He was the hope of anti-Trump Republicans. Not long ago, we saw him as the only candidate capable of beating the ex-president. But Ron DeSantis, who has just announced, via Twitter, his candidacy is more like a “paper tiger”, according to the daily. Politico. Nearly 55% of Republicans support Donald Trump, according to an average of polls conducted by RealClearPolitics. Or a lead of some 34 points over the governor of Florida.
Yet Ron DeSantis could boast so far of having been re-elected with flying colors in November and of having led a model conservative policy in Florida: He rejected the obligation to vaccinate and the wearing of masks in the midst of a pandemic, relaxed the restrictions on carrying weapons, facilitated death sentences, signed several anti-LGBT laws, imposed all sorts of rules on teachers against what he said was “wokism” and “indoctrination” and encouraged blacklisting of “inappropriate” books in schools.
But in recent months, his image has been seriously tarnished. He called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a mere “territorial dispute”. He passed one of the strictest abortion laws in the country, which prohibits the procedure after six weeks. And launched a crusade against Disney, one of the largest employers in the state, because of “wokism”. His crime? He had criticized a measure that bans the teaching of sex and gender education in primary schools. In retaliation, the governor has sought to limit the enormous benefits enjoyed by the group.
“A risky strategy”
CEO Bob Iger obviously didn’t like it and canceled, just before DeSantis’ candidacy was announced, a billion-dollar investment project in Orlando that was supposed to bring back some 2,000 jobs. “Ron DeSantis chose these positions to distinguish himself from Donald Trump and attract conservatives. But it’s a risky strategy,” said Gary Jacobson, professor of political science at the University of California San Diego. According to him, he is counting on the fact that the campaign of the former president will fall apart, victim of his multiple legal problems, which is far from won. Then this right-wing risks alienating him from the centrist voters he will need, if he wins the nomination.
The image of Ron DeSantis has also suffered from the unflattering portrait painted by several Republican elected officials in Florida. They portrayed him as a cold, arrogant, unpleasant character. Even more humiliating, many of them have publicly rallied around Donald Trump. But it is undoubtedly the incessant attacks of the former president that have done the most damage. “Ron DeSanctimonious got caught in a mousetrap,” he claimed on the Disney affair. He also mocked the “disaster” of the launch of his campaign via Twitter, delayed by many technical problems. So far, the governor has refused to retaliate to avoid alienating Trumpist voters.
He prefers to present himself as a Trump bis without pans or chaos, who will be able to chain two terms in the White House, unlike his rival. In a phone call to donors, Ron DeSantis said that given his legislative successes and the ex-president’s unpopularity in key states, he was the only one capable of winning the primaries and s impose against Joe Biden.
A “Trump without the charm”
Not all Republicans are convinced, judging by the reviews. “When you lose a battle against Mickey Mouse, it’s kind of hard to take yourself seriously,” said Michael Steele, a former party pundit. It’s “Trump without the charm”, summed up an adviser to candidate Nikki Haley, ex-ambassador to the UN. And more and more of them are considering overshadowing it. Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina, has just announced his candidacy for the primaries. Mike Pence, the former vice-president of Trump and Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, are preparing for it, it is said. The governors of three states are thinking about it…
“It’s still far too early to bury Ron DeSantis, who could turn out to be a formidable opponent,” warns Gary Jacobson. He enjoys notoriety, a large war chest, gathers enthusiastic crowds and “his battle against Disney in particular will strengthen his rating with the Republican electorate because he is the only governor to have stood up to a big company on a cultural issue,” said John Gizzi, columnist at Newsmax, a conservative media group. “As for more moderate voters, they will vote for him if they see him as the only alternative to Trump.” Whether the Republicans are really looking for an alternative remains to be seen.