Writes Sarah Larson, in "When Ron DeSantis Forgot His Coat/On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, the Florida governor faces blizzards, skeptical voters, and the chill of his own campaign" (The New Yorker).
Lots more at the link. I just want to quote this sentence: "Posing for photographs, DeSantis looked as if he were trying to keep his smile perfectly still while it attempted to crawl off his face."
Meanwhile, also in The New Yorker: "Trump Receives a Warm Embrace in Frigid Iowa/Before the caucuses, snow had kept the former President away from his enthusiastic crowds. On Saturday, he finally arrived in Des Moines." The reporter, Antonia Hitchens, writes:
Team Trump announced that their big Saturday rallies had been merged into a single tele-rally to “ensure the safety of MAGA patriots across Iowa.”... [T]hirty-six caucus captains... had been summoned to serve as the studio audience.... ... Trump walked [in]... slightly rumpled, in a long black coat and a white shirt with a few buttons undone. “That’s a lot of cold weather,” he said. “We have a lot of tremendous support, but it’s nasty out there.”...
The next day in Indianola, the New Yorker author talked with a truck driver who had stood in line in -15° weather to see Trump:
Just before Trump came on, the “God Made Trump” video played. “I loved it,” Dean said, of the clip. “It’s true. God made Trump.”... “God made Trump?” I asked. “No,” he clarified, “God made Trump run. It was God’s choice—to save us.”
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72 comments:
What the heck? Is this the first time Iowa has had winter weather in January? Is it liberal shock there is still winter?
The New Yorker is either in thrall of a schizophrenic state, or attempting to balance the scales of journolistic integrity.
Into everyone's life a little snow must fall. Amateurs.
The Redheaded libertarian came up from Florida to Iowa Saturday..
She refers to us as living on Hoth, the Ice Planet from Starwars..
Which, of course; makes us Iowans say: "You Think THIS is cold? Wait until Tomorrow"
'slightly rumpled', Trump did not go full rumple
Going to Iowa in January without your winter coat should get you kicked off the ballot.
The mediaswine have been complicit with the Trump campaign in destroying DeSantis. who is a worthy candidate.
They must believe that between their relentless attacks on Trump and the scurrilous legal actions by Democrat prosecutors they can prevent Trump from winning. They are wrong. Democrats will have to steal it again.
I cant believe a campaign structure like DeSantis forgot a coat.I'm calling BS. AND, His Iowa supporters would have had him in a Pioneer Seed Parka, before he got a half a cup of gone.
This really sounds like a East Coaster's imagined scenario in flyover country.
Never got above freezing yesterday. I was out several times, went to town, shoveled snow, and I have yet to break out my down parka. Still in my hooded Carhart knock off.
Vivek has been living in Des Moines for weeks. I think he cancelled one event.
How could Ron forget his winter coat? I’ve lost respect for Ron. If he’s not prepared for the little things, how will he handle the big things?
A devastating admission against interest!
Dave Begley: I admire your enthusiasm. But Ramaswamy is seven points ahead of Ryan Binkley. I don't think this is going to be his year, though everyone would be stupid to rule him out as VP.
DeSantis is actually by far the most proven, competent, and ideologically appropriate choice to lead. But he is such a terrible campaigner that I suspect his advisors have decided to take the rarely-used, Will Ferrell-like route of playing that up as a strength. I just hope they don't take it too far and accidentally William Henry Harrison him.
Are we to believe thet there wasn't a coat available from a staffer for him to wear?
He couldn't buy a coat in Iowa?
Being completely unprepared for something he isn't used to is not a good look for a president.
Wince said...
He couldn't buy a coat in Iowa?
Yeah, there's no way Ron could've been joking, is there?
Agreed not a good look to admit you don't have a coat in Iowa in the winter. Farm and Fleet would be just around the corner with hundreds of Carhartt choices. Or a Hawkeyes jacket from Kohl's.
I'm with the folks calling BS. Buy a freaking coat, you cheap bastard.
In Maine, the local store is Reny's. Any candidate who went into Reny's for a browse and schmooze could work that all through the state. "I got my coat in Reny's because I forgot mine in Florida." Hell, a good candidate would lie and buy the coat in Reny's while their own coat sat in the car trunk.
It's not that hard.
Aside from his objectionable policies and pronouncements, DeSantis is utterly stiff and charmless.
The new yawker has a record of getting everything wrong on the small things as well as the big
Yeah, there's no way Ron could've been joking, is there?
I think I’m usually savvy on the humor but I would need that joke explained to me…
Is Iowa the new Reykjavík?
