What will I take away from this clash of titans? “DeSantislies.com.” That’s pretty much it.
Well, there’s a little bit more:
- DeSantis came across, as usual, as angry and charmless. He reminds me more of Richard Nixon every day. Haley wasn’t much better.
- Presumably in an effort to hoover up the Chris Christie vote, Haley went further to criticize Trump and his views of the Constitution than before. DeSantis was more equivocal, as you would expect.
- Most of the debate revolved around allegations pertaining to behavior while in office. It looked and sounded very petty.
- DeSantis and Haley actually disagree on Ukraine and Social Security. That’s about it. The rest is just sound and fury signifying nothing.
- Based on about two decades of history, anyone proposing a flat tax is showing signs of desperation. In DeSantis’ case, he wouldn’t even stand by his own idea. The whole point of a flat tax is to get poor people to pay more, and rich people less. If the rich get a huge tax cut, and the poor get a small one, who is going to pay for government? It’s practically impossible.
- I think Haley wants to go to war with Iran. DeSantis just wants to give the Israelis the resources to fight in whatever manner they please, with no questions asked. I suppose that is another difference.
- Both candidates are totally insensitive to the needs of the Palestinians and the Arab states. That’s terrible policy.
- DeSantis is not a small government conservative; he inherited a tiny state workforce, thanks to Rick Scott, and expanded it some with federal money. He just plays a CL on TV for the benefit of his donors.
- DeSantis’ disagreements with “woke corporations” are just populist rubbish he employs to justify a huge tax cut for business. He’s about as big a populist as Trump on economic issues.
- While there was slightly more emphasis on Trump than in the past, it was overshadowed by the bickering. Trump won this debate, just as he won all of the others.