Ron DeSantis is throwing himself into the primary race with the odds stacked against him.
Even so, the governor is convinced that only he can defeat President Biden.
One of his biggest challenges: winning the trust of Trump-loyal voters.
When Florida’s 44-year-old governor took part in a call with donors last week, he reportedly confidently lined up a slate of candidates for the 2024 presidential election. A New York Times reporter who overheard the call reported that DeSantis had declared that there were only three likely presidential candidates “in this whole thing.”
He also said he believed that only two of them could go all the way and be elected the next president of the United States.
Himself – and President Biden.
The only one who can challenge?
Ron DeSanti’s long-awaited campaign finally went public after he filed documents with the U.S. Election Commission on Wednesday.
During a long period of speculation, he has been presented as the only one with the conditions to challenge Donald Trump, although lately some doubts have seeped out from Republican circles.
However, the start of the campaign does not happen when his prospects look particularly good. Trump has recently widened his lead according to Real Clear Politics’ compilation of opinion polls. Even the betting companies’ odds have said that it is Trump – not DeSantis – who has the best chances in 2024.
In the United States, several analysts therefore believe that DeSantis may have missed his chance to take a place in the top battle, if he did not manage to handle several challenges.
One of the biggest is believed to be to be able to respond with full force to the former president’s increasingly aggressive attacks, without burning his chances with Trump-loyal voters.
Have time
With just over eight months left in the primary election season, DeSantis still has plenty of time to dial in. He should therefore not be counted out according to some assessors, who point to several factors.
Money is extremely important in American election campaigns and the governor already has significantly more in the campaign coffers than Trump. That sum is expected to grow further after his launch.
He is also already a household name in the United States, despite previously not having a prominent role in national politics.
DeSantis is also not involved in the type of legal proceedings that his main opponent is. Donald Trump is due to stand trial in New York next spring – in the middle of primary election season.
When Joe Biden announced at the end of April that he is running for re-election, there was a lot of talk that 2024 would be a repeat of 2020, Biden against Trump. Something most American voters – neither Democrats nor Republicans – wanted to see.
Ron DeSanti’s announcement means a new conceivable scenario.
But he is far from the favorite to become Biden’s challenger – and the road there does not look easy.