"Kerry Jones, who’d driven to Iowa City from nearby Tiffin, wasn’t so sure. “I didn’t commit yet,” Jones said. She’d been hoping to learn more about Haley’s position on health care. It didn’t come up during her brief remarks, and Haley skipped the Q&A. “I’ve heard Nikki’s speech before — that same speech,” Jones said. “I wanted to hear a little bit more about her plans.” ~ Wapo
Finally, a GOP caucus voter who is interested in policy, not just the antics of a 77-year old.
Love the hate
DeSantis is utterly stiff and charmless.
We ain't selling jeans
His performance in this campaign cycle helps one remember that he barely beat a crack-smoking Democrat who was on the down-low in 2018. Of course, his outstanding governorship in Florida in his first term merits much praise and suggests he would be about as good a President as we could possibly expect, and it did lead to a land-slide reelection in 2022. However, making that jump to national politics is just like starting over, and absent a miracle tonight, he is done for this cycle.
Trump goes to a fire station. Gets out of the limo carrying a stack of 6 large pizzas for the firefighters. That's man of the people stuff. Simple.
The New party line: "Hey, look at all those beer swilling truck drivers, rubes, and religious kooks supporting trump - you don't want to be one of THOSE, do you?"
So, low class.
Objectives:
1) Turn Trump's popularity against him. "Look at his supporters, eeewh"
2) Make Biden supporters think along class lines. "The right sort of people are for Biden"
3) Appeal to snobbery and the desire to be fashionable. "All us cool, smart people are with Biden"
The New party line: "Hey, look at all those beer swilling truck drivers, rubes, and religious kooks supporting trump - you don't want to be one of THOSE, do you?"
So, low class.
Objectives:
1) Turn Trump's popularity against him. "Look at his supporters, eeewh"
2) Make Biden supporters think along class lines. "The right sort of people are for Biden"
3) Appeal to snobbery and the desire to be fashionable. "All us cool, smart people are with Biden"
Note to POTUS candidates: Do NOT, I repeat do NOT wear "ear muffs". Or hats with flaps over your ears. It makes you look stupid.
Maybe Nikki Haley could get by, but the male candidates? Nope.
"I’ve lost respect for Ron. If he’s not prepared for the little things, how will he handle the big things?"
Those of us who live in Florida and see how prepared the governor is on the big things and how he handles the left don't care about the petty bullshit that others do. Frankly, I'm hoping he bails out of the race. He's too valuable to us down here.
when i bought my 1st (and last) Harley (a new 2006 1200 Sportster Custom)..
The salesman told me (as soon as i'd signed the papers), that i "NEEDED" to replace the pipes..
"why?" i asked
"Oh, you Don't Want the stock pipes! They are a loud as we can legally sell new bikes, so you'll want to replace them with these Special Aftermarket pipes, that are MUCH louder and will make the bike MORE POWERFUL!!"
I asked why, if we weren't supposed to EVER use the stock pipes, why They were chrome plated and not inexpensive?
the salesman looked at me stupefied.. And i realized that EVERY THING on the bike, from the oil filter* to the not to be used "stock pipes" was a scam to rip me off. As i Said, that was my LAST Harley
oil filter* It voided the warranty if you didn't
a) change your oil filter (2,000 miles, i think.. might have been less)
b) replace it with an expensive Factory filter
c) have it done BY the dealer.. So the oil change was about $200
Rich said...
"Is Iowa the new Reykjavík?"
They just need volcanoes to erupt not to far away for some Volcano Tours. Maybe in Omaha or Lincoln.
"Finally, a GOP caucus voter who is interested in policy, not just the antics of a 77-year old."
I'm sure they're not too fond of the antics of a certain 81-year old.
"I’ve lost respect for Ron. If he’s not prepared for the little things, how will he handle the big things?"
Those of us who live in Florida and see how prepared the governor is on the big things and how he handles the crises don't care about the petty bullshit that others do. I'd rather have competence than "charm" and DeSantis has that in spades. Frankly, I'm hoping he bails out of the race. He's too valuable to us down here.
corner with hundreds of Carhartt choices. Or a Hawkeyes jacket from Kohl's.
Carhartt works. Hawkeye coat? NO!, he would have split off 1/2 his supporters. In public, the Hawkeye-Cyclone rivalry splits families. No. Better to wear Carhartt. Or Since he's in the Des Moines area, Duluth Trading.
He forgot his jacket?
DEMOCRACY IS OVER!
We will be saddled with the Biden-Trump drama. No way out.
The old crook V. The dick-stepping promise breaker.
DeSantis is promising to deport all the illegals. Where's Trump? Oh right- he will give the problem lip-service - but his promises are empty and have an expiration date.
