The Iowa caucuses are over. Trump won over his closest rival by double-digits, two-to-one over Governor Ron DeSantis.
I wish the Governor of Florida the best, but let's face it:
this primary is over. Granted, the Iowa caucuses have not been the strongest
indicator of who the GOP nominee would be in many elections. In all those
cases, however, you did not have a former incumbent running for re-election.
This time, the indication is clear: Trump is going to be the GOP nominee.
The problem is not the candidate, but Republicans, who are rejecting
the greatest governor in a generation for a has-been.
In 2016, I had supported Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
for President because he accomplished unprecedented reforms and advanced a
robust conservative agenda for his time. On the presidential trail, he fizzled
out in September 2015, over-extending his resources without honing a strong,
pugilist populist message against frontrunner Donald J. Trump.
In 2023 and into this year, DeSantis corrected all those
campaign mistakes. He properly apportioned his campaign funding. He fought the
media hard and won. He went after Trump and all his failures and false
promises. He did the Full Grassley, he connected with everyday voters, he
stepped up for every debate. He is a masterful communicator, refreshing if not
riveting. Yet for all that, Iowa GOP caucus voters said "No thank
you," and voted for the former incumbent.
DeSantis did everything right, and he still lost. The
fault, dear reader, is not in the candidate, but in the voters. They see
themselves as underlings who need Trump again. They long for the Trump
administration, with its lower taxes, cheap gas, better economy, etc. Yet for
some reason, they have no problem forgetting about COVID, all the broken
promises, the bad management in the White House, his failure to secure the
border, etc. For some reason, nothing is ever Trump's fault, and it doesn't
matter that he didn't get the job done the first time.
What is going on here?
A stunning and sobering reality, when it comes to politics,
campaigns, and elections, Republicans are the liberals, while Democrats are the
business-minded conservatives. Democrats assess the costs, the strategies, the
efforts needed to get the job done. They invest campaign funding where they are
most likely to flip a seat and win an election. They will search for every
resource, legal and extra-legal, to win the election.
Democrats have to win to fulfill their promises.
Republicans don't really have to win to get their supporters what they
want. Darren Beattie and Congressman Andy Biggs furnished a great analysis of
grift and graft in politics. For Democrats, the grift is taxpayer dollars, so
they have to win elections to hand out the spoils. For Republicans, for the
Right in general, the campaign itself is the grift. Consultants get 15% of the
campaign funds, whether their candidate wins or loses. The incentive to win is
not nearly as strong, and it doesn't matter in the long run. Also, many
grassroots Republicans are more interested in conferences and gatherings,
taking photos with media influencers or getting a chance to meet a Congressman.
They just want to party.
But let’s reflect on what a winner DeSantis is.
DeSantis destroyed
the Democratic Party in Florida. He didn't just score big
wins for the Florida GOP and enact a robust agenda. Hundreds of thousands of
voters are joining the Florida Republican Party, taking over county after
county, and they are achieving unprecedented gains throughout the state.
Democrats seek to turn their states into one-party fiefdoms. Republican Governor
DeSantis has shown a robust attention to this kind of total victory against
Woke, Cultural Marxism, and Racialized Communism.
He doesn't just fight, he doesn't just win, he wins bigly
and demoralizes the Left.
Yet Iowa GOP voters went for Trump. Sad.
This outcome reminds me of a reality TV show in which a
lucky lady gets to choose between two eligible bachelors. One is a wealthy
investor, owns a home, multiple properties, has a strong, steady career, but
he's a nerd. The other guy is a buff weightlifter, good looking and
charismatic, but still loves at home with his parents.
DeSantis would be the best of both of those eligible
bachelors. He is good on TV, he makes strong points, he has a vision for the
future. He wins big culturally, economically, and even spiritually. Politically
speaking, he is wise and good-looking. And yet, the voters are turning down the
rich stud and going with a flabby sellout who talks big and accomplishes
little.
Why?
It all comes down to identity politics and feelings. It
reminds me of domestic violence victims who have become so attached to their
trauma, who identity all too closely with their abuser, that they cannot see
themselves living with anyone else, or getting someone better. There are
serious problems in the American voting electorate at this point. They are so
desperate for former times, that they will take the wife-beater who at least
paid some bills and provided a roof over their head versus Prince Charming who
won't treat them like trash.
Instead of reason and research, voters are going with
nostalgia and coping. They want to feel good, and they want to believe that
they are saving the country because they show up to vote once every four years
and watch Fox News faithfully. That does not equal victory, and many of these
voters are going to learn the hard way that feelings, thoughts, prayers, and
lots of hope do not win elections and cannot shape the culture.
Governor DeSantis was the president we needed, but not the
President that the United States deserves. Iowa voters missed their opportunity
to elect the most consistently conservative candidate in a generation, if not
an entire century, because they wanted to chase the headlines and feel good
about themselves. The problem was not the candidate, but the voters, and
changing the voters is going to take much longer than one election cycle.
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