the repub/media establishment said scott walker was the future of the republican party for his rise as a conservative star in wisconsin (a template they thought the party would follow nationwide).

he was relegated to the kiddie debate 2nd stage in 2016 and his political career was completely over 2 years later.

the repub/media establishment said paul ryan was gonna be a generational leader for repubs in the house like pelosi was for the dems. he became majority leader for the 1st time in 2016 and two years later he was on the board at the fox company lol.

desantis is all the trump culture war shit but without the trump attachment to the white working class nationwide. his extreme right wing fl politics will also push away a lot of moderate suburban folks.
and hes a frail whiny pussy when confronted.

desantis is already refusing to fight back against trumps attacks on him. but the high road doesnt work in republican politics. their base sees that and automatically thinks weakness.

polls about the 2024 nomination have dropped after election day and desantis has been barely up on trump...at the height of desantis popularity. that aint gonna cut it.

once trump (and his allies) start relentessly assaulting desantis and talk about his height, his days as a high school teacher, his days in congress, etc...the dream is over. dude will get exposed as the paper tiger he is.

then all of republican politicians who have been shitting on him for the past week will fall right in line and say the most important thing to do in 2024 is unite behind the nominee and stop joe biden lol.