Joe likes chocolate chip ice cream. No joke.
OK. If you live in Florida, you are unlikely to own a North Face parka or need one. When I lived in Boca I rarely had any need for even a sweater, but I traveled occasionally to more northerly climes and kept suitable gear for those trips. Simple planning by a simpleton (me) regarding simple conditions typically prevailing in locations north of Melbourne, e.g. Edina, MN in February.
The dearth of simple planning to cope with a thoroughly predictable situation in Iowa in January is troubling. YOU'RE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT, FER CHRISSAKES!
Smiles might fade, but they do not crawl off. They are not rodents. "Here at the New Yorker" turned into "There Went the New Yorker" three or four decades ago. Imagine Lillian Ross or John Updike writing such a lame image. Wouldn't happen.
But the current staffers aren't writers and they're not thinkers, either. This article's authoress just wants to highlight all the ways DeSantis lacks Joe Biden's charm, wit and intelligence.
When she did take a break from her dreary put-downs, she allowed DeSantis a moment: "He announced that he had beaten the teachers’ unions, beaten Anthony Fauci, beaten the Democrats. At the end of a short speech, he turned startlingly lyrical, invoking George Washington, the sacred fire of liberty, the Berlin Wall, and the beaches of Normandy. He responded to questions with vigor and arguments."
Even in that list, do I sense her sniffing at the phrase "sacred fire of liberty"? Probably too corny for a sophisticated New Yorker. Whether or no, she then went directly back to undercutting the candidate, as her boss Remnick wants.
As for DeSantis, however, one of the things he said recently was especially worthy, IMO. Asked for a favorite president, he cited Calvin Coolidge. That is exactly a model we could use right now, especially against the destructiveness of leftist "activists." Get rid of the imperial presidents and try a little modesty for a change. We might do the world some good that way.
Robert Cook writes, "Aside from his objectionable policies and pronouncements, DeSantis is utterly stiff and charmless."
Words from a master practitioner in each of those categories.
Objectionable policies -- more well-stocked than Objectionable Policies Warehouse.
Objectional pronouncements -- commencing before breakfast.
Utterly stiff -- like a board nailed to other boards welded to I-beams.
Charmless -- like a naked nudist Gypsie passing through a TSA metal detector.
Going to Iowa in January without your winter coat should get you kicked off the ballot.
=================
But - could RdS not buy one or get a spare from any of his supporters?
Is that telling us something about his support and wife's luggage skills
Frankly, I'm hoping he bails out of the race. He's too valuable to us down here.
========
does the governor care as much about Floridans?
stacks of pizza - not impressed.
Keeping promises. that impresses me.
the senators that wouldn't fund the wall that wouldn't repeal obamacare, who then turned around and voted for roly poly austin, gruesome garland and meandering mayorkas, who have treated ukraine as the 51st state,
'Going to Iowa in January without your winter coat should get you kicked off the ballot.'
I live in a warm climate and don't have a 'winter' coat.
I make do with layers when I travel to cold areas.
That said, he should have visited a Burlington Coat Factory...
'Going to Iowa in January without your winter coat should get you kicked off the ballot.'
Of course, maybe he did buy a winter coat but didn't have time to get it tailored so it wouldn't drag in the snow...
Please, Iowans, don't double dog dare Ron to touch his tongue to the flagpole.
DeSantis performatively held a press gaggle outside
Performatively, huh? Were there fake classical columns involved?
Joe Smith said...
'Going to Iowa in January without your winter coat should get you kicked off the ballot.'
Of course, maybe he did buy a winter coat but didn't have time to get it tailored so it wouldn't drag in the snow...
Shrinkage?
Bond with the natives:
"Colder than a Muth..r F'r today!"
That is pure dumbness from Team DeSantis
Quick question: What is the theme of this year's election for president? I recall MAGA from the last one, with Dems trying very hard to avoid being against that concept, while damning it with every breath at the same time. But this time around? "Heeeeeeee's Baaaaaaack!" just doesn't thrill me without knowing why. Refuting "Orange Man Bad" also won't cut it. I saw them say that for four years and Orange Man wasn't all that bad, really, until Fauci destroyed the term with COVID lockdowns. But Revenge of the Donnie isn't gonna happen, and isn't a reason to vote for Trump. "They stole 2020" isn't a reason to vote Trump, more just a call to hate the progs even more.
So why Trump, in 2024? "Nobody else fights like him" sure, but he LOST that fight from 2021 to 2024, hounded by the Resistance and the endless Russia hoax and then impeachments. How about a fighter this time, who WINS? And I don't see that person.
