Kirsten Ludowig is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Handelsblatt.
(Photo: Marc-Steffen Unger for Handelsblatt)
Dusseldorf War it now for Donald Trump? For me, that’s the most exciting question after the midterm elections in the USA – apart from the question of the official final result, of course. The race for the US Congress is so close that the final balance of power is still unclear – and will probably remain so for a while.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if Republicans dropped Trump now. His party, the Red Wave, did not march through. Many conservatives blame Trump for this and are now turning to Ron DeSantis.
The Florida governor is the triumphant winner of the midterms and arguably the Republican’s best hope for the 2024 presidential election. He has made the long-contested swing state Florida a Republican safe haven and has now won his re-election by a wide margin.
US midterm elections: Ron DeSantis as a beacon of hope
When I was in Florida in September, I saw DeSantis’ popularity for myself. Many flags and stickers with “Trump 2024” waved and stuck to the houses and trucks, but often right next to those of DeSantis (“Keep Florida Great”). The service in the fish restaurant sang a song of praise for the 44-year-old, especially for his relaxed corona course. He saved her job and kept the schools open.
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President Joe Biden punished them as a “socialist” who did everything wrong and who had endangered the well-being of America with his Covid policy. She didn’t say a word about Trump.
DeSantis is intelligent, ultra-conservative and has views similar to those of the ex-president, which is why he is also known as “Trump with a brain”.
With a view to the 2024 presidential election, it could amount to an internal party race between the two Republicans.
(Photo: Reuters)
And because nobody knows whether the Democrats or Republicans will win the presidential election two years from now, I find myself pinning my hopes on the more moderate Trump version of DeSantis: on a man who, in the eyes of his critics, is a populist, homophobic anti-abortionist who risked thousands of lives defending Florida as a “freedom haven” during the pandemic.
According to the motto: Anyone or anyone, just not another candidate Trump. On the eve of the midterm elections for November 15, i.e. for next Tuesday, he promised a “very big announcement”.
This shows how severe my Trump trauma is – and how much I cling to “my America” becoming more “my America” again, even if the presidency does not remain in Democratic hands.
I’m a USA fan, I’ve traveled the country countless times by car since my first visit more than 15 years ago: from Chicago to Boston, along the East Coast, from Orlando to New Orleans, from Seattle to San Diego, straight to Las Vegas and the Rocky Mountains.
>> Read here: Ron DeSantis – Who is the politician Trump fears?
I like the endless expanse as well as the narrow and at the same time anonymous millions of people in the big cities. Nowhere is the light as warm and soft as in California. No metropolis has ever captivated me like New York City, the city that keeps getting back up no matter how hard it hits. The silence in the Mojave Desert, the rustling of the Joshua trees in the wind, the gigantic trunks of the redwoods – somehow I am always drawn to the USA.
In recent years, however, I’ve had more and more quarrels with the country and the people. And I notice that I don’t come out as a USA fan quite so offensively anymore.
Presidential Election 2024: No Joe Biden
There have always been things in the USA that have rubbed me off: the many homeless people who are simply accepted, the lack of a social security system, the discrimination, the gun lobby, the superficiality, the shouting of “awesome” at every opportunity. But the election of Trump as president, a man who believes he can take it all and hold on to nothing, was the first major break – and it hasn’t healed to this day.
After these midterm elections, however, there is still hope that he could heal. But this would not only require the Republicans to turn their backs on Trump. The Democrats would have to change something, too. They too need fresh faces – and no Biden 2024.
More: Who will be the next President? The successors to Biden and Trump are ready