Thus the word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them for me. If I say to the wicked man, You shall surely die; and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his wicked conduct so that he may live: that wicked man shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, on the other hand, you have warned the wicked man, yet he has not turned away from his evil nor from his wicked conduct, then he shall die for his sin, but you shall save your life.
Ezekiel 3:17-19
One the most important pf all the virtues is courage, without courage no other virtue can exist. Courage manifests itself in many ways but one of the least appreciated but most important is to see things as they are and be willing to say aloud the truth, even if it’s a painful truth that you wish wasn’t so.
Well it’s time to speak a painful truth to supporters of President Donald Trump.
Let me start by stipulating the following
Donald Trump is one of the best presidents we have ever had. By the ranking I made the day Biden came in Trump is in the top four presidents who have ever held the office. Since that day revelations on Fauci & COVID bring his rating down but the revelations of the degree that he was was undermined from within make his accomplishments even more impressive so at of now it’s a wash.
I have made it clear for a while that I believe election 2020 was stolen. To me this is confirmed by
The stops of the counts in several states
The efforts to hinder and/or stop examination of ballots and counts in question
The actions to censor those who said it was stolen so
The persecution of both Donald Trump and those who support him by this administration and by this justice department and FBI is both a national and an international disgrace.
Let me also stipulate that when it comes to the candidates I see Trump and DeSantis the way I would look at Ted Williams and Stan Musial in picking a starting left fielder for a team:
One can see this, acknowledge this and even assert, as I do, that the 2020 election was literally stolen from him, and still decide that DeSantis is the better choice in 2024. That’ doesn’t mean that Trump is a bad choice it just means that you think DeSantis is a better one.at this time.
On the other hand if you look at the data, again from the economic numbers to the accomplishments and conclude that Ron DeSantis is not only the most effective and successful GOP governor currently in office but that he is likely the best GOP governor that we’ve seen in the 21st century and I don’t think it’s close.
One can see this, acknowledge this and even assert that he would make an excellent president and still decide that Donald Trump is the better choice for 2024. That doesn’t mean DeSantis is a bad choice, it just means you think Trump is a better one at this time.
My purpose is to defeat the Democrat agenda by electing a republican to the white house in 2024 and it is not to re-elect and avenge or defeat and humiliate President Donald J Trump.
If I can defeat the Democrat Agenda by embracing and nominating Donald Trump as the GOP candidate in 2024 I will do it.
If I can defeat the Democrat Agenda by rejecting Donald Trump and nominating someone as the GOP candidate else I will do it.
and if I can defeat the Democrat Agenda by having a long primary with a drag out fight between Trump and DeSantis or another candidate and then standing by the winner who survives the test for the nomination whoever he or she is I will do that too.
That is how this election should be looked at by any person who wants the Democrats stopped, any conservative who decides to sit out the election if Trump is the nominee or decides to sit out the election if Trump is NOT the nominee is going to end up with the Democrat agenda that they rightly deserve and will have the added pleasure of knowing that they inflicted it upon themselves.
You have been warned.
With all those things stipulated the time has come for me to endorse Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida both for the GOP nomination and for President of the United States
I have been leaning toward Ron DeSantis for a while, his record of acomplishments in Florida doesn’t need to be reiterated but for the record:
He was one of the first governors to push back at the foolish COVID rules
He has fought the good fight on school reform and education reform
He has fought back on the culture wars protecting children
He has fought back against Woke corporations like Disney one of the most influential donors in the state when everyone (including Trump) advised against it AND WON!
He has fought back on illegal immigration and exposed the left’s false compassion with things like the plane to Martha’s Vineyard and the various Bus Trips.
He has fought back against every media narrative that has been used against him.
He has refused to be intimidated by anyone
Despite incredible pushback he pushed forward voting reforms that made many of the tactics that the left has used to steal elections, tactics that were once common in parts of Florida, practically obsolete.
And just this week he replaced a Soros DA who refused to enforce the law
All of these are positive reasons to endorse him but I’ve held back because I’ve wanted to see how he handles himself on the national stage both in dealing with the incessant attacks from the Trump camp and from the MSM. The national stage is different than a state stage and until I was sure he could stand up under attacks at least as well as Trump I thought I should hold off making a final decision between him and Trump, but something happened last Tuesday , something that reminded me of what I saw at the rise of Scott Brown. Something that Trump supporters won’t like, but need to acknowledge as an unpleasant reality.