So we've had a puppet administration by the Dems, who only seem capable of extending corrupt practices throughout every weaponized sector of government and destroying the middle class in favor of a welfare state of beggars run by oligarchic corporations. Rather than accomplishing anything worthwhile, what they do accomplish, like unlimited immigration, is more a problem that makes more problems than a solution to any other problem here. But they have abortion to draw in women this year (Thanks, Texas!), which is nice.
What do we have, other than oppostition? Give me something positive to vote for, please!
As to weather, it is freezing right now in Austin. I get to wear my ski jacket at least today, tomorrow and the next day, this year. I'm going to NJ shortly for some work training, and look forward to using my ski jacket somewhere other than on brief weather chills like this, and an annual winter trip to Colorado.
DeSantis didn't forget his coat. His underlings forgot to pack one for him. And unless I miss my guess, there are Walmarts in Iowa and I bet they sell coats sufficient unto his needs. For that matter there are underlings with coats that would fit him, had he thought the issue through before trying to be cute in a suit in winter in Iowa. NEXT!
Gilbar,
What kind of oil did your sportster use?
I had a 71 sportster. First year they went to 1000cc. Shifter on the right as the good lord intended.
It required 90 weight oil. Anything less would drip out as fast as you can pour it in.
90 weight at room temp is about the consistency of honey.
HD sold their own brand. I found an auto parts store that sold Bardahl 90w for about half. I bought a case at a time and hat to fill the oil tank every 2-3 days. On a year old low milage ride.
HD dealer even sold official HD oil drip pans.
John Henry
Back in the 80s when I last had a job the HR dept had a hf dozen coats along with hats and gloves.
If you were traveling officially you checked one out.
A lot of people here don't own winter clothes at all.
My son borrows mine when he travels
John Henry
I live in a warm climate and don't have a 'winter' coat.
I make do with layers when I travel to cold areas.
That will work 99% of the time. But not during the cold snaps, when lows are-15 to -20F, and highs to not crack positive numbers. like has been happening since Friday. Layers will get you from the car to warmth, and back.
But Iowa means ALL people get around in vehicles. With the bitter temps and snow squalls, even seasoned drivers can find themselves stranded on the roads, by the weather. All the wise Iowans have their warmest coats, insulated coveralls, boots scarfs, and head gear, as a permanent fixture in their vehicles. Goes in the car Dec 1st and doesnt come out until March.
Right now it is still -2 at 2pm. overcast, so no help from the sun.
Article:
“I actually do have a winter coat, and I forgot it,” he told a group of highway-construction contractors, on Wednesday morning. “So the next people that are coming up from Tallahassee, they’re going to bring it. . . . But I think I’m going to need earmuffs and all that other stuff. So any tips you can give me . . .”
People are seriously reading into this?
He's on the move. Ya forget stuff. Add in that's a reporter's writing, not video. Even just audio would help.
rehajm:
I think I’m usually savvy on the humor but I would need that joke explained to me…
He addressed highway-construction contractors. I'm pretty sure a shiver accompanying each pause (presumed meaning of the elides) would come across as self-depreciating humor. Like my last post, no video, no idea of his frame of mind.
Try this:
Do you envision DeSantis standing at the podium in Tennessee with his winter coat on or off?
If off, why do you envision that he had been carrying the thing the entire time?
I live in a warm climate and don't have a 'winter' coat.
I make do with layers when I travel to cold areas.
That will work 99% of the time. But not during the cold snaps, when lows are-15 to -20F, and highs to not crack positive numbers.
I avoid these cold places...
I am sure I have been damaged by my childhood, but when people tell me trump is a bad lier I hear Colonel Klink say there has never been an escape from Stalag13. And Gen Burkhalter say zo you haff told me, and told me, and told me again.
The 2006 sportster engine was actually pretty nice. No leaks, and about 65 horse.
The oil was 20w-50
I live in CNY. Driving work today saw someone out and about in shorts and a down vest. 20 deg F today. Never broke out my winter coat last year and haven’t yet this year.
My son in FL halfway down the East Coast tells me people are bundled up when it gets down to 50.
My wife bundles up completely when the temperature drops like she was going to be outside for an extended period. I dress for a dash from a building to my car then back. Even on the coldest days I could do that with a heavy sweatshirt. I have a heavy winter jacket and a blanket in the car- just in case.
So he didn’t have a coat? So what?
