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DC Freaks Out Over DeSantis’s Ukraine Comments; Voters Shrug
Several right-of-center politicians and commentators are outraged over Gov. Ron DeSantis’s latest statement on the war in Ukraine. The hawks accuse the Florida governor of showing American weakness. Trump accuses him of being too vague. Both claim his short statement threatens his electoral chances — a prediction which reveals a severe case of Beltway Brain.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson asked various potential presidential candidates for their positions on America’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This was DeSantis’s response:
While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party — becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them.
Previously, the governor stuck to the vague assertion that we shouldn’t send Ukraine “a blank check.” His latest statement adds slightly more detail, with a strong emphasis on “slightly.”
Neither locks him into any firm position, which is an asset since no one knows the outcome of the expected spring offensives or what American voters will think of the issue in November 2024. Yes, it’s vague, as well it should be. Our leaders should constantly follow the facts on the ground and shift accordingly. The right strategy today probably won’t be the right strategy two years from now.
DeSantis is wrong to dismiss the full-blown invasion as a mere “territorial dispute”; outside of that, there’s little to criticize, let alone be outraged about. Either way, a vague foreign policy statement made 19 months before Election Day will have zero effect on said election.
Campaigns almost never win or lose on foreign policy; post-Cold War, a slight advantage accrues to the dovish. The rest of the country is not nearly as invested in Ukraine as DC tastemakers insist they be. In general, Americans sympathize with Ukrainians, but they’re more likely to rant about the price of eggs than developments across the Transdnieper.
This upsets foreign policy wonks since voters should care more about the latter than the former. In fact, it’s a moral failing that they don’t!
Meh. The kids want eggs for breakfast, but they’re getting a Lucky Charms knockoff instead. Voters are busy with everyday life, not geopolitical strategy on the other side of the world.
I think voters should care more about the $31.5 trillion federal debt, but here we are.
In contrast, President Biden promised to back Ukraine for “as long it takes.” Sorry, Joe, forever is a very long time. The US made similar promises to our Afghan allies before chaotically abandoning the country in Biden’s first year.
While the current president’s support seems earnest, he can’t promise anything beyond his administration. Especially if the American people turn against it. Which they are.
According to the Associated Press, in May 2022, 60% of Americans supported arming Ukraine. As of January, that has dropped to 48%. This still makes up a plurality but is trending the wrong way for the forever caucus. Who knows what it will be in a year and a half?
The US has already sent $112 billion to Ukraine with little debate and less oversight. For comparison, Ukraine’s entire GDP in 2020 was about $200 billion. On his recent visit, Biden casually announced a half a billion more, along with “artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems, and air surveillance radars to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments.”
Rah-rah, Slava Ukraini, and all that, but there’s a limit to American largesse. And people get miffed when Biden jets to Kyiv with a suitcase full of money but avoids East Palestine, Ohio.
Politicians in both parties must understand that their first responsibility is to their own nation; allies come second. Forget this, and the people will toss them on their tin ears. DeSantis makes his priority clear: the United States of America.
Reagan-era Secretary of State George Shultz asked every new US ambassador a simple question. “I’m going to spin the globe and I want you to put your hand on your country.”
When they pointed to the nation assigned to them, Shultz corrected them. “Your country is the United States.”
DeSantis has passed this test. Biden has not.
Published in Elections, Foreign Policy, Politics
Works for me.
Let’s go with a winning politician. DeSantis in 2024.
I think going to Ukraine and avoiding the rail accident in Ohio is going to have more of an effect than the pundits recognize.
Take a high-profile trip to Ohio, throw around some dough, then, as an afterthought, visit Ukraine. How DC types don’t get this is beyond me.
Some people are comparing DeSantis statement to imitating Trump–balderdash! DeSantis is his own man and doesn’t answer to anyone except the people of Florida (not including Trump). I’m coming around to DeSantis’ opinion on Russia/Ukraine, too. If Ukraine is overrun and Russia threatens Europe, maybe the Europeans will finally realize that they are on their own and have to stop depending on the U.S. to bail them out. Get with it NATO! We can no longer be the world’s policemen–we have our own issues, including financial and domestic.
There is something else going on. I don’t want to sound like I’m six miles down the rabbit hole with a certain British journalist, but no one yet has made a cogent argument as to why this fight is our fight.
All of this talk about Russia having all of Eastern Europe in its sights is ridiculous. If we’ve learned anything over the last year of fighting in Ukraine it’s that the Russian army is crap, poorly led, poorly equipped and poorly trained. It also goes against one of their other narratives: The pro-war crowd would have you simultaneously believe that Putin is crazy enough to attack a full NATO member country but sane enough to not push the nuclear button.
I think the anti-Trump crowd has been working this Russian-under-every-Rock routine so hard that they’ve painted themselves into a corner. To dismiss any Russian misdeed would be tacitly admitting the last six-seven years has been all bull ship.
I have been thinking of this story for a while, but had forgotten who had done it. I thought it was Reagan himself.
We need more of this perspective in government today.
Once again, Tucker went where numerous other journalists could have gone.
Except those others could not be bothered.
Anyway I applaud DeSantis answer.
I am not sure why Trump is now pretending like someone has made him the king of the populist movement.
Times change. Trump has stood by a product that is now out of favor with at least 35% of the population. Why? (Does this stance have anything to do with the investments Kushner made in the mRNA vax technologies?)
Anyway I appreciate a great deal of what Trump did. But he is not the end all and be all of populism.
When he acts like he is, it is not a good look.
As outraged as I am by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I agree with Governor DeSantis. Further entanglement is not in our vital national interest. We are as far in as we need to go.
