Nancy Reagan, Resurrected?
May 20, 2023

Oh, man, this profile of Casey DeSantis in Politico is lethal:

In the tragic drama, of course, Lady Macbeth prods her husband to kill the king so she can be the queen. At this juncture, the literary analogy goes only so far. Ron DeSantis has trouble even criticizing Trump by name, but with the head-to-head battle about to begin, the role of his wife is of paramount concern to many in and around the world of DeSantis, as well as those considering whether to back him. The more complicated but also more instructive reality is that she is neither the fawning caricature she’s made out to be in conservative and even at times mainstream media nor a Shakespearean villain. She might well be a bit of both, say even some DeSantis proponents, and somewhere in this tension sits the central dynamic of the pending DeSantis campaign. She can ameliorate some of the effects of his idiosyncrasies. She can also accentuate, even exacerbate, his hubris, and his paranoia, and his vaulting ambition — because those are all traits that they share. He wouldn’t be where he is without her. He might not get to where he wants to go because of her.

“He’s a leader who makes political decisions with the assistance of his wife, who was elected by nobody, who’s blindly ambitious,” said a former DeSantis administration staffer. “And she sees ghosts in every corner.”

“She’s more paranoid than he is,” said a second staffer.

“He’s a vindictive motherfucker. She’s twice that,” said a higher-up on one of his campaigns. “She’s the scorekeeper.”

While Casey’s Ronnie might not be the Happy Warrior that Saint Ronnie was, she definitely seems to be inhabiting the role of Nancy Reagan:

“Make no mistake. The reason why there is so much turnover and has been within the DeSantis ranks throughout the years,” a Republican consultant told me, “is if you get on the wrong side of Casey DeSantis, you’re gone.”

And while it might be easy to interpret this as sexism (and surely it is; pro-tip: Lady Macbeth references ALWAYS are!), but if you lived through the Reagan Era and saw the power and decisions Nancy influenced —both with and without her astrologer!— hiring/firing, and insuring loyalty— you would be wary too. Strong women with weak men are often portrayed thus.

Nancy was the absolute power behind her Ron, and it looks like Casey DeSantis is made of the same stuff. In the article, she’s even wearing a one shoulder gown like Nancy wore to the 1981 inauguration. Only Casey’s gown is in Nancy Reagan Red.

ron_and_casey_desantis_getty
Credit: Getty Images

I rest my case.

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