🇺🇸 Will Ron Run?
June 22, 2022

Good morning and happy Wednesday! The Empire State wants to make sure older people aren’t lonely, so they’re handing out robots.

Plus, this newly-discovered sea animal wears a sponge as a hat, but the weirdest part is that it’s a crab that’s described as “fluffy.”

Also, every man needs one good watch, and this Flag Find gets it done at a discount.

Flag Polls


ab521640-e2ad-6400-4ea0-8848d603c575.png 6/21: Biden Job Approval, Rasmussen Reports Approve 40,
Disapprove 59
ab521640-e2ad-6400-4ea0-8848d603c575.png 6/20: Direction of Country, Rasmussen Reports Right Track 24,
Wrong Track 70
T 6/17: Gen. Congress Vote, USA Today/Suffolk Republicans 40
Democrats 40

Trending On The Left


CNN: Mike Pence says no president in his lifetime has lied as often as Joe Biden

Huff Post: Supreme Court Rules Religious Schools Can Get Maine Tuition Aid

Vox: The SEC did a sensible thing on climate change. A right-wing campaign is trying to kill it

Trending On The Right


Fox: Kamala Harris, DNC fundraiser ticket prices slashed amid low approval ratings

Wash Examiner: Fifty House Republicans urge White House against implementing ammo ban

The Federalist: If SCOTUS Overturns Roe, We'll Still Have Looser Abortion Laws Than Europe

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QUICK CLICKS

Utter Failure in Uvalde, Breakthrough Bill, Readying for Recession


US: Texas top cop: Uvalde police could’ve ended rampage early on (AP)

US: Senators hail ‘bipartisan breakthrough’ on gun safety legislation (The Hill)

US: Wall Street sees higher probability of U.S. recession next year (Reuters)

US: Elon Musk’s daughter legally changes name and cuts ties with her father (The Guardian)

US: Biden administration expected to reduce cigarettes' nicotine levels: report (Fox News)

US: American Academy of Pediatrics releases new infant sleep guidelines (ABC)

US: Biden reverses Trump policy and commits to limiting US military's use of anti-personnel landmines (CNN)

US: Arizona House speaker: "I didn't want to be used as a pawn" in effort to overturn election (Axios)

Sports: ​​Kremlin flack says WNBA star Brittney Griner is not a hostage (NY Post)

POLITICS

Will Ron Run?

Credit: Gage Skidmore CC 2.0
Looking ahead to the 2024 presidential election, rumblings have started as to who will be the GOP nominee. Former President Donald Trump and current Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis have emerged as top candidates.

News Coverage from the Right: Trump insists 'I would win' 2024 GOP showdown with DeSantis: report (NY Post)

News Coverage from the Left: DeSantis draws huge cash haul from Trump donors (POLITICO)

From The Flag: While other prominent names are in play for the Republican nod in 2024, Trump and DeSantis are leading the pack in most polls. Here’s how both sides see their potential showdown shaping up.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

DeSantis May Be MAGA’s Future


  • In comparison to Trump, DeSantis comes off as more outwardly intelligent and serious.
  • DeSantis is similar to Trump in many ways, helping his popularity among conservatives, but he’s actually a more skilled politician.
  • The MAGA movement has grown bigger than Trump and emboldened DeSantis, as evidenced by his war with Disney.

“Can Ron DeSantis Displace Donald Trump as the G.O.P.’s Combatant-in-Chief?” Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker: “DeSantis faces reëlection later this year, but his ascent has been so dramatic that in a few polls he comes out ahead of Trump in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination… Both men claim to channel the rage of an electorate that feels sneered at and dismissed by liberal institutions. But while Trump, with his lazy, Barnumesque persona, projects a fundamental lack of seriousness, DeSantis has an intense work ethic, a formidable intelligence, and a granular understanding of policy. Articulate and fast on his feet, he has been described as Trump with a brain. … though some political observers wonder whether he could endure the countless hours of banal conversation required to succeed in a national election. … At forty-three, he can afford to wait. But there is every indication that he doesn’t want to.”

