The DeSantis-Trump battle is just beginning

Plus: Mortgage lies. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a landmine of unsolicited advice from Bloomberg Opinion. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Who’s worse, [Trump or DeSantis](? - Homebuyers are being [sold a lie](. - Net zero is hitting [a roadblock](. - The coal surge [set us back](. A Pointless Debate Here’s a fun little pop quiz, courtesy of Bloomberg News’s Ryan Teague Beckwith: Any guesses? I’ll give you 3, 2, 1 … Section 192.032(h) of Texas’s election law says “a candidate in a presidential primary election is ineligible to be an independent candidate for president or vice-president of the United States in the succeeding general election.” Which means [Donald Trump’s backup plan to run as an independent]( if he doesn’t win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination isn’t ideal. [“Sore loser” laws]( exist in a bunch of states — not just Texas. Alabama, Arkansas, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania also have rules in place to prevent losing primary candidates from mounting third-party campaigns. But maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The first GOP primary is still nearly a year away. Election Day itself is 20 months away. That’s 610 days! It’s a bit premature to brush up on sore-loser laws. It may also be too early for the Democrats’ recent favorite parlor game, “[who’s worse](?”, [pitting Trump]( against Florida Governor [Ron DeSantis](. Matt Yglesias suggests [liberals need a lot more time and information]( to make this call. Trump himself didn’t do many of his Signature [Bad]( [Things]( this early in his 2016 campaign, Matt notes. (DeSantis [may have a head start]( in that regard.) Of course, Democrats are notorious planners. Sometimes it even works out for them. In midterm elections, the party takes [a no-nonsense approach to selecting preferred candidates](, Jonathan Bernstein writes, persuading iffy contenders to drop out early so the party can rally around a single nominee before the primary election. This smart approach helps explain why Dems got a lot done in the latest Congress despite shaky majorities. But when it comes to the GOP primary, Dems would be better off sitting on the sidelines watching the chaos, of which Trump’s third-party campaign warning is just the first sign. Sometimes the best strategy is to stay out of the way. Bonus Trump Reading: How Fox News got ensnared in [a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit](. — Francis Wilkinson Refi Lie If you’re looking to be a first-time homebuyer in the year 2023, chances are you’re also navigating a landmine of unsolicited advice, from your friend Jenny; your real estate agent; a 19-year-old TikToker with the handle @INeedClosure; your mother and even your deli guy, who is weirdly obsessed with [Selling Sunset](. It’s not easy to know who to trust. But whatever you do, Alexis Leondis warns you [not to follow the advice to “m]([arry the house, date the rate.”]( A host of realtors and mortgage lenders are happy to sell you a myth: Buy the house you love (a bay window! heated bathroom floors! a wine refrigerator!) and refinance later when mortgage rates come down. But rates aren’t coming down for the foreseeable future, and the refinancing equation is a bit trickier than the real-estate industry cares to admit, Alexis writes. Refi costs can pile up quickly, and in some cases it could take years to recoup them. Refinancing used to be a great way for borrowers to save cash. Those days are long gone. If you marry the house, prepare to be stuck with the rate. Telltale Power Charts Here’s a new acronym for you: LCRs, or local content requirements, which David Fickling writes are “throwing sand in the gears of the supply chains needed to build energy systems fit for the 21st century.” Around the world, LCRs are proliferating under the guise of strengthening local manufacturing, but what they’re really doing is making it harder and costlier to produce zero-carbon technology. Essentially, countries are getting away with [banning renewable resources without actually outlawing them](: Adding to the misery is [global CO2 emissions, which hit a new peak]( in 2022, according to Lara Williams. [Russia’s war in Ukraine]( forced nations like India and Indonesia to burn through massive amounts of coal, which spit a record 15.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air. In the US, household energy consumption doesn’t just mean the flame underneath your boiling [pasta water]( — it also includes the car in your driveway. Liam Denning writes the [push to electrify homes goes beyond the stovetop wars,]( encompassing everything from electric stoves to EV plugs. At first, these changes will be pricey for homeowners, but they lead to lots of savings in the long run. Further Reading The Biden and Trump administrations [agree on something](. — Bloomberg’s editorial board A four-day work week could make people [less happy](. — Allison Schrager Senior men in tech get called boy geniuses. Way too often, [senior women are reduced to “office mom](.” — Beth Kowitt Pssst! [Stocks aren't the inflation hedge]( you want them to be. — Merryn Somerset Webb Bad liabilities, not assets, could cause [Silvergate’s downfall](. — Paul J. Davies China’s 2023 GDP growth target is the lowest in history. That could mean [more private-sector crackdowns]( are coming. — Shuli Ren ICYMI Bloomberg Opinion’s [video roundup]( by Ale Lampietti. Gavin Newsom is done with [Walgreens](. DOJ is going after the [JetBlue-Spirit deal](. [WeightWatchers]( is getting into telehealth. Kickers Would you date [a podcast bro](? Area man stabs a [flight attendant](. [Fake assistants]( make everything easier. [Sick bug facts]( for normies. Notes:  Please send caterpillar ooze and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. 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