Evaluating Bob Vander Plaats' endorsement

Thus far, pundits have discounted the importance of Bob Vander Plaats' endorsement. These pundits have highlighted Vander Plaats' endorsements of Mike Huckabee in 2008 and Rick Santorum in 2012, each of whom went on to win the GOP's Iowa Caucuses. One such pundit/anchor is Special Report's Bret Baier. Yesterday, Baier interviewed Mr. Vander Plaats, where the first question he asked Mr. Vander Plaats was who he was endorsing.

Mr. Vander Plaats replied "I'm thrilled to throw my personal endorsement and support behind Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida." Shortly thereafter, Vander Plaats said "The reason it's not a surprise is that we need to find somebody who can win in 2024. And what we saw in 2022, the supposedly red wave really only happened in Florida and in Iowa. Governor DeSantis took a reliable toss-up state in Florida and made it complete red, won by 20 points, won in demographics that we haven't won in."

Then Vander Plaats got into the heart of why he endorsed Gov. DeSantis:

But he's also done that by being a bold and courageous leader. So, right away, it was kind of his endorsement to lose. But, as you know, Bret, in Iowa, they go to church with us, they're in our homes, they come to our offices, the leadership summit.

But at last Friday's Thanksgiving family forum, he closed the sale with me. He was very clear about, we need a president who can serve two terms, not one term. We don't need a president that's going to be a lame-duck on day one. You need a president that's going to surround themselves with the best and brightest people, versus having a hard time attracting them again, and someone who is actually going to do what they say they're going to do.

And I just think he's got the spine to do it. And I think he's got the experience to win for us.

Endorsing Huckabee and Santorum was predictable and ill-advised. Both were niche candidates (at best). Huckabee and Santorum weren't top-tier candidates, either. Both men were middle- or lower-tier candidates who happened to be religious. The minute they left Iowa, their campaigns were essentially finished. They couldn't compete beyond Iowa.

It's foolish to think that of Gov. DeSantis. Gov. Huckabee replaced Bill Clinton when Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush in 1992. After that, he raised taxes in Arkansas, which was turning red after being a blue state for years. Before he ran for the GOP presidential nomination, Rick Santorum got defeated by Bob Casey 59%-41% in 2006. Do either Huckabee or Santorum sound like a top-tier candidate?

I haven't mentioned Sen. Cruz yet. That's because he has a following and definitely has the conservative credentials. Still, he's missing Gov. DeSantis's lengthy list of conservative accomplishments. There's a reason why Mark Levin calls Gov. DeSantis "America's Governor." This news segment sums things up accurately:

Donald Trump's spoiled little brat tirade doesn't detract from this endorsement. It's predictable that Trump lashed out when he didn't get his way. It isn't like we didn't know that already, right?

Gov. DeSantis still has work to do. Still, he's got the conservative accomplishments outdistances Trump's accomplishments. I don't know if you've heard this before but Trump isn't that likable. It's true that Gov. DeSantis isn't charisma personified but he's likable, disciplined and serious.

In 2020, voters dumped Trump in the hope that they'd return to normalcy. That's obviously failed so it's time to turn to Gov. DeSantis. With Pres. DeSantis, we won't get mean tweets at 3:00 am 5 times a week. Better, we won't have to tolerate a geriatric who shakes hands with ghosts:

Most importantly, we'll finally have a disciplined conservative whose highest priority is making Americans' lives better. In other words, Gov. DeSantis is the total package, aka the real deal.

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