America is spiraling toward a “Florida Man” primary, and we’re not ready. With Ron DeSantis not yet an official candidate and Donald Trump still flipping through the index cards of potential nicknames for his just-up-the-road opponent, what we’ve seen of the coming storm makes one thing clear: The most extreme right-wing authoritarian candidates ever to hold office in the United States intend to run their primary by finding new ground on the right of their opponents.
Both men might hold a finger to the political wind and determine that the center-right, a space now so abandoned that ghost towns feel sorry for it, offers plenty of room to construct a candidacy. A Republican shift to the middle might even give that party the thing that is currently a fading memory—a shot at winning the popular vote.
They’re not going to go there. DeSantis is trying to run to the right of Trump. Trump is trying to run to the right of DeSantis. Both may momentarily agree, but only on issues where they can’t think of a more extreme position. But these two guys have a real instinct for the awful, so they won’t be pinned down for long.
If America is lucky, the result will destroy the Republican Party for a generation. But no matter what, everyone is going to get hurt.