Ron DeSantis and the "Scaffle" Vote

As DeSantis announces his campaign, we delve into what may be the single most important fact about American politics.
If Ronald Reagan came back to life, he would likely be troubled by the leftist tone that the early 2024 Republican presidential campaign sometimes took.
After Ron DeSantis announced he was hosting a fundraiser last night at the Four Seasons Hotel, an official close to Donald Trump mocked the event as a 'upper elite' and 'disconnected'. Trump also criticized DeSantis for backing former Republican bills in Congress to shrink government in part by cutting Medicare and Social Security.
DeSantis, for his part, has come out in favor of government measures to reduce health care prices. He criticized the Biden administration for blocking cheaper prescription drugs from Canada — a country that was once a symbol of big government inefficiency among Republicans. This month, DeSantis, the governor of Florida, signed a bill that attempts to lower the cost of drugs there by cracking down on companies known as drug benefit managers.
< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">What's going on?
Trump's 2016 stunt on the Republican establishment and his continued popularity among party voters revealed a weakness in the laissez-faire economic approach known as Reaganism. Namely, he's not particularly popular with most voters, including many Republicans.
With DeSantis announcing his candidacy last night, I want to use the today's newsletter to highlight arguably the most important fact about American politics: Americans tend to be more progressive on economic issues than on social issues. If you remember this, you can better understand the 2024 campaign.
This explains why DeSantis and Trump compete to appear populist, even if it means favoring regulations and government benefits. It explains why Trump's criticism of free trade resonated with voters — and why President Biden promoted his own “buy America” economic policies, breaking away from centrist Democrats. It also explains why today's Republicans campaign on social issues such as immigration, crime, gender, and religion; most Americans are more conservative on these topics than the Democratic Party.
It is true that there is a subset of voters, many of whom are affluent, who like to describe themselves as "socially liberal and fiscally conservative". If you read this newsletter, you probably know people in this category. Yet it happens to be the least common combination in American politics. The typical swing voter is rather "socially conservative and fiscally liberal".
The 2024 presidential election will likely be, at least in part, a battle for this voter. < /p>Medicaid and border security
This graphic - originally created by political scientist Lee Drutman, based on a large poll taken after the 2016 election - remains the better visualization of the situation:Social and economic perspectives of 2016 voters

World May 25, 2023 0 68 Add to Reading List

As DeSantis announces his campaign, we delve into what may be the single most important fact about American politics.

If Ronald Reagan came back to life, he would likely be troubled by the leftist tone that the early 2024 Republican presidential campaign sometimes took.

After Ron DeSantis announced he was hosting a fundraiser last night at the Four Seasons Hotel, an official close to Donald Trump mocked the event as a 'upper elite' and 'disconnected'. Trump also criticized DeSantis for backing former Republican bills in Congress to shrink government in part by cutting Medicare and Social Security.

DeSantis, for his part, has come out in favor of government measures to reduce health care prices. He criticized the Biden administration for blocking cheaper prescription drugs from Canada — a country that was once a symbol of big government inefficiency among Republicans. This month, DeSantis, the governor of Florida, signed a bill that attempts to lower the cost of drugs there by cracking down on companies known as drug benefit managers.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">What's going on?

Trump's 2016 stunt on the Republican establishment and his continued popularity among party voters revealed a weakness in the laissez-faire economic approach known as Reaganism. Namely, he's not particularly popular with most voters, including many Republicans.

With DeSantis announcing his candidacy last night, I want to use the today's newsletter to highlight arguably the most important fact about American politics: Americans tend to be more progressive on economic issues than on social issues. If you remember this, you can better understand the 2024 campaign.

This explains why DeSantis and Trump compete to appear populist, even if it means favoring regulations and government benefits. It explains why Trump's criticism of free trade resonated with voters — and why President Biden promoted his own “buy America” economic policies, breaking away from centrist Democrats. It also explains why today's Republicans campaign on social issues such as immigration, crime, gender, and religion; most Americans are more conservative on these topics than the Democratic Party.

It is true that there is a subset of voters, many of whom are affluent, who like to describe themselves as "socially liberal and fiscally conservative". If you read this newsletter, you probably know people in this category. Yet it happens to be the least common combination in American politics. The typical swing voter is rather "socially conservative and fiscally liberal".

The 2024 presidential election will likely be, at least in part, a battle for this voter. < /p>Medicaid and border security

This graphic - originally created by political scientist Lee Drutman, based on a large poll taken after the 2016 election - remains the better visualization of the situation:Social and economic perspectives of 2016 voters