If Trump only knew when to keep quiet, he would be unstoppable.
Well, on this I disagree with DeSantis. I support Ukraine and it’s in the US’s interest to defeat Russia on this immoral invasion. But DeSantis is being vague. It’s a political statement. He’s not responsible for current foreign policy, and so he’s free to stake out a political position. This war is not going to be going on still in 2024 anyway when he takes office. Who knows what he truly believes but this political stance is a brilliant positioning against Donald Trump. It won’t hurt him and Trump can’t attack him. Perhaps this grades a C for foreign policy but grades an A+ for political flair.
Throwing down the gauntlet here, Manny. Name the ways in which your life and the life of your fellow countrymen changes if Ukraine falls.
Announce that we have no intention of defending Taiwan either. Or any of the countries in Europe, for that matter. We won’t need a Navy anymore, or a Marine Corps … think of all the Obamacare that loot will buy!
DC types are the wealthy.
They might not have started out wealthy. At least, many now in Congress would like us to believe they grew up in the same log cabin that Lincoln did.
But once they are in DC for even a few years, they have accumulated wealth.
The people that they are around 24/7 are uber wealthy.
The uber wealthy may have a home or two in the USA. (Or three or four.)
But they are in Cannes for the film festival. The top skiing spots in Switzerland in January. If some celebration regarding British royalty takes place in Majorca, they are there then too.
About the only place they rarely venture into visiting is their own neighborhood.
A short tale from when I lived in Sausalito Calif:
One man whose table was uncomfortably close to ours regaled his friends with the story of how he had organized a symphony on some island in the Pacific. He had the entire affair flown in by helicopter, as there was no airport. The classical piano that was flown in dangled over the heads of the electricians getting the stage sound system up and ready. (While gusts of wind slapped it precariously about.)
The guests all took a chartered cruise ship in to hear the symphony.
These people live in a different world than the world that the public lives in.
The Congress critters are like everyone else, in being most informed by those that they rub shoulders with.
And those shoulders certainly are not those of the rough rabble of people who mosey on thru life with average salaries and average methods of hearing a symphony.
I love it when conservatives say they want “diversity as in viewpoints and not race”. Well, we have some diversity of opinions in the Republican Party. Except those that shout the loudest really don’t want diverse viewpoints, do they?
I disagree. China is a rising power while Russia is a fading one, which makes Beijing the more serious threat. I support helping UKR for the time being, but we must define what is in America’s interest and reevaluate the situation constantly. We can’t protect everyone all the time forever.
Oh please. I’m not going to argue with isolationists. If you can’t see that an aggressive Russia who seeks territorial gain is not a threat to Europe and the free market system, then you’re already in not persuadable. You probably would have said the same thing as Russia placed an iron curtain over Eastern Europe. In fact many people said that same thing then.
We’re not protecting Ukraine. We’re giving them arms, much like Russia did to Vietnam in the 1960s and as we did to Afghanistan in the 1980s. Sure Russia is not the threat China might be, but they are number two. And Russia and China are allies with the same global vision.
China moves on Taiwan within three to six months of Putin winning in Ukraine.
That’s weak sauce. “I don’t have to justify or explain my position because it easier when I can just call you a name.” It’s the righty equivalent to the left saying, “I don’t talk to fascists!”
And for the record, calling me an isolationist has the same effect of calling me a fascist or a racist or a homophobe or any other made up epithet. Either you can bring the goods or you cannot.
To clarify- this is indeed a “territorial dispute”. The statement is not inaccurate, it is simply incomplete, because Russia-Ukraine is also a lot more. DeSantis doesn’t need to spell out everything else, just take the wind out of Trump’s moronic isolationist sails. He doesn’t need to cover every detail of every other part of Russia policy. Trump never reads that much detail or that many words anyway.
The larger question is why the USA must shoulder the burden of defending the wealthy social-democracies of Europe who are unwilling to defend themselves.
This web page contains charts for our foreign aid which consists of the following:
The charts on the top half of the page show numbers from 2017 and 2018, but scrolling down you will come to a chart for 2023 showing “obligations” and “disbursements.” Surprisingly, at $247 million, Ukraine is not at the top of the obligations list.
In fact, apparently we are giving $159 million to Russia as well.
Our foreign policy is complex. I wish DeSantis had said so.
That really is the problem of American strategy – it doesn’t understand what strategy is and doesn’t understand what tactics are. When you say strategy, you mean tactics.
According to Pew Research, as January 31, 2023:
Since Trump and DeSantis appear to have the same view of U.S. aid to Ukraine at the moment, it will be interesting to see how this goes over the next 18 months.
But he has shown he does not.
I’ve got better things to do. You’ve heard the arguments. You’ve made up your mind. Nothing I’m going to say is going to change your mind. And yes, I consider those opposed to a Russian invasion of Europe an isolationsit.
Sending a message of commitment to stop Russian aggression may prevent China from its aggression. At a minimum you wear down Russia who will unquestionably aid China.
Kori Schake hardest hit.
‘Which Americans Don’t Support Troops to Ukraine?’ Answering Schake’s Question
Or if a woman that you don’t know has an abortion, right?
Sorry EJ, but that’s not a decent validator, or else none of us have standing for any opinions beyond our own food and shelter.
Then don’t wrap the argument in the flag and say “It’s in the national interest.” Because if you’re going to predicate the spending of blood and treasure on that kind of argument then every question of policy is a default win for the left.
Why is an American’s job more important than that of a Chinese citizen? Why secure the border if every poor citizen of the world is our responsibility? What you’re saying is that the American government has no more obligation or interest in the lives of American citizens than Ukrainians or Mexicans or you name it. We are the world! Globalists unite!