Trump DeSantis Ticket

  

Trump and DeSantis

 

Last week I conducted my own informal poll of Republican Trump supporters on whether they would like to see Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as Donald Trump’s choice for his running mate in the Presidential campaign.  All believed it would be a great idea.  A few days later, right before the New Hampshire primary, Governor DeSantis withdrew from the race and announced that he would support President Trump.

Now that Donald Trump has defeated Nikki Haley by 11 points in New Hampshire, I think his way is clear to the Republican nomination despite Haley’s determination to carry on. No matter what she does, I think it would be good to examine the pros and cons of a Trump/DeSantis ticket.

Trump does not need DeSantis to shore up his base. In all my life I have never seen such enthusiasm for a candidate as Trump has garnered since his entrance into politics in 2015. Despite all the criticism, harassment, impeachments, investigations, and indictments, his supporters still love him. In 2020 an unprecedented 74 million people voted for Trump, and I doubt if any of them have changed their mind since then, especially considering what has happened at home and abroad during the past 3 years of the Biden/Harris administration.

What DeSantis can add to the ticket is an heir apparent. Critics claim that Trump will be a lame duck if elected in November, and because of that he will have even more difficulty governing than he did during his first administration. DeSantis provides a competent, experienced, and youthful successor to the aging Trump. He would be a natural to carry on the conservative agenda in 2028, as well as step in if Trump were to experience health issues before then. What a contrast it would be to the Biden/Harris ticket. Even Democrats shudder at the possibility that Biden, already obviously suffering from old age, would be succeeded by Kamela Harris.

It is true that Trump has had bad words for DeSantis since 2020. Trump had helped DeSantis win an unprecedented landslide in Florida, but then believed that DeSantis had failed to reciprocate. A couple of years ago, when DeSantis responded “no comment” when asked if he planned to run for President, Trump felt he was being disloyal. In hindsight, it would have been much better for DeSantis to have responded: “President Trump did a great job during his term in office, and if he chooses to run again, I will support him. I will only consider running if he chooses not to run.” Given his results in recent month he would have saved a lot of time and money. 

Nevertheless, politics is politics and if Joe Biden could choose Kamela Harris as his running mate after what she said about him in debates, there is no reason why Trump and DeSantis cannot mend their fences and forge a winning combination for November.

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