoriously thin-skinned Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

.

.

RELATED – […] Despite the seemingly cordial tone of the interview, Mr. DeSantis at one point became irritated with his interlocutor.

Mr. Charter writes that when he asked Mr. DeSantis how he would handle American relations with Ukraine, the governor referred “to Biden being ‘weak on the world stage’ and failing at deterrence.”

Mr. Charter pressed for more detail: How would a President DeSantis handle the conflict in Ukraine?

“Perhaps you should cover some other ground?” the governor replied. “I think I’ve said enough.” (link)

Feb 27 2023

Sunday Question – The Inversion and Awakening


Posted originally on the CTH on February 26, 2023 | Sundance

Here’s a question I have.  I am looking forward to your opinion. I have my own.

In the Trump -vs- DeSantis storyline the following data points are generally agreed:

♦Approximately 75% of the Big Con “INFLUENCERS” (Big $) and punditry Support Ron DeSantis
♦Approximately 25% of the Small “Influencers” (Small $) and Indy punditry Support Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, amid the voting base the inverse is true:

♦Approximately 25% of the conservative, working-class, base voters support Ron DeSantis
♦Approximately 75% of the conservative, working-class, base voters support Donald Trump

Reconcile this inversion.  What does it mean?

As previously noted, this weekend Team DeSantis held an event. “Four Seasons resort in Palm Beach, Florida, including wealthy Republican donors and conservative social-media influencers.” 

From my perspective the framework was clear in the middle of last year.  This weekend’s gathering in Palm Beach is essentially an outcome of the Billionaire Sea Island group meeting.  The Four Seasons event is an assembly of key people those managing Ron DeSantis have organized.

Christina Pushaw has been working on this operation since she entered the orbit of Ron DeSantis.  All of the activity is a previously planned series of events.  The current emphasis is to enlist the former Cruz Crew in the DeSantis effort.

According to surfacing reports attendees this weekend included: Governors: Kim Reynolds, Kevin Stitt, Bill Lee. Senators Tom Cotton, Mike Lee, Ron Johnson. Congress: Thomas Massie, Chip Roy as well as Adam Laxalt, Jim Lamon and Dana Loesch. All former Cruz Crew members.

About the Inversion – Money is flowing from the billionaire multinational and Wall Street groups (Sea Island folks) into various political action committees, SuperPACs, RGA networks and right-leaning establishment republican think tanks and NGO type political organizations.  This is all “stop Trump” money.

The money is being doled out from those political organizations into the BigCon media influence group.  The “influencers” are downstream beneficiaries of the Sea Island billionaire cash.  The lure of the financial benefits forms the basis of the inversion.

Pushaw is in charge of the cash flow operation; essentially creating an astroturf network to give the illusion of greater support than actually exists.

BigCon has money, but not the majority of the voters.  This was the issue that BigCon could not overcome in 2016 with Jeb, Rubio and eventually Cruz.

This time around, the Sea Island group planned more deeply to enlist a single candidate who could put themselves forward as the 2024 MAGA Trump alternative; that’s DeSantis. Then this same group began structuring all of the support systems to overcome the voter hurdle.

However, the Sea Island and supporting BigCon influence group have one major problem.  Voters can see and feel astroturf operations, even when it is cleverly disguised as authentic or organic support.

The former ’16 Cruz Crew in combination with the former GOPe ’16 Jeb! Crew form the cornerstone of the DeSantis political support system.  Recruiting social media influencers to join that assembly is the job of Christina Pushaw.   This is what I noticed in the middle of 2022 and began warning about.   This is not at all organic.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ entire narrative as governor, including the anti-wokeism efforts, has been designed to support a previously planned outcome.  DeSantis was always going to be elevated as the 2024 non-Trump alternative.

Pushaw is essentially doing an “influence operation” inside the U.S. political system that parallels what was done in Ukraine to install Volodymyr Zelenskyy.  It’s not some whacky theory, just look at what they are doing.  DeSantis is as controlled and subsequently inauthentic as Zelenskyy and World War Reddit.

