MEGHAN MCCAIN: The DeSantis online launch was a DeSaster. But it should still be RON

There’s no doubt about it: The much-anticipated announcement of Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign on Wednesday night was a disaster.

How fitting that Elon Musk smashed the start button and we all listened as their clever little Twitter scheme exploded into a million pieces.

Over there. We’ve had our laughs. We made our rocket puns. But now it’s time to move on, because this is dead serious.

What really matters to every Republican, conservative, and otherwise reasonable voter in the country, devastated by America’s accelerating decline, has nothing to do with a computer glitch.

It involves a stark choice.

It’s DeSantis or another four-year-decrepit Joe Biden.

Election-denying Donald Trump cannot win another general election. The GOP can’t go down that bumpy road again.

If you don’t remember how repulsive Trump can be on the campaign trail? He gave us all a reminder last night.

On Truth Social, Trump posted a spoof video of DeSantis’ Twitter Spaces event featuring Adolph Hitler, The Devil, Dick Cheney, George Soros and others.

The video ends with Trump’s mock voice saying, “Ron DeSanctimonious can kiss my big beautiful 2024 presidential a**.” Trump 2024 honey, let’s go.”

Brace yourself GOP. This is just the beginning of the madness.

Think of the roller coaster from hell that was the 2016 Republican Party primaries.

Trump falsely claimed that Ted Cruz’s father had a falling out with John F. Kennedy’s assassin. He compared Ben Carson to a “child molester.”

He responded to Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s harsh questioning during a Republican primary debate by saying, “Blood came out of her eyes, blood came out of her—everywhere.”

He insulted my father’s legendary military service with this uniquely deranged statement: “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who haven’t been captured.’

It has not escaped my mind that I would rather turn blue in the face before convincing Trump’s die-hard army of supporters to abandon him over this rhetoric. So I won’t waste my breath on it.

But Trump’s base will not choose the next president. They didn’t in 2020 and they won’t in 2024.

Not convinced?

Trump’s town hall on CNN in early May was clear evidence that he has chattered his way straight out of the general election fray, whining about “election stolen” and defending his bizarre belief that famous men somehow have a special have dispensation to molest women.

Other than a black Republican candidate, there’s only one way forward at this point: Ron is our man.

If there was one good thing about Wednesday night’s campaign shuttle disaster, it was that hardly anyone listened.

Only about one in five Americans is on Twitter, and more Democrats than Republicans of those people.

That means no matter how good (or bad) DeSantis’ Twitter adventure went, most voters learned about it through the prism of the mainstream media. And as we know, they’re not friends of DeSantis.

Next week, DeSantis will roll out his campaign vigorously, and if they took my advice, I’d say go big!

Showcase the strikingly charismatic Casey DeSantis and their perfect family. Grab the risers behind his stage in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida with Americans from all walks of life. Prove to America that there is a bright alternative to the darkly depressing replay of Trump v. Biden in 2024.

In general, it doesn’t really matter what happened last night, as long as the campaign doesn’t forget it.

Never in a thousand years has a presidential campaign been allowed to outsource its event to a third party.

Twitter reportedly didn’t pre-test for “site reliability issues,” and as we know, many of the Blue Bird employees aren’t exactly members of the DeSantis fan club. So it wouldn’t have taken much to foresee a possible problem here.

But I also can’t really blame the DeSantis team for trying to cozy up to the man who is emerging as one of the top media figures in the 2024 election.

The firing of Tucker Carlson has brought Fox News to its knees — at least for now — and if that means Musk’s Twitter is where right-wing voices can be heard — then so be it. It’s no surprise that Tucker says he’s bringing his millions of followers there for a new show.

And if this experience convinces DeSantis that he can’t just ignore traditional media outlets, that’s a good thing too.

Trump wrote the book on fighting the media, going so far as to call some of his most despised sales channels “the enemy of the people.” But at least he plays ‘the game’ – and wins.

He walked into the lion’s den of CNN’s town hall and made them all look crazy. He emerged on a new wave of enthusiasm.

Trump makes one of his most compelling arguments when he rails against the “elites” by saying, “in reality they’re not after me, they’re after you, I’m just getting in the way.” DeSantis, on the other hand, simply ignores them. That’s not a strategy.

So, here’s your dose of reality to counter the media frenzy over DeSantis’ big mistake last night. DeSantis isn’t going anywhere and it’s a long campaign ahead.

The top DeSantis super PAC is fueled by $200 million and is reportedly poised to launch a plan to hire 2,600 field organizers to knock on the doors of every potential supporter in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina – at least four times. If you live in Iowa, expect to see their smiling faces at least five times, they say.

This is a serious campaign with serious money. If they can learn from their mistakes, the future looks bright.

Now it’s up to the voters not to lose sight of the big picture. It’s Ron or Bust.