US election campaign: tentative test run for 2028

Anyone who was looking forward to an exchange of blows between the crown princes during the TV duel between Democrat Newsom and Republican DeSantis was disappointed: both downplayed their ambitions – and argued politely in line.

That could have been a great moment: two comparatively young political stars whose hour has come make it clear in prime time why the time is ripe for a generational change in both parties. But there was no sign of freshness and optimism between Gavin Newsom from the Democrats and Ron DeSantis from the Republicans in the hour and a half exchange.

This was initially due to the indiscipline of the opponents, who were so verbally entangled over long stretches that it was no longer possible to follow them, even with the best will in the world. Fox News host Sean Hannity had a hard time calling the two hotheads to order.

But unfortunately it immediately became a bit long-winded when Newsom from California and DeSantis from Florida were allowed to lecture undisturbed: on all expected subject areas – taxes, migration, crime, gun laws, abortion – both argued politely along party lines. And so the most exciting thing about the debate was what wasn’t said or wasn’t acknowledged.

Insinuations and tame answers

Both only recommended a generational change to the other political camp. Although DeSantis, unlike Newsom, wants to become a presidential candidate and has challenged the Republican favorite Donald Trump, he did not want to discuss the ex-president.

In general, it was surprising that Trump was barely mentioned. Only Newsom implied in two places that DeSantis would soon get out of the race anyway and then support Trump.

The insinuation with which DeSantis countered then even became a household word: someone kept talking about a “shadow campaign” that Newsom was running. In other words: The Californian doesn’t dare openly throw down the gauntlet to Biden.

Rather, Newsom is relying on Biden to throw in the towel for age and health reasons, thereby clearing the way for Newsom to step in. As could hardly be expected, the Democratic hopeful denied this and firmly emphasized that Biden would officially and undisputedly be the Democratic candidate in a few weeks.

No courage to saw at the boss’s chair

The fact that Newsom is a quarter of a century younger than Biden and DeSantis has spent 32 years less in the world than Trump – this was known before the debate, as were the ambitions of the two potential heirs to the throne.

But none of them wanted to have the courage to start sawing on the older ones’ chairs. The duel seemed like a tentative test run for 2028, for the presidential election after next.

Gavin Newsom, unsurprisingly, had a harder time at FoxNews. Moderator Hannity (“It’s well known that I’m a conservative”) was noticeably tougher on the Democrats, confronting him with endless statistics that made California look worse than Florida. And he repeatedly picked on Biden’s gaffes and verbal blunders. But the fact that Newsom had to defend himself against two dissenters could also be credited as bravery.

But the fact that he downplayed his ambitions and, unlike DeSantis, pretended that he was modestly satisfied with his job as governor did not seem entirely sincere. In a strange contrast, Newsom was noticeably under pressure and rarely came out of his defensive stance.

Young savages look different

DeSantis, on the other hand, as so often, lacked aggressiveness in his own camp. Going easy on Trump and leaving him out of the picture didn’t come across as confident, but rather as opportunistic.

Apparently the Republican doesn’t want to mess up completely with the ex-president, who still has his party completely under control for the time being.

After all, the two good party soldiers unmistakably highlighted the huge differences between the political camps. But young and wild people look different.