That’s why we are seeing this extreme inversion.  It’s all about the money.

Remember, in the big picture the Sea Island group doesn’t care who wins the 2024 election, Democrats or Republicans it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s not Trump.

What matters to the Sea Island group is stopping Donald Trump and the America-First platform he represents.

Feb 26 2023

Fox News and Jeb Bush Endorse Ron DeSantis 2024


Posted originally on the CTH on February 25, 2023 | Sundance 

Fox News is running an hour-long campaign infomercial to support Florida Governor Ron DeSantis winning the 2024 GOP primary nomination.  Inside the political messaging, Jeb Bush gives his full-throated endorsement. {Direct Rumble Link} WATCH:

Jeb Bush endorses Gov. DeSantis for 2024

Based on current available evidence, the announcement of a 2024 presidential bid is a mere formality, likely to surface later in 2023, as all the background datapoints reflect the strategic and financial team behind Ron DeSantis have been positioning an announcement since late 2021.   One visible datapoint has been his campaign office, specifically his then spokesperson Christina Pushaw, reaching out to a group of Florida influencers and organizing a meeting on January 6, 2022.

.

By the late spring of 2022 the branding and management of the pending Ron DeSantis presidential bid was strongly underway, and by early August 2022, not coincidentally timed with the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, after an unusual five days in a bunker, a new national campaign team was announced and launched.  Everything from that national image launch has been carefully managed, organized and constructed.

With the Florida legislature set to change the law permitting DeSantis to run and remain as governor; and with the intentionally elevated profile and controlled national branding in place; the office of the Florida governor has transformed from a state executive focus to a launch vehicle for higher office.  State policies and office advocacy now run through the priority prism of national politics, as the announcement of the DeSantis book launch is simultaneously positioned.

All of the datapoints flow in one direction, Desantis seeking the 2024 GOP nomination.  None of the carefully managed policy points are contradictory to a national intention. However, the original question about who is controlling Ron DeSantis remains unanswered.   It is with this specific outlook in mind that we can now find Governor Ron DeSantis’s perspective on donor money influencing politics by looking at how he answered this exact question in March 2014.

In March 2014 a young man asked exactly this question.  During a Q&A session at Embry-Riddle University, then U.S.Congressman Ron DeSantis, representing Florida’s 6th District, was asked about money influencing politics.   Within his answer we can gain an understanding of why 94% of Ron DeSantis donations are coming from the billionaire influence class.

Video prompted to 00:49:11 of the session, where Ron DeSantis says he feels limited campaign contributions are a problem.  Congressman DeSantis says that billionaires should be permitted to fully fund political candidates, without limits, as long as the donations are fully transparent.

Beyond the view of billionaires being permitted to fund candidates for office, pay particular attention to the example that DeSantis uses regarding online sales taxes and his opposition to it.   Within that specific answer you are about to see a major contradiction, that tells us something significant.  WATCH:

.

The K-Street lobbyists and campaign donors DeSantis is describing in the online tax example, are the Club for Growth types who wanted states to deliver national equality on the issue of state collection of online sales taxes.

Apparently, in 2014 Congressman DeSantis was willing to take the C4G donor money and yet not support the online sales tax that would hurt Florida consumers.

However, very quietly in April of 2021, Florida Governor DeSantis signed a law requiring all online businesses outside Florida to charge Florida sales taxes on products ordered by Florida residents.  The online tax for Florida residents was projected to net an additional $1 billion in revenue for the state.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis very quietly and without much fanfare signed a new online sales tax bill into law Monday, requiring out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales taxes.

[…] Under the law, “marketplace providers” that aren’t located in Florida will be required to remit sales taxes “when delivering tangible personal property” to consumers. (read more)

As you can see from the bigger picture issue of billionaires purchasing politicians, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis felt massive wealthy interests should be permitted to fund politicians.  This is in line with his 2022 position of massive donations from billionaires, hedge fund managers, multinational corporations and Wall Street flowing into his campaign and Political Action Committee coffers.

