{"id":9492,"date":"2022-12-09T12:46:03","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T12:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=9492"},"modified":"2022-12-09T12:46:03","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T12:46:03","slug":"what-trump-vs-desantis-says-about-the-future-of-the-american-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=9492","title":{"rendered":"What Trump vs. DeSantis says about the future of the American right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“a DeSantis victory in 2024 would not, in any sense, represent a return to Republican pre-Trump normalcy or the triumph of the \u201ctraditional GOP<\/a>,\u201d as some observers<\/a> see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Florida governor, who won a blowout victory<\/a> in his reelection bid..is not a Republican cut from the Bush-Cheney-Romney cloth. He represents an evolution of Trumpism<\/a>, a new way of channeling the illiberal populist forces unleashed by the former president\u2019s rise to power in 2016.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 His ascendancy as Trump\u2019s principal challenger represents not the return of the GOP establishment, but its adaptation to the insurgency that defeated it six years ago. His model is less John McCain or Mitt Romney, the last two GOP nominees before Trump, than Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban<\/a> \u2014 a leader who, after being elected in 2010, proceeded to use his right-wing populist ideology as a cover for authoritarian power grabs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not to say that Trump and DeSantis are identical. In fact, they represent two related but distinct versions of American right-wing populism: Trump its wild id, DeSantis its more calculating and intellectualized ego. If one looks closely at which prominent conservatives and media voices are backing which candidate, these subtle distinctions become clearer \u2014 pointing to the different ways that these two figures threaten liberal-democratic norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These distinctions are real, important, and, as an intellectual matter, quite interesting. But they should not obscure what this matchup really represents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeSantis versus Trump is not normalcy versus radicalism. It\u2019s American Orb\u00e1nism versus the berserk.”  
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“DeSantis\u2019s Trumpism, like the original flavor, contained a healthy dose of hostility to basic liberal-democratic norms. After Florida voters passed a ballot initiative in 2018 that would end felon disenfranchisement, DeSantis signed a bill that would require felons to pay outstanding fines<\/a> in order to vote \u2014 a poll tax, in effect, linked to debts so opaque and\/or punitive<\/a> that many could not feasibly pay them. In 2020, the ACLU argued<\/a> that his law would functionally disenfranchise \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d Floridians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While not explicitly declaring the 2020 election stolen, DeSantis will not condemn \u201cstop the steal\u201d conspiracy theories when asked by reporters<\/a>. He campaigned for hardcore deniers like Pennsylvania\u2019s Doug Mastriano<\/a> and, on the anniversary of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, downplayed its severity and mocked the media for continuing to focus on the day\u2019s events<\/a>. In advance of the 2022 elections, he allocated over a million dollars in state funds to a new police unit<\/a> dedicated to investigating \u201cvoter fraud,\u201d including violations of his pay-to-vote bill. The squad found virtually no actual crime<\/a> but may have worked to deter lawful voters<\/a> from showing up at the polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Florida\u2019s state legislature drew fairer election maps for the House in 2022, DeSantis vetoed them \u2014 demanding more Republican-tilted maps. He got what he wanted<\/a>, delivering a multi-seat rightward swing”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth warned that DeSantis\u2019s governing record in Florida resembles some steps that \u201celectoral authoritarians\u201d like Orb\u00e1n use to consolidate power. Chenoweth is most concerned by the efforts to disenfranchise felons and crack down on \u201cvoter fraud,\u201d but notes a number of other troubling examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“DeSantis also signed a law that aggressively restricts the ability of people to submit others\u2019 absentee ballots, which upended long-standing community organizations\u2019 efforts to make it easier for working people and people with disabilities to vote. Along with partisan redistricting that dramatically reduces competition and representation, limits on expression in public schools, harsh penalties for various forms of protest, and trafficking immigrants as a political stunt with impunity, for example, we can see the hallmarks of electoral authoritarianism.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The comparison to Hungary is not mere liberal slander. Rod Dreher, a prominent conservative pundit and one of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s biggest stateside fans, has suggested that<\/a> \u201cmaybe Florida is becoming our American Hungary.\u201d Not coincidentally, Dreher concluded after the midterms<\/a> that \u201cDeSantis\u2019s smashing Florida victory last night makes him the head of the conservative movement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this, Dreher is speaking for a broad swath of so-called \u201cnational conservative\u201d or \u201cNew Right\u201d intellectuals: the pundits and academics who have dedicated themselves to theorizing a new kind of American conservatism compatible with the populist sentiment unleashed by Trump. This corner of the right, where the culture war is paramount and Orb\u00e1n is seen as a model, believes DeSantis better embodies the qualities they admired in Trump.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The substance of the arguments for Trump or DeSantis is in some ways less revealing than the identity of the advocates themselves. On the one hand, you have those on the right who dream of Budapest on the Potomac; on the other, congressional bomb-throwers who enjoy nothing more than battling the left under the ring lights. Each represents a different vision of how to challenge the American political status quo, to pull it in a more illiberal and less democratic direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elements of this radicalism have always been a part of the conservative movement<\/a>. Prior to Trump, there was a sense among many that the \u201cresponsible\u201d elite could prevent things from going too far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That they are now backing a figure as illiberal as DeSantis proves that this guardrail has completely fallen off \u2014 if it was ever in place to begin with.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2022\/11\/15\/23449525\/trump-desantis-2024-announcement-stakes-democracy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“a DeSantis victory in 2024 would not, in any sense, represent a return to Republican pre-Trump normalcy or the triumph of the \u201ctraditional GOP,\u201d as some observers see it.
\nThe Florida governor, who won a blowout victory in his reelection bid..is not a Republican cut from the Bush-Cheney-Romney cloth. He represents an evolution of Trumpism, a new way of channeling the illiberal populist forces unleashed by the former president\u2019s rise to power in 2016.”<\/p>\n

