His biggest hurdle will be winning the Democrat nomination. If he could get that, which he probably won't, then he's got far more party cross-over appeal than anyone else in the contest.

Agree on all points. Kennedy would have a large cross-over appeal, or perhaps his appeal would redefine the simplistic dualistic model the media thrives on. Both the Reps and the Dems are losing appeal to large swaths of the population for reasons you stated.

I can't get into De Santis. He's standard issue Republican party - charisma-free. Yes, he bucked the trend on lockdowns, but being hard-line on abortion is silly. Check your polling for God-sake! Even most Republicans are not in favour. The same way the KMT had to tone down their re-unification platform if they ever wanted to be elected again, conservatives need to let go of several of their old hobby-horses if they wish to remain relevant.

Yeah, De Santis was looking like a more reasonable, level-headed Rep a few months ago but now he's just gone bat shit, ballistic crazy with his abortion stance and obsession with Disney. He's trying to appeal to the Christian Nationalist movement, which is extremely troubling. Fascism in the US comes in the form of Christian Nationalism by the right and, well, I don't even know what to call the left's approach which includes lockdowns, censorship, and centralized power.

Two bad choices!