You could say the Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds was seen out with her new beau and her former beau is pitching a rusty. In case you haven’t heard, Reynolds endorsed the 2024 Presidential candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Former President and current candidate Donald Trump is snarling about disloyalty. There is nothing new in that. Trump always gets caught up in the loyalty canard. Politicians are not known for their loyalty to anyone or anything. He shouldn’t waste his time.

But Donald Trump is gonna Donald Trump.

Kim Reynolds endorsing Ron DeSantis is important, maybe, in Iowa. Trump is at 43% and DeSantis is at 16% ahead of the January 15 Iowa Caucuses. DeSantis is tied with Nikki Haley and Reynolds may be able to break that logjam with her endorsement. And, it was a pretty full-throated endorsement. From the DesMoines Register:

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president, she told the Des Moines Register Monday, because the country is at an “unprecedented” moment and Republicans can’t gamble on another Donald Trump candidacy.

“We are living in unprecedented times, and this country is in trouble,” Reynolds said, sitting next to DeSantis at her Terrace Hill home in Des Moines ahead of an evening rally where she’ll make the endorsement publicly.

“I cannot believe how it has declined over just the short time under President Biden. And we’re resilient. We’ll be able to come back from this. But if we don’t win this next election, we’re done.”

Well, there is something we can agree on. None of us can believe how quickly the country went to shite on every level. I might disagree that another Trump candidacy is a gamble. Hiring a Govenor, even one with an outstanding record, is a gamble because he/she would be fighting against a bloated bureaucracy that has only grown.

More from the Register:

Reynolds, who had been a Trump ally when he held the White House, said she appreciates the former president’s accomplishments but believes it’s time to move on.

“I don’t think he can win,” she said simply.

Instead, she’s throwing her support behind DeSantis, a fellow governor who she said has an admirable track record of accomplishment in Florida that he would bring to the nation as president.

“I believe he’s the candidate that can win,” she said. “And we also not only need somebody that can win, but we need somebody that has the skill and the resolve, which he clearly does, to reverse the madness that we see happening across this country.”

We do hear the “Trump can’t win” refrain a lot. Making predictions about the future is absurd. One has to assume that nothing is going to change. As Heraclitus of Ephesus told us in 500 BC. “You cannot step into the same river twice”. Okay, so there is a reason he was called “Heraclitus the Obscure”. What he was saying about the river is that everything changes constantly. Or, the only constant in life is change. The Uniparty is famous for shooting itself in the foot.

Here is the endorsement video direct from the DeSantis campaign.

Okay, let’s talk. Kim Reynolds makes an argument that Ron DeSantis fought the overwhelming pressure to shut down the state, but that is not what NPR said at the time:

Florida has now joined the list of states that are ordering residents to remain in their homes for all but essential activities to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made the announcement at an afternoon briefing. It was just a few hours after he spoke to President Trump. DeSantis said he’s issuing an executive order that will direct “all Floridians to limit movements and personal interactions outside the home to only those necessary to obtain or provide essential services or essential activities.”

With this order, Florida is joining more than 30 other states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico in ordering a lockdown. In total, the orders affect more than 85% of the U.S. population. DeSantis said the order will go into effect in Florida on Thursday at midnight.

Florida did not lock down for near as long as Michigan or California or as draconically. And, some beaches were closed down. None of our national figures covered themselves in glory.

Now as to Donald Trump and Kim Reynolds. Trump needs to have some ice cream. This is not a good look for Trump, not that he cares:

Why would anybody endorse Ron DeSanctimonious, who is like a wounded bird falling from the sky? His Poll numbers are terrible, he is totally against Ethanol, and fought to destroy Social Security and Medicare. Well, the “Nation’s most unpopular governor,” Kim Reynolds of Iowa, just endorsed him. What’s that all about?

In case anyone wonders, I will vote whoever the eventual nominee will be. I hope it’s Trump. If it’s DeSantis, I am good with that.

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