Decisions Have Consequences

Posted on June 19, 2023 by Robert Ringer

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I’ve long been fascinated by how a single bad decision can have a major negative impact on a person’s life.  A wrong decision can also negatively impact a company’s balance sheet (think Ford’s Edsel, Bud Light’s embrace of Dylan Mulvaney, and Coca-Cola’s decision to ditch its classic recipe and rebrand itself the “New Coke” in 1985).

The same is true in sports.  The Atlanta Falcons lost a Super Bowl that was virtually in the bag for them because their offensive coach, Kyle Shanahan, inexplicably decided not to go for a game-winning field goal in the closing minutes that would have clinched a victory in what turned out to be a historic loss to New England.

Worst of all, a wrong decision can have life-and-death consequences, as was the case with President Kennedy’s assassination.  A number of JFK’s advisors and allies, including Senator William Fulbright and U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, urged him not to make the trip to Dallas, because they felt the atmosphere was too toxic and that his life would be in danger.

But Kennedy, always the optimist, had a false sense of security and went ahead with his planned visit to Dallas anyway.  Not only was it a life-ending decision, but a nation-changing decision as well, as it proved to be a precursor to the 1968 assassinations of JFK’s brother Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Which brings me to Ron DeSantis, who has had “future presidentwritten all over him since he began remaking Florida into a dark red state.  All DeSantis needed to do to ensure his political future was make it clear to the world how much he appreciated Donald Trump’s endorsement, which would have resulted in having MAGA Republicans eating out of his hand.

Instead, he decided to downplay the endorsement, which, to no one’s surprise, did not go well with Trump.  Whoever convinced him that he should back away from Trump and lowball his endorsement when he ran for governor of Florida did him a grave disservice, but, in the end, DeSantis has no one to blame for this decision but himself.

DeSantis’ second big mistake was deciding to join the 2024 presidential field and thereby make himself a target of Trump’s wrath.  Had he not acted prematurely, he would have been the odds-on favorite to be Trump’s pick as his running mate.  Then, as vice president, he would have been an overwhelming favorite to be the Republican nominee for president in 2028 at the tender age of 49.  It would have been the easiest and most certain path to the White House, but, unfortunately, he chose to speed things up and go for broke.

It gets worse.  DeSantis now has to depend on Democrats to take out Trump via their weaponization of the legal system.  Further, even if Democrats were somehow able to accomplish that, I doubt many Trump supporters would vote for DeSantis.  They would be much more inclined to switch their allegiance to Vivek Ramaswamy, not only because he has made it clear he would pardon Trump if became president, but also because he’s the most hard-core conservative candidate in the field, the smartest candidate in the field, and the most articulate candidate in the field.

On the other hand, if Trump survives the political persecution aimed at stopping him from becoming president, it’s a real possibility that he might pick Ramaswamy as his running mate, which would set up Vivek to be the favorite in the 2028 general election.  In other words, Ramaswamy would be the recipient of what was DeSantis’ for the taking before his two dreadful decisions.

It’s too early to count DeSantis out, but we would all do well to learn from his questionable decisions.  His poor judgment could end up costing him not just the opportunity to become the 2028 Republican nominee, but the opportunity to ever become president of the United States.  That’s a big price to pay for a couple of bad decisions.

Having said all this, the big question now is whether Trump can avoid making one or more fatal decisions between now and November 5, 2024?  With more than a 30-point lead over DeSantis, and a Democrat Party that is coming apart at the seams, Trump is in a position to control his own destiny.  And the first step toward that end is to learn from DeSantis’ mistakes and ignore the advice of political consultants, then impose some degree of self-control over what he says and does.

At this point in time, accomplishing the latter is a much bigger challenge for Trump than Ron DeSantis.  We shall soon see.

Robert Ringer

Robert Ringer is an American icon whose unique insights into life have helped millions of readers worldwide. He is also the author of two New York Times #1 bestselling books, both of which have been listed by The New York Times among the 15 best-selling motivational books of all time.

