FL Governor and 2020 GOP Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis has been causing controversy since COVID began over four years ago. The liberals hated his decision to keep Florida open for business, and then his battles with Disney and others over drag queens were legendary. Yet, conservatives and freedom-loving moderates were ok with his insistence that kids need to be left as kids and not exposed to adult themes prematurely.
In an NBC blog written during a debate between DeSantis and former SC Gov. Nikki Haley on January 10th, NBC News and MSNBC journalist Ali Vitali called out DeSantis’s comments about Nikki Haley. “DeSantis slamming the ‘pale pastels’ of Haley’s policies…as she stands there in a pale pastel pink dress. At a certain point, the ‘pale pastels’ commentary could start to ring a little sexist. None of the male candidates are being taken to task for their bright red ties’ somehow being akin to their policy stances.”
Originally spoken as what sounded like a nod back to comments from Ronald Reagan, DeSantis talked about how our nation should be flying a bright and powerful flag. He claimed we need not fly one in “pale pastels” that favor corporatism like Haley. Raegan said Republicans are “full of bold and unmistakable colors,” with references to the idea at both the 1976 and 1984 Republican National Conventions.
For Raegan, this concept worked well. In 1976 he lost the nomination to then President Gerald Ford. However, he got the nod in both 1980 and 1984, with the message of making the nation stronger being music to the ears of most Americans. Even though it took another run the following year, he got it done and still used it going forward. DeSantis campaign spokesperson Carly Atchison tweeted a response to the blog.
“Ron DeSantis has used this line quite a bit on the campaign trail, and it stems from Ronald Reagan’s 1976 speech at the Republican convention in which he called for leading with bold colors vs. pale pastels. Has nothing to do with clothes…”
This is a great defense if the only people voting are senior conservatives. Honestly, the majority of middle-of-the-road voters that could get DeSantis in the White House don’t have fond Reagan memories. Much the same, many of the conservatives who are under 60 aren’t looking to race back to that economy. While it helped fix the economy, Reaganomics had massive ripples in the country, especially in the inner cities.
Side-of-the-mouth smartass comments like these don’t make DeSantis look like a flag waving with bold colors. Hell, it doesn’t even make him look bright. If anything, this is the kind of childish sayings that the American people hate and see as pointless. As much as the liberals try and make claims like this about Trump when he says such things, they have a good punch to them. He knows his audience and his timing. DeSantis, on the other hand, is about as smooth as an unleveled dirt road.
While the unfiltered and uncensored sense of humor is just starting to come back, thanks to Americans realizing we went too far with this horrible idea of being woke. The sense of humor isn’t what it once was. Even then, this kind of weak statement just wasn’t funny in those days, nor would it be now. It’s the kind of child-like humor that you only see in poorly written daytime comedies.
As the Iowa caucus is likely to torpedo the DeSantis campaign, he and his advisors could be in for a rude awakening after these comments. Baring a complete shocker, it should be Trump in the lead, with Haley second, but still significantly behind. The only real question will be if DeSantis can stay ahead of Ramaswamy or if he’ll be bringing up the rear.
