The Heritage Foundation is the Republican Party’s conservative corporate think tank and lobby. Brian Darling is one of the leaders of this organization. That’s why you sit up and pay attention when he testifies to the Financial Times: “We would really appreciate someone entering the race who has no intention of trumping Trump on economic issues. Someone, like Reagan, who praises the free market and is not out to demonize large corporations.”
It’s hard to say more clearly that the corporate world doesn’t like Ron DeSantis. Its own fault that the industry’s leading think tank is distancing itself from the governor of Florida. In an effort to win over the little man, he increasingly takes on Corporate America Inc., which includes Disney Corporation, the largest corporation in the Sunshine State and the mainstay of the tourism industry.
While DeSantis once again proved his thin skin and pettiness in the conflict with Mickey Mouse, Donald Trump no longer has to prove anything. Everyone now knows that he is lying, that the bars are bending, that he is only after his own interests and that he cannot sustain any strategy for even five minutes. That also makes it a problem for business. Nothing entrepreneurs and managers hate more than unpredictability, and Trump is unpredictability on stilts.
The most promising representatives of the GOP are anything but attractive business brides. Both have serious deficiencies. Trump will probably never get over his big lying trauma, and regretting the past is a bad way to win an election. He is up to his neck in legal trouble. The ex-president has already been charged in Manhattan. It is very likely that at least two more charges will follow, one in Georgia for attempted election manipulation, the other in Washington for the classified documents affair. Running a successful election campaign under these circumstances is not easy.
Meanwhile, DeSantis embarrassed himself to the core with his mega-flop with the Twitter announcement, damaging his reputation as a successful mover. In addition, what the Americans call a ‘likability problem’ is increasingly emerging. To put it vulgarly in German: he is an unsympathetic bastard.
Dispute between Trump and DeSantis escalates
The business community is also concerned that the duel between Trump and DeSantis is getting uglier and more bizarre. DeSantis can now bring himself to attack Trump directly. In a recent interview with Ben Shapiro, a far-right ideologue, the ex-president is about to veer left, Florida’s governor said. Trump also passed a law during his term allowing criminals to be released from prisons. And most importantly, Trump has Dr. Anthony Fauci and his fatal Covid policy.
Trump’s response followed immediately. DeSantis’ Covid policy has been a disaster, he explained on Truth Social, his social media platform. Even Andrew Cuomo, the then governor of New York, fared better.
Of course, Joe Biden is benefiting from the increasingly sordid feud between the GOP’s two leading candidates. The president has just reached a deal on the debt ceiling dispute, which is also likely to be approved by Congress.
That he has fooled the left wing of his party should not be a problem for him. The concessions Biden had to make are insignificant and will soon be forgotten. What will be remembered, however, is that Biden manages to be the adult in the room at crucial moments and save the nation from great harm.
A Reagan clone isn’t that easy to get off the air. What alternatives does the business community have? Two names are mentioned the most: Glenn Youngkin and Brian Kemp. So far, neither of them wants to know anything about entering the race for the White House. But there is still time.
Youngkin is a very successful businessman who made a fortune with private equity firm Carlyle. About two years ago, he surprisingly won election as governor of Virginia, an increasingly Democratic-leaning southern state. Youngkin’s success is due in no small part to his ability to fend off Trump during the election campaign. However, so far he is shy. When asked about his presidential ambitions, he stoically explains that he wants to focus on Virginia.
Brian Kemp is also the Governor of the State of Georgia. He has made a name for himself nationally for refusing to give in to Trump’s push for a repeat of the 2020 election. This has earned him the ex-president’s lifelong hatred, but conservatives still love him. However, Kemp does not want to know anything about a candidacy – at least not officially.
Other replacement Reagan candidates to be traded: Chris Sununu, Governor of New Hampshire. Sununu is a successful pragmatist and never an asset. He has directly attacked the ex-president several times and is determined to prevent him from living in the White House again. Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, also follows this strategy. However, he has the handicap of being a close friend of Trump for a long time.
As for the candidates who have already announced their candidacy, there is little hope in the business world. Everyone floats around in polls in the single digits. In the case of Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, their candidacy is believed to be primarily a shot at the vice president position.
So be it: it doesn’t seem so far that it will be possible to find a successor to the Gipper – Reagan’s nickname. Everything indicates that the Americans will have to prepare for something they really don’t want: a repeat of the duel between Trump and Biden.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
