The gladiators have entered the arena

Created
Thu, 16/03/2023 - 04:30
Updated
Thu, 16/03/2023 - 04:30
Well, Trump and DeSantis anyway You know the presidential primary campaigns have begun in earnest when political reporters start trudging around Iowa and hanging out in diners to find out what the Real Americans are thinking. This week we got our first dose of this quadrennial ritual when both Donald Trump and his closest rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis showed up to give speeches and mingle with the hoi polloi. According to the Washington Post, Trump remains his “freewheeling” self while DeSantis is tightly scripted, which is not exactly news. But there are some subtle changes. For instance, Trump is making a point of showing up unannounced at some local businesses to pretend to be a regular guy in order to contrast himself with DeSantis who is known to be cold and off-putting. DeSantis, meanwhile, is sticking to his prepared speeches in order to appeal to Republicans who are sick of Trump’s incendiary rhetoric and want to hear a normal political speech. In other words, it’s all about style because when it comes to policy, they are clones of each other, furiously pandering to the base, each of them trying to out MAGA the other. Their need to get to the right of each other has them both vying for the most extreme elements of the party. Trump went after DeSantis in his speech for the first time in detail, slamming the Florida governor for being a loser who couldn’t have won without him. Trump said DeSantis was taking credit for Florida doing…