THE GOP CAMPAIGN GOES TURBULENT:  The GOP race for the Republican presidential nomination is escalating into near-blows, with Donald Trump, a wounded campaigner, taking dead aim at Ron DeSantis, and DeSantis apparently planning on attacking Trump earlier than had been planned.  This could get bloody, which is just what the GOP leadership doesn't want.  From Michael Goodwin at the New York Post: 

It’s not news that Donald Trump is the worst of his own enemies, but he outdid himself with his latest bizarre behavior.

His social media warning early Friday that “death and destruction” could follow if he’s criminally charged in the Stormy Daniels case came as he posted an image of himself holding a baseball bat next to a photo of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s head. 

“What kind of person,” Trump wrote, “can charge another person, in this case a former president of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting president in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a crime, when it is known by all that NO crime has been committed, & also that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our country?” 

Sensible voters might reasonably ask what kind of person facing charges encourages mayhem.

And what kind of defendant calls the prosecutor “a degenerate psychopath,” as Trump also did? 

The unmistakable echoes of Jan. 6 complete the picture of a man incapable of remorse. 
The rant was perfectly timed — if Trump’s goal was to stomp out growing public unease over how Bragg is stretching a novel legal theory to indict him. 

The outburst also obscured signs Bragg was having either second thoughts or trouble convincing a grand jury Trump committed a crime.

Two scheduled sessions were canceled, with a source telling Fox News the DA was facing “major dissension” on his staff. 

Whatever led to the pause, Trump managed to shove potential good news for himself into the background with his Friday post.

It didn’t help his cause that Bragg got a letter later that day containing a death threat and white powder, underscoring Trump’s recklessness. 

COMMENT:   Goodwin is an excellent, disciplined commentator, and I think he's right. Trump is stepping all over his own case.  We've always known the man is his own worst enemy, and it's part of the reason he lost in 2020.  We can't afford that any longer. 

There are widespread reports that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will be upping his campaign against Trump in coming days.  The original DeSantis plan was to announce his candidacy shortly after the Florida legislature adjourns in May.  But DeSantis has been taking a verbal beating from Trump, and the governor's numbers have become wobbly.  It is clear he must get fully into the battle before Trump defines him as below presidential caliber.  We who follow politics know DeSantis well as a superb governor who has made Florida into a remarkable success story.  But most Americans don't know him at all.  That must change right now. 

March 25,  2023