5 responses to “Decisions Have Consequences”

  1. pokertiger says:

    Well Robert I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one. While I do agree that the Trump-DeSantis ticket would be formidable and the Ramaswamy suggestion is very interesting ,I think he picks someone like Nicky Haley.(who is also attacking DeSantis). To me Trump lost the Senate and several governorships in the fall of 2024 to the likes of Fetterman,Warnock, Cortez in Nevada with several good candidates(Lake and Laxalt) and several questionable ones in Walker and OZ. The point is the endorsed candidates in states like Nevada ,Arizona, Georgia ,and Pennsylvania are exactly from the places that Trump has to win in 2024 to secure the electoral college. Lose those 4 states and Trump has no shot however how popular he is with his GOP base.
    I know DeSantis can win Georgia and possibly Virginia.(which Trump has always lost). I think Desantis will also take Arizona and Wisconsin-which are also Trump liabilities.
    My main take on Trump is there are too many independents with Trump fatigue and their were too many things pointing to a republican landslide in the fall of 2022 that didn't happen with a poor economy ,the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, terrible border policy, and China and Russia taking advantage of extremely weak presidential leadership .The only thing that saved the House for the republicans were the DeSantis coattails in Florida and Lee Zelden's run in New York. So why the rest of the republicans can't see that DeSantis is the better candidate to win the White House is beyond me.

  2. Ghost_1776 says:

    I think you might be giving Trump too much credit here. He has some very formidable issues stacked up against him from legal to political. Whether you like him or hate him I don't think anyone can deny that the guy is a lightning rod for certain groups of people that will never come around to him. The GOP is actually fielding some decent candidates and I don't believe Trump will survive the process. If he does I don't think he can win a general election. I know that makes me unpopular with those that really like Trump, but I have been watching elections for a long time and I see a flawed candidate that will not be able to get a second term.

  3. ebookaholic says:

    So true! The GOP is so clueless an out of touch with the majority of Republican voters… no matter how many times we scream and yell at them, they do not listen. The GOP has pretty much united with the Demonic Democrats, forming an oppressive Uniparty system.

    If Trump isn't the nominee, I'm writing him in no matter what. The ONLY exception is if there is a solid, trustworthy, good candidate like Trump (which is highly unlikely).

    As much as I hate to admit it, Trump has made big mistakes by hiring too many traitors. But who knows, maybe he did this on purpose to fully expose the corrupt deep state & uniparty?

    When I first read "Looking Out For #1" back in the 80's I was bright eyed and full of optimism…. but never would have imagined how corrupt the government was and how big of a factor that plays into success – no matter how hard you try.

    One thing for sure, Trump supporters and/or opponents of the Demonic Democrats need to take massive ACTION and quit making excuses. Many are too afraid to even peacefully protest. Or, they sit at home on the couch instead of voting.

    My final thoughts on this topic… somehow we need to get Robert into the Trump administration as an economic or other advisor if he wins. The madness in this country must stop!

  4. JF1017 says:

    DeSantis' biggest mistake was hiring – and listening to – Karl Rove as a political advisor. DeSantis' governing instincts have been spot-on, at least according to Floridians. The cultural and economic trajectory of that state has been attracting the disaffected (and truly disenfranchised) from New York state and Chicagoland, as well as other blue and purple areas. He should trust his own eyes and ears in this run, and not those of an advisor so closely tied with the swamp critter Uniparty members who ultimately gave us Barack H Obama and the current resident in chief, Joe the grifter Biden.

  5. Doug5263 says:

    Mr. Ringer, you are mistaken about both Trump and Desantis. Desantis will have a very fine life whether or not he ever becomes President. We need him, he doesn't need the job. Trump is a very talented man, but also a bit of a sociopath. Before he beat the much worse Hillary Clinton in 2016 (Thank you!) he accused Ted Cruz's father of being part of the JFK assassination. And anyone following the recent action in Judge Kaplan's courtroom with an open mind knows he assaulted E. Jean Carroll and some other women too. Trump also did a great job for three years as President before surrendering his job in 2020 to acting-President Fauci. But people vote mostly based on personality and emotions, and I don't believe that Trump will ever win election again. Too many people simply hate him, and I'm not including myself! We really need to deny Obama a 4th term as President, and we can't do it with Trump.