To the Editor:
Re “DeSantis Decides to End Campaign for White House” (front page, Jan. 22):
When I saw the news that Ron DeSantis was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsing Donald Trump, I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not that I’m a fan of Mr. DeSantis; hardly, I’m not even a Republican. But, for the sake of our democracy, a part of me had hoped that Mr. DeSantis or Nikki Haley, or the two of them together, might have waged a distinct and spirited enough campaign to overcome the angry, populist, cultlike sway that Mr. Trump holds over G.O.P. voters.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that both campaigns have fallen short. Meanwhile, a slew of Republican political leaders will continue to stick their heads in the sand about the dangers that Mr. Trump poses to the nation and instead endorse and proudly campaign for a man they know is not fit to be the leader of the free world.
Watching all of this unfold is proving to be a grotesque and terrifying portrait of human behavior.
Cody Lyon
Brooklyn
To the Editor:
As Ron DeSantis fades from the national scene after running one of the most incompetent presidential campaigns in memory, we should remember some of the damage he inflicted on his home state, Florida, to gain national attention.
Mr. DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban. He did a state takeover of a college that he believed was too “woke” and installed right-wing activists to run it. He put unsuspecting migrants on a plane and shipped them to Martha’s Vineyard as an attention-getting stunt. In each case, he got fawning attention as a “fighter” on right-wing media.
When it was time to fight his opponent Donald Trump, Mr. DeSantis turned meek. He was exposed as a bully who demeaned those he believed to be weaker, but he was no fighter. When Mr. Trump attacked him, he melted.
Good riddance, Ron DeSantis. Your expensive failure of a campaign should serve as a warning to future donors and supporters. A candidate must have a purpose and a personality to succeed.
Elliott Miller
Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
To the Editor:
Bravo to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ended his presidential campaign with honor and dignity and giving full support to former President Donald Trump. Not only is Mr. DeSantis an outstanding governor, but he is also a mensch.
JoAnn Lee Frank
Clearwater, Fla.
To the Editor:
Stiff, awkward, charmless and humorless, Ron DeSantis was palpably unable to connect with Republican primary voters in the manner of the man he was attempting to vanquish, Donald Trump, who, despite his myriad legal entanglements, simply mesmerizes them at every turn.
To the extent that Mr. DeSantis was essentially pitching himself as Trump 2.0, his unappealing and uninspiring personality proved to be an insurmountable obstacle to generating any real traction for his campaign, particularly since a majority of voters rightly concluded that the genuine article, however tarnished, is always preferable to a cheap knockoff.
Mark Godes
Chelsea, Mass.
To the Editor:
Students of cults know that it is difficult to replace a cult leader. To do so one must be seen by the cultists as stronger and wiser than the leader. Neither Ron DeSantis nor Nikki Haley accomplished this. They present as Trump lite. MAGA cultists ignore them.
Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley had a choice after Donald Trump’s indictments. They could have raised questions regarding Mr. Trump’s character but did not. Mr. Trump, on the other hand, presented himself as a victim.
At this late stage Ms. Haley has begun to confront Mr. Trump more directly. Mr. Trump has helped her with his Freudian slip confusing her with Nancy Pelosi. Mr. Trump, in the slip, reveals that he sees her, as he did Ms. Pelosi, as strong. Mr. Trump would not bother to attack Ms. Haley if he perceived her as weak.
To present herself as an alternative to Mr. Trump, Ms. Haley must make it clear that Mr. Trump is not fit to be president. Then voters might hear her.
Sidney Weissman
Highland Park, Ill.
Diverse Life Experiences
To the Editor:
Re “New G.O.P. Mom Backs Proxy Voting Change She Once Fought” (Congressional Memo, Jan. 18):
Representative Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, staunchly opposed proxy voting, an arrangement that would help new mothers in Congress. While the article rightly points out that congressional practices are generally “arcane” and stem from a membership that skews older and male, Representative Luna was young and female when she opposed proxy votes.
What changed? Ms. Luna’s own new life experience of having a baby gave her a different perspective; she saw how new mothers would indeed benefit.
Apply this lesson to the fields of education, medicine, the law, the corporate world, sports and entertainment: The more life experiences a constituency can bring to the table (or court or classroom), the more informed and inclusive the rules and practices can be. Diversity initiatives strive for that larger data pool.
Susan J. Behrens
Brooklyn
The writer is a professor of linguistics at Marymount Manhattan College.
Saving Landmarked Places of Worship
To the Editor:
Re “Upper West Side Church Championed by Celebrities Won’t Be Razed for Now” (nytimes.com, Jan. 5):
The decision of West Park Presbyterian Church to withdraw for now its demolition application with the Landmarks Preservation Commission surely lets supporters of the 19th-century building breathe a sigh of relief, for now. However, it does nothing to solve the very real problem of the many religious congregations struggling to maintain or restore our landmarked edifices.
My church, St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist, two blocks away from West Park, dropped our bid to demolish our historic structure back in the 1980s. Since then our congregation has grown, and we have found wonderful partners to share our beautiful space. And we have fallen in love with the building again.
We judge that restoring the 1897 structure would cost more than $20 million, a sum far out of reach without a great deal of outside help. The loss of our building would not only diminish the architectural fabric of the Upper West Side, but also eliminate a facility that provides food for thousands of our neighbors each month, welcomes newly arrived asylum seekers, serves as a concert and theater venue for our city, and so forth.
The beautiful exteriors of synagogues, temples, mosques and churches like ours represent a valuable public good. Finding a way to receive public support to restore these exteriors (but not, of course, the religious work we do) would enable these treasures to survive into the next century and beyond.
(Rev.) K Karpen
New York
The writer is senior pastor of St. Paul & St. Andrew and co-chair of Manhattan Community Board 7’s Preservation Committee.