Why The DeSantis Campaign is Not a Lost Cause, Yet
Photo Via Reuters
PATRICK EMERSON: In a GOP primary field dominated by former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faces a challenging path to secure the GOP nomination. Yet, DeSantis remains resolute, emphasizing that a significant portion of the electorate remains undecided and strategically positioning himself to sway these “on the fence” voters.
Recent polling data reveals that Governor Ron DeSantis currently trails former President Donald Trump by over 40 points in the 2024 Republican primary, with other presidential hopefuls such as former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and business mogul Vivek Ramaswamy taking ground in recent months. Indeed, DeSantis’ polling data has only declined since his official campaign launch this past summer. However, if voters want to see a Republican in office, DeSantis might be their only realistic hope.
DeSantis’s campaign has faced challenges from the beginning. When he launched his campaign this summer on a Twitter livestream featuring Elon Musk and prominent Republican donor David Sacks, users experienced crashes, outages, and garbled audio. Looking at the bright side of the technical issues, DeSantis noted that "we got so many people here that we are kind of melting the servers, which is a good sign." Despite the hiccups, the unprecedented number of people who tuned in signifies a yearning from Republican voters to move past the controversial four years of Donald Trump’s presidency.
While DeSantis’ campaign certainly has faced and continues to face setbacks, if Republican voters want any chance at securing the presidency in 2024, voters must look outward past the primary. While Trump leads DeSantis by unprecedented numbers in primary polling, in a general election matchup between Trump and Biden, Biden leads Trump by over 35 points in some polls, despite questions over Biden’s ability to serve another four years in office.
When looking at the electability of the two candidates, DeSantis has a clear advantage. Trump’s past is tainted with unfavorable tweets, controversies, and polarizing rhetoric that could pose challenges in a general election. Despite Governor DeSantis sporting even further right views in some areas than Trump, he has still cultivated a reputation as a more measured and pragmatic leader during his tenure as Florida Governor.
Indeed, Florida, historically considered to be a swing state, has seen a shift under former Governor Rick Scott, but especially under Governor DeSantis. DeSantis barely won the election in 2018. Yet, in 2022, DeSantis was reelected by a wide margin, leading by almost 20 points against Democrat Charlie Christ. This shift underscores DeSantis’s ability to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters, making him a more formidable candidate than Trump’s more polarizing figure.
Republican primary voters stand at a critical juncture, with DeSantis offering them a potential path forward. His reputation positions him more favorably in a head-to-head battle with a Democratic candidate than Trump, offering a more palatable choice for independent and swing voters. DeSantis's strategic positioning to capture undecided voters could be the key to his success. His resilience, coupled with his ability to resonate with a diverse range of voters, has the potential to reshape the Republican Party's future and reposition it as a formidable force in American politics, as opposed to the more polarizing previous four years with the “MAGA” appeal at the head of the Republican platform. While the 2024 race remains uncertain, one thing is clear: DeSantis's approach may just be what the GOP needs to define its identity and regain its footing on the national stage.
Patrick Emerson is a columnist for On the Record. He is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, studying government.