For GovRonDeSantis, a key question becomes when to start making the case against Donald Trump’s erratic behavior, obsession with the past rather than the present and future, poor personnel choices, and November electability more overtly.
Former President Donald Trump remains the larger-than-life man to beat, defining the race. Either he will once again suck up all the oxygen in the room and steamroll the opposition or Republican primary voters will tire of his routine.Trump was a bull in a china shop during the CNN town hall event. He was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation. He has been indicted and could face further charges.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is the only Republican to poll in the double digits against Trump consistently, and he is not even a declared candidate. The message DeSantis’s supporters are sending is that the Florida governor can give Republicans what they like about Trump while avoiding the distractions, feuds, and baggage.
Trump’s numbers in the national polls currently look like those of other front-runners, like Bob Dole and George W. Bush at similar stages of their respective primary campaigns. The state-by-state picture is murkier, and in both of those past campaigns, challengers emerged to make a race of it. But these front-runners ultimately wrapped up the GOP nomination without much suspense past the early states.
Then the next problem for DeSantis is making these arguments in a way that succeeds where nearly 20 other Republican candidates and countless Never Trumpers have failed. Can DeSantis take shots at Trump while still hunting where the ducks are, without ending up in Liz Cheney territory?
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