The National Sideshow: Why We Need to Focus on Idaho First
The simmering sniping strife between the Trump and DeSantis camps spilled into open warfare this week when the Florida governor officially launched his presidential campaign on a Twitter Space.
For nearly the last year, supporters of the two men have been relentlessly attacking each other on Twitter and other social media platforms, often using the same half-truths and out-of-context clips that we all decry when the left does it. I have had to unfollow and mute several people because their incessant anti-Trump or anti-DeSantis rhetoric quickly become old, boring, and downright annoying. There are a lot of supremely irritating people on both sides of this fight, and it’s only going to get worse over the next year.
I am a political junkie swimming in a political sea, so I get the passionate intensity that everyone has regarding the presidential primary. This is the Super Bowl of politics, so I get why fans are into it. We just all need to remember a few things:
First, the substantive policy differences between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are few and minor. Partisans on both sides will amplify and exaggerate every perceived difference over the next year to portray their guy as a saint and the other as the devil, but this is mostly an illusion. The vitriol reminds me of how Christians of different denominations will passionately argue over esoteric interpretations of Scripture or the wording of various creeds even as the godless hordes leave a trail of destruction in our society.
Despite the cherry-picked stuff you’ll see on social media, both Trump and DeSantis:
Generally supported Operation Warp Speed and the initial Covid lockdowns
Generally support the 2nd Amendment, despite both endorsing some level of red flag laws
Oppose the deep state bureaucracy
Are hesitant to involve American troops in foreign wars
Support Israel
Plan to crack down on illegal immigration
Oppose abortion
Aim to crack down on Big Tech censorship
I saw a very long tweet today that summed up what I’ve been trying to say:
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump want to raise your taxes.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump want to watch transgenders have forcible sex with your children.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump would allow Zelenskyy to continue to ransack our wallets.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump want criminals running the streets of every major city in America.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump would ever pack the Supreme Court with liberals.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump would ever allow Critical Race Theory or DEI to spread through our government like a cancer.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump would allow someone like Rachel Levine to be in our government in any way, shape or form.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump want unlimited and unrestricted abortion to be the law of the land.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump would have ever withdrawn from Afghanistan in such a disastrous way like Biden did.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump would allow unchecked illegal immigration to continue in the manner that it is, which is destroying the very fabric of American society.
Both Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump would be better than Biden.
Younger than Biden.
Healthier than Biden.
Less SENILE than Biden.
MORE HONEST than Biden.
So let’s have our primary debates and support whoever we are supporting but do so without ripping apart our movement to the point that we cannot get back together.
In the past two days we’ve witnessed absolute warfare within our own party and that’s just way too much.
Our true enemy is Joe Biden and the people who support him.
Our true enemy are the Democrats in Congress who would pass laws that would make thinking like us punishable by death if they could do it.
Our true enemy are the people who openly call conservatives the enemies of America.
Let’s focus on the true enemies of America.
They are called the Democrats.
Neither Ron DeSantis nor Donald Trump are the enemies. Keep focused! Keep united!
Partisans argue these issues from the margins, exaggerating differences between the two. For people outside the bubbles, however, it all looks pointless and petty. Only one man will win the primary, and he will need the other man’s supporters to win the general. The Democrats completely changed the nature of presidential elections in 2020, and Republicans will need a strongly motivated ground game to have any hope of retaking the White House. That means that fans of Trump and DeSantis are going to have to unite next summer, no matter who the nominee is, which means being careful not to burn too many bridges on the way.
The second thing to keep in mind is that most of us have little ability to affect the presidential primary one way or another. Republican primary campaigns are usually decided by momentum in the early states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. By the time Idaho has its primary (if it even has one next year!) the contest is usually over. Even if it is still in question, you and I are just a few voices in the crowd.
One of the most important life lessons I have learned in the last ten years is that it’s a waste of time and energy to worry about things that I cannot change. If you find your blood pressure rising because someone on the internet said something you believe to be empirically wrong about Trump or DeSantis, then take a deep breath and get some perspective. You will feel a lot happier and healthier if you just let some things go.
Based on current polls, Donald Trump is going to win the nomination, unless he is convicted of a felony and thrown in prison, in which case Ron DeSantis likely wins. I absolutely hate that the deep state and rogue prosecutors get to decide who the Republican nominee is, but that is the battlefield we face today. That is also the reason I still support Trump, because he scares the deep state more than any other person in America and it’s not close. Nevertheless I still like DeSantis, and while I wish he would have stayed in Florida setting an example for Republican governors throughout the country, I will have no problem voting for him if he is the nominee.
However, and this is the third thing to keep in mind, the entire presidential horse race is a sideshow. Your local mayor and city council have more of a direct effect on your quality of life than the president, yet how many people bother to vote in municipal elections? Your state legislators live in your neighborhood and cast votes that greatly affect your daily lives, yet most people pay more attention to national figures.
We all have finite time, energy, and money. I strongly urge you to direct those resources toward local politics, where you will get a much better return on your investment than by focusing on the national sideshow.
There is a growing ecosystem of conservative pundits and content creators in Idaho that deserve your attention for more than cable news. Spend your time learning about local issues like the war over the North Idaho College, the great work of Attorney General Raúl Labrador, or your local mayoral and city council elections rather than the outrage bait on Fox News.
Rather than donating money to a presidential campaign, look local instead. Remember that Donald Trump is a billionaire, and Ron DeSantis has billionaire donors. They don’t need your money, but you know who does? Your local legislative candidates. H24, a giveaway to big business disguised as a free college program, passed the House by one vote. The House also fell one vote short of overriding the governor’s veto of H314, which would have kept pornography out of the hands of children. You will have a much greater bang for your buck by donating to a good conservative primary candidate in your district than you will giving it to a national candidate.
Consider that Jake Stevens lost to a Democrat last November by 112 votes. Ron Nate lost his primary by 36 votes. Judy Boyle won her primary by only 6. These are the people who need your help, not national figures with billion-dollar war chests.
I know it’s hard to tune out the national coverage, and I’m sure you have strong feelings one way or the other. But I strongly recommend you turn your attention to your community and your state, because that is where you have the ability to make things happen. We need a state full of passionate and engaged conservatives if we want any hope of preserving Idaho and our way of life.
