Ron DeSanctimonius

From a ‘GenX Florida Man’:

The “success” of DeSantis as a politician is vastly overrated. He represented a gerrymandered district. He won gov the first time by 0.4% of the vote. And was re-elected largely because no one likes Charlie Crist. pic.twitter.com/6iyRDjl7Nl

— Warren (@swd2) May 21, 2023

The Red Arrow Diner is tiny — in the video, you can see one of the three (minute) booths next to the entrance. Then there’s a counter running the length of the room with about a dozen stools on one side and the (cramped) working space on the other. Since it’s so small, it’s always crowded, which is good for political photo ops but not great for the photogs, or for any politician who isn’t comfortable literally pressing the flesh.

I see this is where the humans replenish their nutrients, very fascinating, many humans clustered tightly. hello cluster, I acknowledge you have communicated with me. I will venture further into the cluster https://t.co/mhOhBQtLRX

— kilgore trout, blue check blocker (@KT_So_It_Goes) May 20, 2023

I will never trust Tara Palmeri, but I enjoy watching her mandibles sink into quivering GOP flesh…

… [F]or now, it’s mostly Trump and DeSantis fighting for those endorsements in advance of the oncoming primary, which will formally initiate a Republican presidential race that already feels two years in the making. Sure, these endorsements matter less than they once did, especially since state reps “tend to be political neophytes,” as one New Hampshire presidential consultant told me. (“There are 400 of them. They can hardly find the statehouse, and oftentimes that is a good thing.”) But the symbolism still carries some weight. Jason Osborne, the legislature’s majority leader, actually left a pledge on Sununu’s desk last week asking him to endorse DeSantis, and it hasn’t been answered, I’ve been told…

On Friday, I arrived at the Bedford Village Inn to hear DeSantis make his pitch to legislators. I was standing alongside the broadcast networks, a reporter from The Washington Post, and one from The New York Times who had flown in from Miami. On television, DeSantis can come across as savvy, reasonably well media-trained, and sometimes aggressive. (His wife, Casey, is a former local news anchor.) But in person, I immediately sensed a very different potential candidate: a guarded politician who had no interest in actually engaging with other humans, and was perhaps even a little scared of the spotlight. He had trouble making eye contact with people in the crowd. After five minutes of unmemorable remarks, we were quickly ushered out of the room so that DeSantis could have a private conversation with a group of people who had already endorsed him. It was unlikely that hard-hitting questions were coming his way.

The frustrated journalists were told not to worry: We’d soon be heading to the Red Arrow Diner, where we could see DeSantis in all his retail politicking glory, and ostensibly ask him questions either by way of scrum, round-robin, or extemporization. It was to be an early test of the press-averse governor’s ability to banter with the media in a laid-back environment, shaking hands with supporters at a place that serves the Trump Tower burger—a heart-stopping confection that combines two grilled cheese sandwiches, a beef patty, and fried mac’n’cheese, all with fries on the side.

As our small pool rushed over to the diner, however, DeSantis quickly bypassed the press while I volubly asked him whether he would take a meeting with Bob Iger. DeSantis didn’t acknowledge me, and instead seemed to be turning his body away from the scrum as he moved into the diner for photo-ops with the red-meat MAGA crowd. When I entered the crowded joint, I tried a more straightforward, if simple, query: “Governor DeSantis, why won’t you talk to the press?” This time DeSantis licked his lips nervously, and made sure not to look my way.

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