Beating DeSantis — In A Word

by Bernard McCormick Monday, August 16, 2021 No Comment(s)

Photo by: DonkeyHoteyCC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

People may wonder how Governor Ron DeSantis can expect to be re-elected, much less run for president, after all his terrible recent publicity. The answer in a word is socialism.

Republicans all over the country, but especially in Florida, use that word at every opportunity. It works magic, particularly among those immigrants who have arrived in Florida from Cuba and other countries where their freedom has been lost. The great irony is that they have not fled socialism, although their former countries may have used that term for their political system. What these people really fled was dictatorship — authoritarianism, loss of basic rights and property, rigged elections, false imprisonment, etc. And they come to Florida and vote for people who would do the same to them if they get the chance. Go figure.

Wondering if socialism is enough to save DeSantis led to a consultation with this writer's chief Republican lobbyist, Elwood O'Goniff of McCormick, O'Goniff and Craven. He said DeSantis could survive any bad publicity by saying socialism as often as possible. The only word that could beat him is, oddly enough, socialism.

"That makes no sense," he was told.

He explained that when the Social Security Act was passed in the 1930s, and Medicare in the 1960s, Republicans opposed them both as socialism. They still use the word to oppose expansion of medicare. So what Democrats should do is ask DeSantis why he wants to get rid of Social Security and Medicare. He'll go crazy, because he knows that even among his most fanatical supporters, the same seniors who voted for Trump, the one thing that would kill him would be the idea of taking away Social Security and Medicare. 

But when he protests that he would never in a thousand years get rid of Social Security and Medicare, you counter by saying that a lot of people think you would, because Republicans oppose socialism, and they originally opposed both of these socialistic ideas. Our source explained that it is the same trick Trump uses about the election. Say a lot of people are asking about fraud, even if you know they aren't, and after you repeat it a thousand times people will start believing it.

"But isn't that immoral?" he was asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. Morality has nothing to do with politics," he said. "If I were advising Florida Democrats, which I would never do unless they paid me, I would tell them to run ads imploring DeSantis not to get rid of Social Security and Medicare. When he says he has no intention of doing that, they say a lot of people are saying you will. When he says that's a crazy rumor, you bring up socialism and say if he's against socialism, how can he be for socialistic stuff like Social Security and Medicare? They can even say they know he wouldn't get rid of them, but he should clear up the rumor that a lot of people are spreading. And that way they keep spreading it. It works every time."

“Socialism.”


Add new comment