April 19, 2023 --

Douthat doesn't come right out and say it, so LPR will say it for him: He urges that DeSantis run for president in 2024 because Douthat is a Never-Trumper.

And how could he be otherwise, as a so-called "conservative" columnist at The New York Times?

As a Never- Trumper, Douthat lacks the acuity to understand that if The Resistance to Democracy, that the Never Trump movement represents, is to be crushed, it will only happen with Donald J. Trump as the 47th —as well as the 45th -- president of the United States. (Besides, President Trump will need DeSantis as his attorney general in charge of prosecuting former attorney general Garland, as one of his responsibilities in draining the swamp.)

If the anti-Trump, anti-democracy Resistance prevails over Mr. Trump in 2024, it will likely extinguish the spirit of American liberty. Never-Trumpers have no problem with that eventuality -- in opposing Trump, they oppose the spirit of liberty in America.