Source: Washington Post
by George F Will
“In April 1985, some Coca-Cola executives who had too much time on their hands decided to fix the world’s most popular soft drink. The company changed the beverage’s famously secret formula. Customers, unamused, wondered why, vociferously. After just 79 days, the original was restored to its throne, rebranded as Coca-Cola Classic. New Coke lingered until euthanized in 2002. Speaking not for attribution, a Republican who might join the nomination scramble has compared DeSantis to New Coke, with Donald Trump as the original. In 1985, people who liked Coke as it was had no interest in a substitute, and people who did not like the original did not crave a tweaked imitation. DeSantis has been marketing himself as Trump with the jagged edges filed off. But Trumpkins love their hero because of his jaggedness. And people repelled by Trump are uninterested in a smoother version of him.” (05/25/23)