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Ron DeSantis’s fall from the GOP primaries is one of the most dramatic political stories in recent history

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to the media in the spin room after the fifth Republican presidential primary debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 10.CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/Getty Images

For months he was a sparkler, a presidential candidate who seemed to light up the Republican political skies, a big-state governor who, like the patriotic fireworks of that name, seemed to have brilliance, strength and remarkable staying power.

But both the problem and potential of Ron DeSantis, who on Sunday withdrew from the race, was that he also resembled the Sparkler, the name that scientists using findings from the James Webb Space Telescope 11 months ago gave to a newly discovered galaxy that looked eerily like a young version of the Milky Way Galaxy.

It turns out that the sparkle fizzled from the Florida Governor precisely because he looks like a young version of the most prominent star in America’s own Republican political galaxy, former president Donald Trump, whom he endorsed in his withdrawal remarks.

And so while Mr. Trump and his pre-eminent challenger, former governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina, were barnstorming New Hampshire in advance of Tuesday’s Republican presidential primary, Mr. DeSantis was hardly visible, a faraway flickering figure who had lost nearly all of his star power.

How Mr. DeSantis fell to Earth is one of the most dramatic political stories of the new century.

“God bless Ron, but he’s done,” New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who has endorsed Ms. Haley, said in an interview Friday night. “He’s out of staff, he’s out of money, there’s no ‘there’ there.”

Suddenly the campaign of Mr. DeSantis resembled nothing so much as a black hole, which NASA describes as “a gravitational field so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.” He’s been absent as his rivals campaign here in the venue of the first presidential primary as he took his campaign out of sight of Granite State voters, primarily to campaign in South Carolina. His hope, now abandoned along with the rest of the effort: embarrass Ms. Haley in her home state and then replace her as the principal alternative to Mr. Trump.

The strategy, which lasted but 48 hours, came less from Star Wars than from the Korean War, General Douglas MacArthur’s daring 1950 gamble to take his understrength forces and mount a surprise offensive behind enemy lines. Gen. MacArthur’s gambit reshaped the conflict on the Korean Peninsula – but it did not lead to a clear victory for a military operation that eventually included 30,000 Canadians, more than 500 of whom perished.

Mr. DeSantis’s prime disadvantage in New Hampshire was that he offered a Laura Secord-style assortment of policies and rhetorical bombast that was nearly indistinguishable from that of Mr. Trump. Voters’ reaction here: He’s a shiny new, sparkly figure, worth a look to be sure, but without the personality, the magnetic appeal, the entertainment value of the original item.

“Why go for Diet Trump when you go for Full Strength Trump?” said Andrew Smith, the University of New Hampshire political scientist who heads the UNH Survey Center. Its latest poll, released Sunday, shows that Mr. DeSantis, who exactly a year ago led Mr. Trump by 43 percentage points to 39, now has sunk to a mere 6 per cent.

“DeSantis tried to be Trump without the Trumpiness,” Mr. Smith said, “but the Trumpiness is the fun thing that the Trump people love.”

At a packed rally in a Manchester hockey arena Saturday night, Mr. Trump had his own brand of fun deriding Mr. DeSantis, saying, “I think he’s gone.”

For months of hard campaigning, Mr. DeSantis did his best, working hard at spiffing up his image; in that regard, think of him as Pierre Poilievre of the Florida peninsula. But by the time he displayed a more approachable, less forbidding style, Ms. Haley, with a more pleasing mien and more moderate political profile, catapulted ahead of him.

The irony is that Mr. Trump, who claims success for Mr. DeSantis’ election as governor, predicted as much seven months ago when he said, “Soon I don’t think he’ll be in second place. So I’ll be attacking someone else.” All week, the former president trained his attacks on Ms. Haley, describing her as a “globalist” and the favourite candidate of Democrats.

Last week The Wall Street Journal called on Mr. DeSantis to “leave the race and give Ms. Haley a chance to take on Mr. Trump one on one.”

Mr. DeSantis’s errors were manifold. His emphasis on abortion – and his approval of Florida’s six-week abortion ban – fell flat among Republicans who saw that abortion politics had been poison for them in the 2022 midterm congressional elections; that’s why both Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley decided to soft-pedal the issue, especially here in a state friendly to abortion rights. He ardently identified with evangelicals in Iowa without recognizing that New Hampshire was the most secular state in the nation and that voters here pay no heed to preachers.

And while Mr. Trump, who has been the largest presence in American media for nine years, has defied the old chestnut that familiarity breeds contempt, Mr. DeSantis discovered in New Hampshire that absence breeds derision. Referring to his second failure to show up at an event at the local Red Fox Bar and Grille, the boldface lead headline in Thursday’s Conway Daily Sun was: “DeSantis no-show in Jackson, again.”

In New Hampshire as in the broader nomination battle, Mr. DeSantis began hearing a constant loop of the soundtrack from the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit, for he has a “long way to go and a short time to get there.”

Increasingly, it appeared that for Mr. DeSantis, the long way to go may be four years away. Indeed, he began talking about voters telling him they wanted to vote for Mr. Trump this time – but for him in 2028.

For Mr. DeSantis, a onetime outfielder who once was the Yale baseball captain, the message of his 2024 campaign in New Hampshire matched the credo of the Boston Red Sox, beloved throughout the Granite State and whose fans waited helplessly and despondently for 86 years for a World Series championship. The message? Wait ‘til next year.

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‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

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REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

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