I headed off to my mechanic last week to schedule a day for my 1999 Buick LeSabre. He is a one man operation who has been in place for decades with a large and loyal blue collar clientele. He talks to everyone and everyone talks to him.
While I was there the subject of the economy came up. We both bemoaned how things were [In fact while I was tying this paragraph I got a call that a fellow I was giving a lift to work was just laid off.] His other customers say the same. Then he dropped what was a bombshell to me.
We talked about the upcoming election and he told me in no uncertain terms that many of the blue collar voters who frequent the place, voters who had voted for Trump before have told him in no uncertain terms that they were sick of him and would not vote for him, PERIOD. These were folks who didn’t like Biden and commiserated with him at the state of the country under him but still said if Trump was the nominee he doesn’t get their vote. He argued with these folks, bluntly asking: “You mean you’d rather the country go to hell than vote for Trump?” To a man their answer was “Yes”
Again, these were blue collar people, the type of people who elected Scott Brown in 2010, people who supported Trump in the past, people who hated Biden and what he had done to the country but decided they hated Trump or perhaps the circus that comes with him even more.
We talked about how this was crazy, how this was self destructive and that they were screwing themselves but in the end our arguments meant nothing because for these people feelings and emotion trumps reality.
And that when it hit me, if a percentage of the blue collar folks we need to win are saying that in this small auto repair shop I suspect it is being said (or left unsaid) all over the nation.
And thus I return to the bottom line for 2024.
The goal is to win, without the votes of people like this in states that aren’t already deep red we don’t win.
Yeah it’s unfair how Trump has been treated, yes it’s unfair that the last election was stolen from us, yes he did a great job as president and his list of accomplishments are something to sing about, it’s unfair that we have to operate under these circumstances, and it’s unfair that we have to take irrational hatred into consideration when making a choice, but you know what, we’re conservatives and we know Life Isn’t Fair.
We don’t need to like or be liked by these irrational people, we don’t need these people to agree with us, but if we want to win we DO need these people to vote with us come election day 2024.
Say goodbye to the SCOTUS 6-3 rulings that have hampered the left (including Dobbs) because once a 2nd Biden admin replaces an Alito or a Thomas you can bet your bottom dollar John Roberts will start voting with the left again faster than you can say “old yellowstain”.
Say goodbye to any chance of the border being made secure.
And say goodbye to the restoration of equal justice under the law because if you think the FBI, Justice Department and various agencies are persecuting conservatives for their views now, imagine how it will be when they see there are not only no consequences for doing so but are backed up by a newly re-elected Biden Admin.
And let’s be blunt about another fact of life: Where does Donald Trump expand his vote count over 2024 with? What voter will he get this time that he didn’t get the last time around?
As I’ve already noted Ron DeSantis has more than proven himself as an excellent conservative choice, both on the social and the fiscal conservative front. Not only will he draw conservative votes but because he fought back against Fauci and Biden he can expand his base with those hurt by those decision, something that Trump who kept Fauci on the payroll and pushed the fast-tracking of the vaccines AND did so with the carrot of no liability can’t. In fact Trump history with the vaccine is something that every single GOP candidate for federal office will be hit with if he is the nominee. That’s going to cost us seats nationwide that a DeSantis nomination will not.
The single best argument against Donald Trump as the GOP nominee
Bottom line DeSantis draws votes that Trump can’t and doesn’t lose votes suffering from Trump fatigue and proved this by turning his squeaker election the first time around into a landslide, a landslide that came not despite his strong conservative record but BECAUSE OF IT. No matter how much you might dislike those voters who reject Trump this ability to expand one’s electorate is in fact a feature, not a bug but not as big of a feature as the fact that the left (and the Lincoln Project crowd) are scared to death of him.
We’re conservative we deal with facts. These are the facts, and these facts need to be put before GOP voters NOW before the voting begins and before all the lesser candidates dogpile on DeSantis which for most if them is the only reason they are in the race at all. There is no time to wait on this.
So for all these reasons, I Pete DaTechGuy now officially endorse Ron DeSantis for the GOP nomination and throw this blog behind his campaign and if you want us to win in 2024 I urge you to join me in doing so. This puts me on the opposite side of people I like, such as Don Surber who literally wrote the books on Trump and sites like Citizen Free Press who are invaluable conservative reads.
