Dem
51
GOP
49
Wall Street would desperately like a presidential candidate upon whom it can lavish money and other support in 2024. That candidate is probably not Joe Biden, as he is a fan of higher corporate taxes and more regulation. And it's probably not Donald Trump, since he's an unpredictable and destabilizing force who may well be in prison by this time next year. So, the business types looked to Ron DeSantis as their great, white hope. And they dumped a bunch of cash into his super PAC, at least for a while.
Now, however? Not so much. The business wing is no longer enthused about the Governor, with one of the folks who spoke to Politico describing him as a "really weak option." Their biggest concern is that they are all about return on investment, and since he looks more and more like someone who can't get the Republican nomination (much less win the White House), there isn't much return to be had there. He could bounce back, obviously, but until he shows signs of a big turnaround, he's going to have to rely mostly on the funds his PAC has already banked.
The business types are also concerned about the Disney situation. The linked article doesn't delve into why they're concerned, but it really doesn't have to, because it's fairly obvious. First, DeSantis has made it plain as day that if he has to choose between "business" and "fighting the culture wars," he will choose the latter, business be damned. That is not where tycoons like their politicians' priorities to be.
The second issue is that DeSantis' handling of Disney is really, really troubling. Remember, all that the Mouse did was push back a little on the "Don't Say Gay" bill. The Governor could easily have ignored that, but instead he went to war. And every time Disney countermoves (and makes very clear the Governor is being outfoxed or, at least, outmoused), he just doubles down. Does this approach sound familiar? It's a carbon copy of the playbook run by Richard Nixon. And we know how that worked out.
By contrast, excepting "stop the steal," even Donald Trump had the ability to recognize a losing battle and to move on to some new conflict/distraction. If a person has even less self-control, and less emotional maturity than The Donald? That's very frightening indeed, especially for a business community that values stability above nearly all else. (Z)