His ascendancy as Trump\u2019s principal challenger represents not the return of the GOP establishment, but its adaptation to the insurgency that defeated it six years ago. His model is less John McCain or Mitt Romney, the last two GOP nominees before Trump, than Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban \u2014 a leader who, after being elected in 2010, proceeded to use his right-wing populist ideology as a cover for authoritarian power grabs.<\/p>\n

This is not to say that Trump and DeSantis are identical. In fact, they represent two related but distinct versions of American right-wing populism: Trump its wild id, DeSantis its more calculating and intellectualized ego. If one looks closely at which prominent conservatives and media voices are backing which candidate, these subtle distinctions become clearer \u2014 pointing to the different ways that these two figures threaten liberal-democratic norms.<\/p>\n

These distinctions are real, important, and, as an intellectual matter, quite interesting. But they should not obscure what this matchup really represents.<\/p>\n

DeSantis versus Trump is not normalcy versus radicalism. It\u2019s American Orb\u00e1nism versus the berserk.” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“DeSantis\u2019s Trumpism, like the original flavor, contained a healthy dose of hostility to basic liberal-democratic norms. After Florida voters passed a ballot initiative in 2018 that would end felon disenfranchisement, DeSantis signed a bill that would require felons to pay outstanding fines in order to vote \u2014 a poll tax, in effect, linked to debts so opaque and\/or punitive that many could not feasibly pay them. In 2020, the ACLU argued that his law would functionally disenfranchise \u201chundreds of thousands\u201d Floridians.<\/p>\n

While not explicitly declaring the 2020 election stolen, DeSantis will not condemn \u201cstop the steal\u201d conspiracy theories when asked by reporters. He campaigned for hardcore deniers like Pennsylvania\u2019s Doug Mastriano and, on the anniversary of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, downplayed its severity and mocked the media for continuing to focus on the day\u2019s events. In advance of the 2022 elections, he allocated over a million dollars in state funds to a new police unit dedicated to investigating \u201cvoter fraud,\u201d including violations of his pay-to-vote bill. The squad found virtually no actual crime but may have worked to deter lawful voters from showing up at the polls.<\/p>\n

When Florida\u2019s state legislature drew fairer election maps for the House in 2022, DeSantis vetoed them \u2014 demanding more Republican-tilted maps. He got what he wanted, delivering a multi-seat rightward swing”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth warned that DeSantis\u2019s governing record in Florida resembles some steps that \u201celectoral authoritarians\u201d like Orb\u00e1n use to consolidate power. Chenoweth is most concerned by the efforts to disenfranchise felons and crack down on \u201cvoter fraud,\u201d but notes a number of other troubling examples:<\/p>\n

“DeSantis also signed a law that aggressively restricts the ability of people to submit others\u2019 absentee ballots, which upended long-standing community organizations\u2019 efforts to make it easier for working people and people with disabilities to vote. Along with partisan redistricting that dramatically reduces competition and representation, limits on expression in public schools, harsh penalties for various forms of protest, and trafficking immigrants as a political stunt with impunity, for example, we can see the hallmarks of electoral authoritarianism.”<\/p>\n

The comparison to Hungary is not mere liberal slander. Rod Dreher, a prominent conservative pundit and one of Orb\u00e1n\u2019s biggest stateside fans, has suggested that \u201cmaybe Florida is becoming our American Hungary.\u201d Not coincidentally, Dreher concluded after the midterms that \u201cDeSantis\u2019s smashing Florida victory last night makes him the head of the conservative movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this, Dreher is speaking for a broad swath of so-called \u201cnational conservative\u201d or \u201cNew Right\u201d intellectuals: the pundits and academics who have dedicated themselves to theorizing a new kind of American conservatism compatible with the populist sentiment unleashed by Trump. This corner of the right, where the culture war is paramount and Orb\u00e1n is seen as a model, believes DeSantis better embodies the qualities they admired in Trump.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“The substance of the arguments for Trump or DeSantis is in some ways less revealing than the identity of the advocates themselves. On the one hand, you have those on the right who dream of Budapest on the Potomac; on the other, congressional bomb-throwers who enjoy nothing more than battling the left under the ring lights. Each represents a different vision of how to challenge the American political status quo, to pull it in a more illiberal and less democratic direction.<\/p>\n

Elements of this radicalism have always been a part of the conservative movement. Prior to Trump, there was a sense among many that the \u201cresponsible\u201d elite could prevent things from going too far.<\/p>\n

That they are now backing a figure as illiberal as DeSantis proves that this guardrail has completely fallen off \u2014 if it was ever in place to begin with.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1104,431,1281,660,221,1146,661],"class_list":["post-9492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-share","tag-authoritarianism","tag-democracy","tag-desantis","tag-dictatorship","tag-donald-trump","tag-right-wing","tag-tyranny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9493,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9492\/revisions\/9493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}