I suspect this will lose the blog more than a few fans and will generate cries of “RINO!” which is ironic given I’m the guy who in 2016 re-endorsed Trump right after the Billy Bush take came out when everyone and I mean everyone was running for the hills. It might even cost us a bit from the already depleted Tip Jar but this is no time to worry about that, I want us to win and the reality is what it is and the time to say this is NOW when it can make a difference and at a time when people are pushing the “campaign trouble” narrative it a case that needs making and if this advice isn’t taken then at least i’ll know that if the worst does come it will not be because I was silent.
You have been warned.
Closing thought: I’m convinced that if we nominate Donald Trump we will lose but if my advice is ignored and he wins the votes to be the nominee I will support him in the general election and make the best possible arguments for Trump (there is no lack of good arguments for his re-election) to convince those Blue collar folks to abandon their irrational hatred and vote for him, even though I think said effort is doomed to failure. After all with God all things are possible.
Important note: This is my own endorsement, I have not consulted any of my writers on this and it’s very possible that one or more or even all of them will disagree with me. They are welcome to do so and if they want to make the case that I am wrong here at the blog, they are welcome to do so as well.
Update: It’s been a while since my last Instalance. Thanks Glenn. Yup we’re still here after 15 years lost domain and banned youtube account not withstanding. Take a peek and see that the writers and I are still at it. You can find my old Youtube stuff at Rumble here and if you still like what you see after all these years please consider hitting DaTipJar as the Biden economy has not been so good to the blog and my employer is cutting hours.
Update 2: I was looking at the comments at Instapundit and it seems a lot of people there are taking my endorsement of DeSantis about as well as YouTube took me saying election 2020 was stolen.
Update 3: Two things:
in update 2 I meant to say “election 2020, not 2022 fixed
I work Sundays from 3:30 to midnight and have no net access I also moderate all comments so if you post a comment after 2:30 PM EST I won’t even see it till about 1 AM.
Stacy McCain had a great piece noting that it’s generally a bad idea to piss off Ace of Spades.
Something I realized long ago, sort of Rule Number One for survival in the conservative blogosphere: Never piss off Ace of Spades.
Ace has very good instincts about who is or is not Down For The Agenda. If he ever starts taking shots at somebody, you can bet that sooner or later that person will prove himself to be an unprincipled quisling.
But why bring up Allahpundit at this late date, eh?
If you look at the RCP average, Trump is beating DeSantis 3-1 and, quite frankly, DeSantis is starting to look like This Year’s Scott Walker. It is therefore remarkable that Ace would take this stance just now, when Trump looks like a shoo-in for the 2024 GOP nomination.
But Ace being Ace is a person who tends to say what he thinks and de damned to what the numbers are:
Every one of Trump’s problems gets weaponized against DeSantis, and then people wonder — Gee, why aren’t DeSantis’ supporters more interested in talking about Trump’s problems?
Tell you what: If Trump issues a STRONG statement clearing him from the previous lies that DeSantis is a pedophile, gay, cheats on his wife, killed more people with Covid than Democrat governors Newsom or Cuomo, then I’ll join you in your calls for STRONG statements clearing Trump of crimes which, let’s face it, he probably did commit.
And while Ace notes the horrible double standards being applied he says the line that for some Trump supporters will be considered Crossing the Rubicon:
The argument is really about selective prosecution of crimes that The Regime has previously not charged prominent Democrats for, not for Trump’s actual innocence. And as the DOJ was bringing more charges against Trump, it was also dropping all campaign corruption charges against the second-biggest donor to the Democrat Party in 2020.
All of this was actually avoidable by simply pushing the Trump record as president which is a pretty good one, but Stacy has one final suggestion to those who are all in on Trump:
Everything I’ve seen so far suggests to me that Trump is a lead-pipe cinch for the 2024 nomination, however much anyone may wish otherwise, or however much better DeSantis might be as a candidate in the general election.
Is there some way that could change? I don’t know, but maybe some of Trump’s more outspoken supporters should think about toning down their rhetoric just a wee bit, because they appear to be in danger of violating Rule Number One: Never piss off Ace of Spades.
All of this is good advice but while Ace’s deal is a good one and Stacy’s advice is even better none of it answers the question I have been asking for months:
If we believe that the last election was stolen and there have been no consequences for it, what steps will either a re-nominated Trump or a newly nominated DeSantis do to prevent this from happening again?