From nymag.com:
Tucker Carlson's experience with and view of Gov. DeSantis:
"In an excerpt from his book The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty, which was published in New York, Michael Wolff reported that Tucker Carlson invited DeSantis to lunch at his home in Florida in spring 2023 to see if he could back Rupert Murdoch’s preferred candidate. DeSantis wound up alienating Carlson and his wife, Susie, by behaving boorishly and pushing — or possibly even kicking — their beloved dog:
'They failed it miserably. They had a total inability to read the room — one with a genteel, stay-at-home woman, here in her own house. For two hours, Ron DeSantis sat at her table talking in an outdoor voice indoors, failing to observe any basics of conversational ritual or propriety, reeling off an unself-conscious list of his programs and initiatives and political accomplishments. Impersonal, cold, uninterested in anything outside of himself. The Carlsons are dog people with four spaniels, the progeny of other spaniels they have had before, who sleep in their bed. DeSantis pushed the dog under the table. Had he kicked the dog? Susie Carlson’s judgment was clear: She did not ever want to be anywhere near anybody like that ever again. Her husband agreed. DeSantis, in Carlson’s view, was a “fascist.” Forget Ron DeSantis.'
"Wolff later stated that this anecdote came from Carlson — a consummate source for journalists despite his public protestations of the rest of the media."
As I said above: Utterly stiff and charmless, not to mention clueless. He may even be a cyborg: a robot with an Asperger patient's brain.
Is it liberal shock there is still winter?
I guess they assumed that global warming made the whole country 90 degrees in January. (Besides, libs live in a bubble, which is nice and cozy.)
Kai Akker… DeSantis’s smile reminds me of the late, great Phil Hartman’s Frankenstein character smiling on SNL. That and the extreme close-ups of King Kong in the 1933 movie.
And I’m a fan of Ron D.
I just want to quote this sentence: "Posing for photographs, DeSantis looked as if he were trying to keep his smile perfectly still while it attempted to crawl off his face."
Yup. A doctrinaire feminist cannot possibly pass up such a catty, "mean girls" remark about someone who is both a more accomplished individual than Sarah Larson, and an all-around better human being.
Alright Cook - good news is you have Biden. He's a wonderful lying liar who lies, crook, husk, puppet, above the law a-hole, and open border tyrant.
I don't care if he's "charmless" or has a weird smile or whatever, but I do care that DeSantis' strategy was so bad that it might as well have been dictated by a Democratic-party mole.
What he SHOULD have done was follow the Obama vs. Hilary playbook. At the beginning you're the big underdog and everybody thinks you're really running for VP. You don't attack the front-runner--in fact you agree and amplify, basically signaling to your base that you want everything that the front-runner wants, but even more. And then, when an opportunity presents itself, when the front-runner stumbles, you move ahead more in sorrow than in anger because the overall cause is just so much more important...
Yes, Trump attacked DeSantis. So? Have the intelligence to know that the only way you are winning is if the Trump people* vote for you, so you take the hit from Trump--let it slide off your back, tease him lightly about it, whatever--and let it appear that you are on his side. Keep letting his people think you are running for VP. But no, when someone asked, DeSantis said "I absolutely wouldn't accept VP," which may be whatever the moronic "textbook" says to say, but which in this case was stupid. The right answer was "The most important thing is that Pres. Trump's effective policies get reinstated so that we can recover quickly from the Biden disaster. I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to make that happen--and as President making that happen is exactly what I would do."
Instead, DeSantis' team hired an obnoxious online troll army, bought up a lot of has-been and never-was "Republican influencers," and convinced the Trump people that despite his actually DOING conservative things in Florida, he's just another Bush-lite globalist who will put all his efforts into only letting the Democrats get 75% of their agenda through.
This is a Rudy Giuliani-level campaign failure. The members of DeSantis' campaign team should be unemployable after this--but they won't be.
*Not the "lifelong Republicans," but the blue-collar Obama voters who believe that Trump is the only candidate who cares about them.
So why Trump, in 2024? "Nobody else fights like him" sure, but he LOST that fight from 2021 to 2024, hounded by the Resistance and the endless Russia hoax and then impeachments. How about a fighter this time, who WINS? And I don't see that person.
=======
Q: is Trump = Rocky
Winner is gonna win. The one with the majority vote winning is revival of Democracy. In 2020 the one with false vote counts in swing states won.
“The mediaswine have been complicit with the Trump campaign in destroying DeSantis. who is a worthy candidate.”
He’s another who would make a much better President than candidate. He’s superb at playing the inside game, and is the candidate who, I believe, could best get the Deep State under control. I esp like what he’s done with COVID-19, esp against the vaccines. His pick of a Surgeon General was masterful. He would be a good VP for Trump, but that is currently impossible with them both being FL residents. Maybe Trump can switch his residency to his suite here, in Las Vegas… But my dream is that he takes over as AG in 2027, when he leaves office in FL, and cleans up the DOJ and FBI.
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