“Florida's DeSantis is a politically savvy power player. And he's beating Trump at his own game.” Editorial Board, The Miami Herald: “He's younger, prettier and speaks in complete, comprehensible sentences. And he speaks directly to former President Donald Trump's rock-solid base — which is showing a few cracks. … DeSantis is Trump's creation. The mentor remains a force in the Republican Party — hell, he is the Republican Party — anointing candidates for Congress and still bloviating, untruthfully, about his election loss in 2020. But DeSantis, the mentee, is doing in Florida what Trump could not, except through reversible executive orders. He is wielding direct power over policy, enshrining conservative values in the law. With singular ambition — and a malleable Republican Legislature — he has intimidated, handcuffed or struck down anything or anyone who doesn't sit right with him or the voters he needs to win in the 2024 Republican primary.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: MAGA Is Now Bigger Than Trump, and That’s Scary Abdul El-Sayed, The New Republic

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Both Trump and DeSantis Can Win: Republicans Need to Choose


  • If the GOP can’t quell the power struggle between Trump and DeSantis the Democrats could pull off a victory in 2024.
  • DeSantis is a strong candidate that has remade Florida’s political landscape, while Trump is battle-tested at the national level.
  • Trump has lost his stranglehold over the GOP and the politically formidable DeSantis is a great choice for 2024.

“Trump’s Growing Rivalry with DeSantis Must Be Contained” By Brandon J. Weichert, American Greatness: “Donald Trump is ‘absolutely’ running for president again in 2024. … one person deep within the former president’s orbit told me off-the-record in March… The most interesting figure on the Right outside of the gonzo 45th president, however, is the current governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. … As with Trump in 2016, DeSantis has acted as a lightning rod on the Right… tapping into the handful of issues most relevant to them. … If a divide between DeSantis and Trump exists, then 2024 will not resemble 2016 at all. Sadly, it will mirror another election that every Republican was sure they would win… During the 2012 presidential contest, the GOP was bitterly divided between former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. Ultimately Romney won the primary, but he came out heavily damaged. Despite presiding over a weak economy and being a divisive president, Barack Obama managed to squeak out a victory.”

“Trump or DeSantis?” David Solway, PJ Media: “DeSantis’ record as governor of Florida is not only stellar but conceivably unprecedented for wisdom, courage, moral fortitude, personal charm, and administrative effectiveness. He has made his state a beacon of hope and security for those fleeing broken and dysfunctional states under Democrat rule. … But there is much to be said for Trump despite his critics. He may be or sound rough-hewn compared to DeSantis and would likely generate a certain amount of opposition among even party affiliates. Nonetheless, irrespective of his occasional naivety, his polemical outspokenness, and his polarizing personality, he was, on the whole, a first-rate president, and his ‘Make America Great Again’ policies restored a post-Obama foundering nation to rising prosperity, energy independence, and its formerly pre-eminent position on the international stage. … Tried, tested, and battle-scarred, he would be primed for the task.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Memo to Republicans: It’s time to dump The Donald and run with The Ronald Piers Morgan, New York Post Opinion

FLAG THIS

Ranking the GOP’s Top Contenders


A straw poll taken at this month’s Western Conservative Summit in Denver found 71% of attendees want to see Ron DeSantis run for president in 2024. Meanwhile, 67% said they want to see Trump in the race (POLITICO).

Among people who are watching the January 6 hearings DeSantis enjoys little support. Over 1,500 adults participated in a Yahoo/YouGov survey, with 3 out of every 5 expressing an unfavorable opinion of Florida’s governor.

Back in February nearly half of a Rasmussen poll’s respondents backed Trump for president (47%) while DeSantis came in second (20%).

Flag Poll: Will Ron DeSantis end up being the Republican nominee for president in 2024? Click here to share your thoughts.

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

GI Bill Signed, Japanese Iced Coffee, Radio Downloads

On June 22, 1944, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the GI Bill, an unprecedented act of legislation designed to compensate returning members of the armed services — known as GIs — for their efforts in World War II.

Buzzfeed: The Japanese-Style Method For Making Iced Coffee At Home (And Honestly, American Cold Brew Doesn’t Even Compare)

BBC: Why we may have to re-learn to socialise

Inc.: The Best Possible Self Exercise Will Make You Happier, Psychologists Say. Should You Give It a Try?

Today I Learned people downloaded computer games over the radio in the 1980s.

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