The Barbershop: Dennis Byrne, Proprietor

DeSantis si, Trump nah.

The ex-president would be a sure loser in 2024.

Donald Trump speaks with the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board on Monday, June 29, 2015. (Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune)

Former President Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail, demonstrating that he can still wind up a crowd of tens of thousands of adoring supporters.

He’s running, whatever the current speculation says. And he’ll be a disaster for what Republicans and conservatives stand for if he wins the nomination.

He lost in 2020 because of whom he is, not because of his policies. He lost because so many Americans, including independents and never-Trump Republicans, could not bring themselves to vote for him. They still wouldn’t in 2024.

More of them, however, would vote for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis because of his policies and because of whom he is. The preternaturally progressive Guardian, weighs in and comes out with the same thought: With DeSantis, Americans would get the same Trumpian “inflammatory policies minus the inflammatory tweets” in the words of the Miami Herald.”

Further, the Guardian said.

Florida has seen a different side of Ron DeSantis these last 10 days. At the forefront of the state’s response to the Miami condo collapse, and now marshaling operations as Hurricane Elsa barrels across the Caribbean, the rabidly Trumpian Republican governor has appeared a steady yet calming leader in the face of multiple unfolding crises.

DeSantis has proven that he knows how to govern, whether you agree with his policies or not. The preservation of the state’s economy and public health in the face of the autocratic policies of the “experts” and progressives. His opening the schools in the face of the “expert” but wrong demands that children be shut out of the school room. And more.

DeSantis will be tested in his re-election bid next year. He’ll face the usual Democratic blather about racism and voter suppression. He’ll face those false charges squarely and forcefully. By then, we’ll get a better idea of his electability.

But if Trump declares he’s in the race before the Florida election (or after), it will immediately create an intra-party split that surely will doom whoever runs in 2024. Trump needs to set his ego aside and declare now that he’s not a candidate if he truly believes in the causes he supports. And his supporters have to set aside their adoration for the good of the country.

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2024 election, Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis