🇺🇸 Ron’s Running

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TRENDING

Right: How Republicans Avoid a 2022 Repeat and Win in 2024 Daniel McCarthy, NY Post

Right: Trump and the CNN Caper Daniel Oliver, American Greatness

Right: Durham Report Peels Back Layers of Democrat, Media Lies Mark Penn, FOX News

Left: Can GOP Be Persuaded To Vote for Someone Besides Trump? Jonah Goldberg, LAT

Left: How Ukraine Is Trying To Woo Global South--and Why It's So Hard Ellen Ioanes, Vox

Left: Tim Scott Will Have To Play By Trump’s Rules in 2024 Masket & Azari, MSNBC

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QUICK CLICKS

Debt Ceiling Talks Stall, French Short Flights, China-Backed Hackers

US: Debt ceiling talks stall amid pushback from Kevin McCarthy’s right flank (Yahoo Finance) + House Democratic angst grows as debt ceiling negotiations drag on (NBC News)

World: Prigozhin says war in Ukraine has backfired, warns of Russian revolution (WaPo) + Ukraine and Russia trade places in battle for Bakhmut (Al Jazeera)

Climate: France bans short-haul flights as it looks to cut transport emissions (CNBC)

World: 95-year-old grandmother dead after police shock her with stun gun, prompting public outcry (Fox News)

Tech: Microsoft says China-backed hackers targeting critical infrastructure in US and Guam (The Guardian)

US: Battle rages in Texas between AG Paxton and GOP-controlled House (The Hill)

2024

Ron’s Running

Last night, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy for president, on Twitter — following a slight delay due to technical difficulties. DeSantis is considered a top contender for the 2024 Republican nomination and has already faced criticism from fellow frontrunner, former President Trump.

Reporting from The Right: DeSantis says he is one of only three 'credible' 2024 options, chances for Trump 'not great' Brandon Gillespie, Fox News

Reporting from The Left: What to expect from a Ron DeSantis presidential campaign Zachary B. Wolf, CNN

From The Flag: DeSantis conducted a sit-down style interview with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, laying out his agenda for the upcoming presidential election, and his pursuit of the GOP nomination. His formal entrance into the race had been anticipated for months. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Republicans Can Win with Ron, Then Watch Him Serve Eight Years

• Governor DeSantis gives Republicans a better chance to win that former President Trump, and that’s the most important thing.

• It’d be foolish to write off DeSantis at this point, as his silence in the midst of Trump’s attacks allowed the former president to gain an edge in the polls.

• A group of former Trump administration officials are backing DeSantis via the “Eight-Year Alliance,” viewing him as a viable two-term candidate.

Ron DeSantis for President Steve Cortez, Newsweek Opinion: "Governor Ron DeSantis represents the best possible option to win the presidency in 2024 and to govern as a highly capable, patriotic populist leader. I have worked as a dedicated spokesman and advocate for Donald Trump for much of the last seven years, so I do not arrive at that conclusion flippantly. But our America First movement has always been bigger and more important than any one individual, and heading into this crucial election, our activism and our votes must be guided by a clear-eyed assessment of recent failures and potential future successes. ... 1. We've seen this Biden-Trump movie already—and no one likes it. ... 2. There is no substitute for victory. ... 3. Discipline and policy results over chaos. ... In Ron DeSantis, Republicans can rally to a fresh, vibrant, and optimistic agenda."

The Great Underestimation of DeSantis Starts to Unravel Salena Zito, Hot Air: "... a skeptical press (have) spent an inordinate amount of time writing his political obituary before he even launched his candidacy, (but DeSantis) not only possesses the promise and nimbleness needed to be a candidate for president... he also has the staff and network needed to pull off just the right move to strike a blow against his rival, former President Donald Trump. ... DeSantis, to the frustration of a press hungry for a battle, has pointedly not responded to Trump’s attacks... That vacuum has allowed polls to favor Trump for months and caused impatient pundits to underestimate DeSantis’ abilities and instincts. ... Yet if there are two things I have learned over the years in covering presidential elections, one is to listen to what voters tell you they want, not what you think they need, and two, never, ever underestimate any candidate, especially when everyone else is."

One more opinion piece from the Right: Over 100 Former Trump Admin Officials Back DeSantis in 2024 Brandon Gillespie, Fox News

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Can DeSantis Make a Run? It’s Debatable

• DeSantis isn’t doing himself any favors with voters by obsessively attacking Disney following the “Don’t Say Gay” controversy.

• In order to make a comeback, DeSantis needs to secure some big endorsements from party leaders or win key early primaries.

• It’s hard to make sense of DeSantis running for president: he hates being around regular people and is too skittish to take on Trump.

Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign could be brief Eugene Robinson, Washington Post Opinion: "Most great politicians have the skin of an elephant and the memory of a flea. After all, today’s adversary might be tomorrow’s ally. ... DeSantis has it the wrong way around. That means his quest for the Republican presidential nomination... will be interesting. And, unless he evolves, it could be brief. Polls still show DeSantis as having the best chance to defeat Donald Trump in the GOP race. ... His bet is that Republican voters want a nominee who has a proven track record of enacting conservative policies and who models Trump’s pugnacity but is not burdened with the former president’s mountain of baggage. ... DeSantis is not helping himself with his obsessive crusade against the Walt Disney Co. ... Trying to punish a company for statements that had no practical impact — except, perhaps, on DeSantis’s brittle ego — seems wildly at odds with traditional conservative values."

Why DeSantis Can Beat Trump for the GOP Nomination Harry Enten, CNN: "To beat the odds, DeSantis probably needs at least one of two things to happen. One, he needs to ensure that more of the party establishment doesn’t rally around Trump. ... That said, most GOP members of Congress and governors have not yet weighed in. The party has, in other words, not yet decided. The second option for DeSantis is to win in either Iowa or New Hampshire. That’s not sufficient to win the nomination, but it likely is necessary. Both Obama (Iowa) and McCain (New Hampshire) won one of the early contests to jumpstart their campaigns. The good news for DeSantis is that he is polling better in those states than he is nationally, even if he trails Trump in both. ... The bottom line for DeSantis is this: He has a solid chance of winning his party’s nomination, but it won’t be easy."

One more opinion piece from the Left: Free Advice for Ron DeSantis: Don't Run for President Matt Lewis, Daily Beast

FLAG THIS

How DeSantis and Trump Stack Up Right Now

In an open-ended question, 43% of Republicans and GOP-leaning Independents say they want Trump to be nominated.

That goes up to 51% if only the six best-known candidates are mentioned.

After Trump, DeSantis is next closest at 25%.

Among moderates, DeSantis is closer — only trailing Trump by 9%. But the Florida governor is further behind with conservatives, who prefer Trump by a 55%-27% margin (ABC News/Washington Post).

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Constitutional Convention Begins, Stop Weeding, Death of Ownership

On This Day in 1787: Four years after the United States won its independence from England, 55 state delegates, including George Washington, James Madison and Benjamin Franklin, convene in Philadelphia to compose a new U.S. constitution on May 25, 1787. 

Saveur: I (Basically) Stopped Weeding Thanks to This Game-Changing Gardening Method

Narratively: His Biggest Hit Sold More Copies Than Any of the Beatles’. So Why Haven’t You Heard of Him?

BI: The Death of Ownership. Companies are taking away your ability to actually own the stuff you buy

Today I Learned that in 1947 the town of Holt, Missouri (population 471) experienced the greatest 1-hour rainfall total ever observed worldwide: 12 inches of rain fell in just 42 minutes.