Democrats Cannot Let DeSantis Define Himself To Latino Voters Nationwide

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This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1453517
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The survey showing Latino support for democracy is encouraging. Latin nations have perhaps more experience than any other group in alternating between democracy and totalitarianism. We can hope the heirs of that experience have learned the dire difference. DeSantis would, as president, bring the American Inquisition.

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Latinas need to be reminded why so many of them left their home countries and immigrated to the USA…and how Desantis and other states, like TEXAS, are going down the same path as the politicans in their home-countries, perseccuted and sometimes , killed thier friends and families.

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Remember DeSantis’ kidnapping stunt snatching folk here legally and transporting them to Martha’s Vineyard island clear across the continent from where their court dates were in Seattle. To Ron people are just fodder for his power seeking.

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There is potential for Democrats to make inroads, especially with the young.

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“Anti-woke” is and therefore should be defined as anything that threatens White and especially White male privilege.

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**Must credit Harry R. Sohl

That’s why he should only be referred to by Dems as:

“Flácido Dumgringo.”

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Democrats are hesitant to respond to DeSantis lest they inflate his profile. But that may be at their own peril.

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DeSantis is modeling himself on caudillismo, an historically significant style of personalist authoritarian rule in Spain and Hispanic America and one that may still resonate in Latino communities; bares watching for sure.

Historian John Lynch argues that the rise of caudillos in Spanish America is rooted not in the distant Spanish past but in the immediate context of the Spanish American wars of independence. Those wars overthrew colonial rule and left a power vacuum in the early nineteenth century. Caudillos were very influential in the history of Spanish America and have a legacy that has influenced political movements in the modern era.

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DeSantis is the RC Cola of Trump-style politics, an insincere wannabe and copycat who’ll never be like the real thing. Trump is an effective poser, pretender and liar, while DeSantis is a pretend poser and liar. I mean if you’re going fake authenticity, be good at it. Of course the people who go for this shit are stupid, and will buy anything if sold to them properly. But as in pro “wrestling”, there can only be one true star in any one archetype category, and Trump’s got the creepy misogynist hateful anti-woke asshole one locked up. To have a chance nationally DeSantis has got to change his act.

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“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” ― George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

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Rhonda is a savior to immigrants, he helps ship them out of places like Texas and moves them to places that are way better, like NY and MA.

It SEEMS cruel to uproot a family, but getting them out of TX/FL is definitely a gift

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I can’t wait till Trump’s “farewell address”. I don’t care what he actually says so long as it’s his actual farewell. But we basically know what it would consist of because he’s been giving the same speech for years. America is doomed, only he can save it, enemies everywhere, darkness and gloom, blah blah blah. What an asshole, and idiot.

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Agreed; I’d suggest that this confirms Ron as virtually identical philosophically to TFG–they both recognize only 3 types of people in the world.

  1. Themselves–the center of the(ir) universe.
  2. Others who are (temporarily) useful to them, and
  3. Others who must be crushed/destroyed. Period.
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The caution I would give is that Latino voters are not a monolithic group.

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It is my hope that Rhonda goes to the wrong people in his various campaign stops.

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True but it isn’t just about him. It’s the message that goes out and the down ballot impacts.

FFS, raise his profile as a fascist asshole, DoJ should have taken action against those kidnappings, what I don’t know, but so long as he does that sort of crap w/o consequences the more they will do, and, more importantly, the opportunity to get people to understand what was wrong with it is lost.

And that’s why people let that shit happen, because nobody says it’s wrong and why.

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This is very true, but if you go with “He’s attacking Disney.” the message will cut across a lot of different Latino voters.

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I can’t wait for his farewell PERIOD and don’t want to listen to him anymore PERIOD. Not sure when I became aware of him either via TV, newspaper, People mag, or what, but I have considered him a vulgarian since day one. I avoided him like the plague and never attached the title of the office he held to his name ONCE. Never viewed “The Apprentice” except when a commercial would come on, only to switch over to another station. It is a riddle to me that people actually adore him.

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I think DeSantis has bitten off more than he can chew.

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