Four Years Later, Ron DeSantis Still Can't Debate Worth A Damn.

Charlie Crist cleans his clock. Let's hope it matters this time.

Democrat Charlie Crist is down in the polls and out of cash. So, he went into the only Florida governor debate with very little to lose. He might as well hammer Ron DeSantis, the smug creep masquerading as governor. (Watch the whole thing below!) DeSantis mostly stood there like a dork taking his lumps without actually falling down. That’s not a terrible strategy. Democrat Andrew Gillum murdered DeSantis at their 2018 debates, and he still lost.

Crist defined DeSantis as a big bully who relishes abusing others but rarely solves actual problems. Discussing DeSantis’s cruel Martha Vineyard’s stunt, Crist said, "We have an immigration problem. We have a problem at the border. We need to secure the border. I agree with all of that, but it doesn’t mean you use Florida taxpayer dollars to charter two jets, go to Texas, lie to people to get them onto planes, fly them up to the northern part of our country and one of them’s a one-year-old baby?"

It was a great touch to remind voters that DeSantis literally put the “kid” in kidnapping.

PREVIOUSLY: Ron DeSantis Sticks It To Martha's Vineyard Libs, By Throwing Terrified Migrant People At Them 

DeSantis danced around his own extremist abortion positions and repeated some John Roberts-approved talking points about critical race theory: "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." He also seemed to think that America wasn't built on "stolen land," which is a pretty insulting argument from someone so obsessed with border security.

Perhaps the weirdest moment of the debate was when Crist asked DeSantis directly if he planned to serve a full-term as governor, and DeSantis acted as if he was sucker punched. How was he not prepared for this incredibly obvious question? Maybe his staff resents him as much as all decent people.

We get that DeSantis doesn’t want to provoke the wrath of Donald Trump while keeping his options open for a presidential run as early as 2024. However, it’s not as if DeSantis is under the Liar Liar spell that delighted us with wacky Jim Carrey buffoonery. He can say, “Sure, I’ll serve a full term” and later claim he must personally save the nation from Joe Biden now that Trump is in jail or dead or whatever Republicans are secretly hoping.

 Instead he said, in typical asshole fashion, “I know that Charlie’s interested in talking about 2024 and Joe Biden, but I just want to make things very, very clear: The only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist."

“Asked by Florida gov. candidate Charlie Crist (D) if he will commit to serving four years as governor if re-elected, Gov. Ron DeSantis pauses and refuses to directly answer. DeSantis: “The only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture right now is Charlie Crist.””

— The Recount (@The Recount) 1666653907 

That’s not a “yes” or “no,” Governor. Republicans enjoy attacking old men from Biden to Dr. Anthony Fauci, but Crist is only 66. He’s the star of a CW teen show compared to most Democratic leaders.

DeSantis’s cheap shot offered Crist another opportunity to deflate this giant Halloween inflatable monster. He replied, calmly and cooly, “Ron, we know you love to bully people, and the little name-calling you just exchanged, I can take it, but you shouldn’t do it when children are standing behind you at a press conference and they’re wearing a mask. But apparently, that’s your nature and that’s too bad.”

PREVIOUSLY: Grown-Up Tough Guy Ron DeSantis Stands Up To Masked High School Bullies, Doesn't Even Start To Cry 

“After Desantis calls Crist a “worn out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture,” Crist responds by pointing how out Desantis likes to call people names and bully people, like when he yelled at little kids to take their masks off at a press conference.”

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦) 1666657330 

DeSantis's supposed “tough guy” persona has unfortunately impressed Florida’s Hispanic population. According to a Telemundo/LX News poll, DeSantis is leading Crist 51 to 46 percent among the state’s Hispanic voters. (DeSantis lost Hispanics by 10 points in 2018.) Hillary Clinton won Florida Hispanic voters by 30 points but Joe Biden managed only a five-point margin. If Democrats start outright losing Hispanic voters, Florida is off the table for them.

The governor enjoys 56 percent approval among Hispanics, and a majority support his Martha’s Vineyard stunt. He’s on pace to win Miami-Dade County, which no Republican has done in 20 years.

 Pollster Brad Coker said, "There are lots of Hispanic voters in this state who really like the governor’s style, this strongman who won’t back down. And Crist has no mojo."

Crist showed some significant “mojo" Monday night and shredded the paper tiger governor. Let’s hope that’s enough to change the trajectory in Florida, not just for 2022 but 2024 and beyond.

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[ CNN / NBC News ]

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