Simultaneous with this 2022 increase in billionaire funding, DeSantis reversed his 2014 position on online sales tax collection for Florida residents, putting himself in direct alignment with Club 4 Growth and other K-Street lobbying groups he said would not influence his policy.  DeSantis received $2,000,000.00 from Club 4 Growth.

Add in the endorsement of Paul Ryan (link), and Jeb Bush (link), and Wall Street republicanism reemerges as the DeSantis platform.

Feb 24 2023

DeSantis Hosting Donors and Social Media Influencers During 3-Day Palm Beach Event


Posted originally on the CTH on February 23, 2023 | Sundance

Around July 2022 was when CTH first noticed the visible fingerprints of a coordinated GOPe strategy toward the goal of presenting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the acceptable Republican candidate to remove the threat of the America First MAGA movement.

At first, I didn’t say anything, preferring to watch and check the data points to see if they all aligned in this one visible direction.  However, as soon as the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago took place and DeSantis went into a bunker, it became obvious there was a working plan in place {Go Deep}.

From that early August moment forward, the background pretenses became increasingly obvious. The rebranding, the new communication team, the national launch, the funding mechanisms, the Rupert Murdoch funded book tour, the social media and Big Con media effort… all of it flowing in one direction.

Once this recognition was made, then hindsight could be applied.  How long had this been planned?  The early review was simple, there was a January 6, 2022, assembly of ‘conservative influencers’ arranged by Christina Pushaw sometime in late December 2021.  However, since then a deeper look would reflect the strategy was in place likely going back to when Pushaw first joined the DeSantis team.

With trillions at stake, the anti-America First insurance policy that DeSantis provides is worth billions to the club that stands behind him.

FLORIDA – (Reuters) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will host an event for top donors and social-media influencers this weekend, the latest in a flurry of moves that suggest he’s ramping up to battle former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination.

About 150 guests are expected to attend the three-day event at the Four Seasons resort in Palm Beach, Florida, including wealthy Republican donors and conservative social-media influencers whom DeSantis’ camp has courted in recent months ahead of a widely expected presidential run, according to a source who asked not to be identified in order to share details.

The gathering will come on the heels of a fundraiser that Trump, who has already announced another White House bid, is expected to attend on Thursday at his Mar-a-Lago home in the same island town.

The Republican race to take on Democratic President Joe Biden next year has gotten off to a largely quiet start. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley joined Trump in the Republican field this month, but several other prospective candidates have yet to jump in. (read more)

Feb 21 2023

DC Report – Team Mitch McConnell Worried DeSantis Might Be Taking Too Long to Enter 2024 Race – FL Legislature Needs to Change Election Laws Quickly


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

At this point it’s a little humorous to read the DC inside Republican narrative as they produce their DeSantis messaging.  The Hill has an article {SEE HERE} titled “GOP Impatience Grows for DeSantis to Make Move on Trump.”

However, political followers will notice the tell behind the story in the first few sentences:

(WASHINGTON DC) – Senate Republicans nervous about former President Trump’s lead in presidential primary polls are impatiently awaiting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to jump into the race.  

GOP lawmakers don’t expect DeSantis to make his move until after the Florida legislative session ends in early May, but the waiting game is playing on nerves, with some thinking DeSantis has lost political momentum since his big reelection win in November. (link)

Setting aside the reality that Ron DeSantis cannot run for office without first legally abdicating his role as governor, as required by Florida law, the “Senate Republicans” are “nervous.”  Gee, I wonder who those Senate Republicans might be.

Later in the DC script as written, “I suspect he is going to run. I’ve been told that he’s very focused right now — the Florida legislature is in session — he’s very focused on Florida issues,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said of DeSantis, whom she called “the leader of the Republican Party” after he won an impressive reelection victory in November.”

Ah yes, so very focused on “Florida issues” that Governor Ron DeSantis is in New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois on his not-campaigning, campaigning tour.

The DC stenographers really need to work a little harder to cover the narrative.  Just saying.