Please clap

I have been reliably informed that any Republican capable of winning statewide election on Florida must be a transcendent political super-talent, so surely Ron DeSantis has established a clear lead in the Republican primaries by now:

Not sure if the second line is a polling average or the downward slope of Mount Kilimanjaro. In fairness, he’s in a statistical tie with Chris Christie in New Hampshire!

I would also agree that the funniest part of the primary so far is Trump bullying DeSantis out of using the word “woke” by (correctly) pointing out that it is a meaningless buzzword:

Fun moment of this primary so far was Trump making fun of how often candidates said "woke," DeSantis taking umbrage, then DeSantis quietly adopting this mindset and never saying "woke" at the debate. https://t.co/Jauxpbs9c3— David Weigel (@daveweigel) September 20, 2023

Very low energy.

Anyway, let’s check in on the DeSantis supporters in the Party of Personal Responsibility:

First of all, Biden’s tweet about Trump’s “moderation” on abortion being an obvious sham was very obviously directed at the general election electorate, not the Republican primary electorate (not least because there is not actually a competitive Republican primary.) But leaving that aside, the idea that Trump and Trump allies consistently win primaries not because rank-and-file Republican voters love Trump but because Democrats have tricked them into supporting MAGA candidates by running ads and tweeting statements accurately describing their unpopular policies and/or actions is one of the few political arguments more pathetic than “Republicans had no choice but to go fash because Democrats didn’t just let Romney win in 2012.” Why do you keep deluding yourself?