Senator DeSantis?

The eerily creepy picture of Sen. Marco Rubio grinning next to Trump got me thinking. I know of no good reason Trump's Sec of State nominee shouldn't be confirmed. Rubio is showing the world that he lacks personal dignity and can be bought but hey, that's MAGA, right Ted?

Anyway, DeSantis is under pressure to appoint Trump's daughter in law to the Senate. He COULD appoint himself.

I know nothing about Ms Trump but I'd love to see DeSantis in the Senate. Hee hee hee.

 

IIRC, no sitting governor has ever appointed himself to an open Senate seat. Some have resigned and then been appointed by their successors, probably in a pre-arrangement.

It typically doesn't go well for them, with only one surviving a subsequent re-election. It seems voters aren't impressed with this kind of move.

 

All the better!

 

When Governors Appoint Themselves To The Senate
quote:
Of course, for the record, these governors did not actually appoint themselves; they resigned as governor and had their successors name them to the Senate. But for the most part it served as a self-appointment, and the voters nearly always let their resentment known at the first opportunity.
...
Here's the complete list of governors appointed to the Senate and the result of the succeeding election:

Montana, 1933 -- Sen. Thomas Walsh (D) died. Gov. John Erickson (D) appointed self, lost 1934 primary.

Kentucky, 1939 -- Sen. Marvel Logan (D) died. Gov. Happy Chandler (D) appointed self, won elections in 1940 and 1942.

Nevada, 1945 -- Sen. James Scrugham (D) died. Gov. Edward Carville (D) appointed self, lost 1946 primary.

Idaho, 1945 -- Sen. John Thomas (R) died. Gov. Charles Gossett (D) appointed self, lost 1946 primary.

Wyoming, 1960 -- Sen.-elect Keith Thomson (R) died. Gov. John J. Hickey (D) appointed self, lost 1962 election.

New Mexico, 1962 -- Sen. Dennis Chavez (D) died. Gov. Edwin Mechem (R) appointed self, lost 1964 election.

Oklahoma, 1963 -- Sen. Robert Kerr (D) died. Gov. J. Howard Edmondson (D) appointed self, lost 1964 primary.

South Carolina, 1965 -- Sen. Olin Johnston (D) died. Gov. Donald Russell (D) appointed self, lost 1966 primary.

Minnesota, 1977 -- Sen. Walter Mondale (D) elected vice president. Gov. Wendell Anderson (D) appointed self, lost 1978 election.

https://www.npr.org/sections/politicaljunkie/2009/09/when_governors_appoint_themsel.html

 

Almost immediately upon taking office as Governor in 2002 after having been U.S. Senator since 1981, Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski appointed his own daughter Lisa, a first-term State Representative, to the Senate seat he had just vacated himself to become Governor.

Lisa did win re-election four times, one of those as even a write-in in the general after losing the 2010 Republican nomination to a Tea Partier.

But Frank became unpopular for largely independent reasons and was defeated for renomination and lost the governorship in 2006 (to Sarah Palin).

Sidebar: Lisa Murkowski failed the Alaska bar exam four times, passing on her fifth attempt:

 

DeSantis needs a job. He is term limited as Governor.

DeSantis does not love Donald Trump nor does he owe Trump any favors.

I imagine he's thinking about it pretty hard.

 

Of course, DeSantis is describing his criteria (himself) for appointment as someone who will be loyal to Trump and help Tump to get his agenda passed.

That's what we used to call a "whopper".

 

Exactly. The sole reason for appointing Ms Trump is to get in good with Donald Trump. But Trump doesn't have a history of honoring his obligations, be they financial, political, or ethical. Doing Trump a favor with any expectation getting something back in the future is foolish. For Trump, loyalty is a one way street.

Getting into the Senate would be good for DeSantis personally.

 

Incidentally, I think "Little Marco" will regret taking Trump's bait.

 

He might see it as a different pathway to the presidency. Being a sitting US Senator, strangely, wasn't working.

But I don't see this as a promising path, either. No former Secretary of State has been elected President since James Buchanan, ending a streak where such a thing was normal. It most certainly is not anymore.

I think it has to do with how we've evolved our thinking regarding the presidency. We want people we perceive as tough (Obama, Bush), even if they're not (Trump and Trump Part Duh). And the Secretary of State position does not project that. It projects intelligence, tact, and judgment, things that no longer get one elected president.

It is telling that the nation has rejected both female major party nominees in favor of the toughest-talking guy ever. (Again, even if it's just bluster.)

 

It's not a new phenomenon for the head of a government to make a potential internal challenger foreign minister to keep them busy, but not involved with domestic files, and often outside of the country.

 

But Rubio will very quickly get crosswise with Trump. He will either kiss the ring and look like the craven he probably is or stand up for himself and get fired. He'd have done better to stay in the Senate.

 

I think so, too. It was one thing to suffer the sting of Trump's barbs from a distance, quite another to receive them in the course of your duties while in his employ. (And at his mercy.)

Less than two years. Then a run for Florida governor. (DeSantis is term-limited and will end his term then.)

 

Well! Trump the Deal Maker is, according to rumor, thinking of appointing DeSantis Secretary of Defense once Hegseth is done driving off the cliff.

Of course, the appointment comes with a price. Of course it does.

In a perverse way, I’ll be disappointed if DeSantis takes the bait, First, I think of DeSantis as evil distilled, yes, but not stupid. Second, I never had the idea that DeSantis can be bought. Evil for DeSantis should be its own reward. If DeSantis takes the offer, he will become for me just another nasty, hateful MAGA politician.