Ron DeSantis' campaign was over when he decided to have a popularity contest against Mickey Mouse

[Demovictory9]

https://www.businessinsider.com/desantis-campaign-disney-mickey-mouse-reedy-creek-2024-1

But after DeSantis ended his presidential campaign on Sunday, we can trace this back to his first great misstep, where this all started to sour and go wrong: his war against Disney, which hobbled his candidacy before it officially began.

When his willingness to pick a fight overcame basic political common sense
While DeSantis' political brand is rooted in a more confrontational style of conservatism, his crusade against a major state employer and one of the most prominent companies in the world set him apart from the rest of the field — and not in a good way.

Disney has produced 263,000 direct and indirect jobs in Florida and in 2022 generated $40.3 billion in economic impact in the state, according to a company study. For decades, tourists have come to the state from all over the world to visit Walt Disney World

____

The fight with Disney went back and forth, with the Mouse at one point scoring a damaging legal win over DeSantis when it was revealed that it had severely undermined his appointees' ability to mess with Disney World. It wasn't the clean win DeSantis needed, but rather a bruising boondoggle.

[JI7]

1. He went after Mickey Mouse instead of Trump

[Aussie105]

2. Ronny said: I'm going to tame this mouse!

Mouse says: Not so fast!

As an Australian, I've been to Florida.
For just one reason.
No prize for guessing what it was.

Florida: Flat, hot, humid. I can get a dose of that without leaving Australia.
Take away the Mouse, and you have nothing to recommend Florida.

[EYESORE 9001]

3. There's no love lost between myself and Disney the Corp

but just about everyone alive today has great appreciation for at least one Disney character. He picked a very stupid fight, undoubtedly.

[Irish_Dem]

4. The Mouse won, no contest.

Poor Ron. Beaten by a mouse.

[Buns_of_Fire]

5. What's that old song? "I fought the mouse, and the mouse won"?

[Best_man23]

6. There's an unwritten rule in Florida, Don't Fight The Mouse

Mouse has more $$$ and more lawyers than anyone. Furthermore, the lawyers they hire are not Habbas, they're top shelf legal minds who likely serve only one client, The Mouse.

[Hugin]

8. +1

[Hugin]

7. The DeSantis campaign was over the first time someone yelled...

“Would someone, please, throw him a mackerel!”

But, yeah, taking on South Park Mickey was part of the carving of the crater. He failed to reckon that Mickey has at least two Death Stars at his disposal.

Riding shotgun for the Zieglers wasn’t too swift in the self-swiftboating either.