Ron DeSantis is running as the true-blue conservative in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Ron DeSantis is running as the true-blue conservative in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
And he’s learning the hard way that Republicans don’t nominate true-blue conservatives.
As Donald Trump leads every poll by double digits, the Florida governor, who seemed such a promising prospect just a year ago, is now at risk of falling to third place.
If Nikki Haley bests DeSantis in Iowa next month, his 2024 campaign won’t be the only casualty — his hopes of ever becoming president will dim, and rivals won’t fear him as they look to ’28 or ’32.
How did DeSantis go from a 19-point re-election only a year ago to a fight for his political life today?
He’s been a successful governor during trying times, and he’s never shy about comparing his COVID record to President Trump’s.
At a moment when university presidents are under fire, even resigning, for their capitulation to campus radicalism, DeSantis has shown Republicans how to get tough with higher ed and compel schools like New College of Florida to change.
DeSantis takes a stronger line against abortion and transgenderism than Haley does, and he insists he’s a better fiscal conservative than Trump proved to be.
He’s at the forefront of immigration battles, too, and if his foreign policy doesn’t satisfy either hawks or doves, he seems attuned to the cautious disposition of Republican voters today.
His record and rhetoric make DeSantis an outstanding candidate for the Republican right.
But in 2016 Trump taught the Republican right a lesson it quickly forgot.
