Ron DeSantis is running for president; he just doesn’t want Trump to find out about it and squash him like a bug. DeSantis made his political fortune riding on Trump’s coattails, and is usually viewed as being a clone of the man on golf cart. How do they actually stack up?
DeSantis has his own personality quirks; most notably, by all accounts, he doesn’t like people very much, so he delegates his public relations to his wife. (That doesn’t seem that strange to me) Otherwise, he is a much more attractive figure than Trump. He has an impressive academic background; unlike Trump, he understands the concept of public service; he is clearly qualified to be president; and he isn’t a complete narcissist, which means that, unlike Trump, the fear of being a loser won’t make him a danger to the republic.
Politically, DeSantis is more of a pure reactionary than Trump, who genuinely believes in the standard GOP line about tax cuts and deregulation. DeSantis is not wealthy, and has no business background; he doesn’t see Florida as his own closely-held LLC. He is willing to embrace causes that are popular on the left, such as environmental protection, if it assists him politically. He is also good at owning the libs, albeit not to the degree that Trump is.
Is it possible for DeSantis to nudge Trump out of the way without drawing Former Guy’s ire? For that, see my next post.