Welcome back to The Best & The Brightest, Puck’s private email on what the political class is really whispering about. In this evening’s edition, my conversation with Florida’s most dialed-in political-media operator, Peter Schorsch, about DeSantis’s recent shadow-primary stumbles, the governor’s secret inner circle, and the Jeff Roe of it all. But first…

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Herewith, he spills the tea on how state political insiders are digesting the governor’s recent shadow-primary stumbles, the entry of Jeff Roe into DeSantis world, and other hot Florida political gossip. This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity...

Peter Schorsch: Not well. It’s his second or third walk-back in 10 days. He used to be Mr. Rule of Law, now the rule of law is not what matters? Of course, it’s extraordinarily difficult to run against a person and then be supportive of them at the same time. I think that’s why you still see people like...