Because if neither Trump nor DeSantis have an actual workable plan to counter those tactics then neither of them have any business being nominated.
The hair on fire commentary on the Trump indictment continues but for all the bluster from the left and NeverTrump on Trump as criminal or idiot and all the anger on the right over folks who steal election proving to be dishonest in other things not to mention the double standards being applied, there is one argument keeps getting advanced that I think is nonsense so I ask this question:
In what way does the Corrupt and dishonorable actions of the Biden Administration in moving forward on the indictment of President Trump automatically mean that Trump is the best qualified candidate for me to choose for the GOP nomination for president?
There are plenty of reasons to support Trump for the nomination, based on my analysis at the time of Biden Inauguration I had him ranked 4th among president behind Washington, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Since then the revelations of the extraordinary steps taken to hinder his presidency have only added glow to his accomplishments in the sense that it makes it more extradentary that he accomplished anything let alone what he managed. On the minus side you have his failure to check Fauci and company which proved to be a huge mistake harmful for the nation. Taken in all I still rank him 4th or maybe even third all time and that kind of record is certainly a reason to vote for him.
But being oppressed by democrats and opposed by NeverTrump is not, particularly if there is a better alternative. If we are going to choose a nominee based on the unjust persecution by the Biden Administration then there are several pro-life Catholics and J6 Prisoners who deserve the nomination over Trump.
While there is not a GOP candidate in the race I can’t vote for and a few who I might vote for someday. At this moment my choice is between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. I’ve noted the case for Trump above and it’s a good one. Personally I’m leaning toward DeSantis on these grounds:
His record on the state level is as impressive as Trump’s on the Federal one
There is (fairly or unfairly) a group on uninformed Americans who will vote against Trump simply for being Trump (That’s not fair but neither is life) thus giving DeSantis a better chance of winning or at least making the election slightly harder to steal
He can serve two terms if he wins in 2024
While Trump is in fantastic shape for his age DeSantis is younger and less likely to physically decline in office.
DeSantis hasn’t closed the deal for me yet and Trump of course has his excellent record and his ability to bring out a base of excited voters in his favor, most votes every in history other than one candidate whose “magic ballots” that appear after midnight are still suspect. As I’ve said before Trump vs DeSantis as the nominee is like choosing between Ted Williams & Stan Musial to start in left for your team. Both are excellent players with excellent records and proven results but different styles it’s a question of which one is likely to help your current team win a particular game.
It’s not going to be because the Biden Administration are a bunch of corrupt asses and choose to act as such, nor to piss of the left and Never Trump, and anyways given their temperament they’ll be pissed off anyways. Even the most milquetoast GOP candidate can do it.
I’d feel comfortable voting for either of these men in the primary or the general but when I make my decision it’s going to be based on my judgement on which candidate is the best for the job and most likely to win period, and frankly you should too and if my judgement is different than yours, that’s OK.
As I have said before in this space I would happily vote for either Donald Trump OR Ron DeSantis if either wins the GOP nomination for president in 2024 (although the other than a Ted Cruz presidency the ideal would be Trump for 4 more followed by 8 years of DeSantis) and the country would be well served by either.
Frankly DeSantis has been doing an excellent job of wooing me and I’ve not been big on the Trump attacks on him, but there is a question that I think those pushing his candidacy need to answer..
One of the arguments that we hear from the shadow DeSantis crowd is that Trump is “unelectable” (or more properly “un re-electable” ) They may or may not have a point as Trump derangement syndrome is a real thing and the left has demonstrated that disaster is better than , but I would like to ask those who would push DeSantis on those grounds these questions:
What makes you think that the same democrat counties in critical states that played with the vote count in 2020 would not do so again in 2024 if DeSantis is the nominee?
Donald Trump has already stated publicly that the GOP needs to ballot harvest in the Democrat fashion, What tactics will a DeSantis campaign do to counter Democrats in states that haven’t pushed the excellent election reforms that he put in place in Florida to counter Democrat dirty tricks?
We already know that Trump will fight back on any attempt to steal an election from him in 2024. As there is no reason to believe Democrats would not use the same tactics against DeSantis, what steps will he take to prevent and/or counter any Democrat attempt to steal the 2024 election from him?
Oh and any person who claims: “Democrats won’t try to steal the election if Trump isn’t on the ballot” is too stupid to work on any campaign.
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