It no longer looks like Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis has a particularly credible shot of securing the Republican presidential nomination for the 2024 elections as he chases what a writer for the Orlando Sentinel derisively called “thermonuclear war on a cartoon mouse” in a new editorial.
The writer, Scott Maxwell, was referring to the obsession DeSantis has with targeting Disney, which has one of its U.S. theme parks in Florida. The company has expressed opposition to restrictions DeSantis and Republican allies of his have pursued on discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, and that’s a key development ahead of continuing animosity between the entertainment company and the popular but politically stunted Florida governor. Republicans in Florida’s state government have also pursued the special governance arrangement under which Disney controlled central Florida properties for years, besides a ridiculous recent suggestion from the governor of punitively constructing a new state prison in what would evidently be close proximity to Disney’s theme park situated near Orlando.
Also circulating have been suggestions for special regulations on ride safety for Disney’s attractions. “The problem seems to be that DeSantis, who is popular in Florida, is much less popular nationally and doesn’t know how to handle it,” Maxwell wrote. “Donald Trump is pounding on him like a bass drum. Donors are running away. And most mainstream Americans are either confused by or put off by his constant culture-warring. See, your average American doesn’t believe Mickey and Minnie are trying to turn preschoolers gay or that the Main Street Electrical Parade is a covert Pride operation. They’re not obsessed with drag queens. And they’re not keen on book bans. Neither, as it turns out, are some big GOP donors.”
GOP megadonor Thomas Peterffy has recently distanced himself from DeSantis, Maxwell observed. “See, DeSantis was billed as a less chaotic version of Donald Trump,” the writer said. “Instead, he declared thermonuclear war on a cartoon mouse.” Maxwell also noted some of the hypocrisy displayed by top Republicans on issues of ride safety at theme parks, since there’s evidently been long-standing resistance to more widely reaching regulations.
The elections data and analysis site FiveThirtyEight finally made an average of national polls in the GOP presidential primary contest, and Trump is an average of nearly 50 percent ahead of the Florida governor, who hasn’t confirmed a campaign but has been making campaign-like moves anyway. Bye, Ron. At present, he and his government allies are pursuing measures like an expansion of the restrictions on classroom discussions on the realities of LGBTQ+ identity (a measure was slated for a state board’s consideration this week) and the recently signed ban on abortions after six weeks, vastly expanding the large state’s healthcare restrictions. Read more at this link.
