I've told you that Trump is not equipped to appeal to the public to get congress to do what he wants. I've also said I'm not sure DeSantis has the chops either. That remains unproven. Trump's deficiency in that regard IS proven. He can't help himself. He's simply divisive. Maybe we needed that in 2016. Gotta give him props for showing people how to fight. I think his usefulness has been spent.Since you have indicated that you feel that coalition needs to reach beyond likely republican voters, perhaps you can explain what policies DeSantis has articulated so far that will have the desired appeal? Can we even agree that running to the right of Trump isn't going to appeal outside of a fraction of the Republican Party (that is declining over time)?
But back to your thoughts on policy. It's not the policy that sells the person. It's the person who sells the policy. Trump can sell it to the people Trump appeals to, and only them. The media makes straw monsters of the people trying to sell AF policies. Kinda like what you try to do with people who can criticize Trump. What DeSantis has to do is use the bully pulpit to articulate what the policies actually are in a way that people see through the media ********. That's what Reagan did. Trump can't do that.
Trump's not articulate. He's too Trump-centered. His ego is too big for this job. He is too abrasive to be well liked. But he does have the charisma. Trump's personality is just big. He consumes a room. But that's not enough. He needs those other parts. DeSantis is articulate. He understands how to cut through the media ******** to articulate reality. But you HAVE to listen to him. With Reagan, people liked to hear him speak. With DeSantis it's a chore. So I think pulling the Reagan thing off will be challenging for him. I know Trump can't do it. I am not certain DeSantis can do it.
I think I should say something about that strategy. It might be the best strategy to end Cownworld. But Reagan was POTUS in an era when the fairness doctrine was still mostly practiced. They had to at least pretend to be unbiased back then. So I'm not sure the Reagan approach can be successful now because the media is so much more powerfully in control of people's thinking. It's probably the best shot, but I'm not optimistic. I desperately want a solution to end Clownworld though. And of the available choices, I want the person most equipped to do it.