Ron DeSantis vs Donald Trump: suppose they merged into one man?
 Or borrowed essential qualities from each other?
21 Apr 2023
∙ Paid
Hey, Ron, speak to your friend, Robert F Kennedy, Jr, who’s running for President. Have him tell you about how his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and Republican Senator Barry Goldwater, who were thinking about doing a joint event, even though Goldwater was going to run against him in 1964…before JFK’s assassination.
Suppose each man—Ron DeSantis and Don Trump—could take from the other what he needs?
I don’t think the most skilled surgeon could pull it off, but it’s useful to do a thought experiment.
Trump has the unquestioned ability to ignite a fire in the minds of his legions of followers. But he can’t organize worth a lick. He can’t focus on one issue long enough to satisfy an intelligent listener. And when push comes to shove, he backs off from his big promises.
DeSantis can organize to an astonishing degree. He can explain an issue. He follows through on his promises. Quite often, he achieves a result and announces it without having made a promise at all.
But DeSantis isn’t a man who inspires and ignites.
He needs what Trump has, and he has what Trump needs.
If I had the power to put one of them in the Oval Office with the snap of my fingers, it would be DeSantis. By a mile. Not close. No contest.
But on the campaign trail, I’m not confident in DeSantis.
He isn’t dull. But he’s not a cutting sword. He’s somewhere in the middle. You can’t count on people to flock to the middle. Are they going to drive 50 miles to show up at one of his rallies?
People will jump out of planes and parachute in to see Trump, but we already know he’ll say anything and then not back it up. Trump understands exactly how to use a bully pulpit, but he makes it into a bullshit pulpit.
DeSantis doesn’t have a bully pulpit.