The governor, on whom conservatives had pinned their hopes after the Republican Party’s dispointment in last year’s midterm elections, is now more than 30 points behind the former president in the polls.
For the more traditional American right, Republican Ron DeSantis embodies the alternative to former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential primaries. But Your campaign does not quite meet expectations put on it months ago.
What has failed the governor of Florida?
For his long-awaited entry into the campaign for the Republican primaries at the end of May, DeSantis, 44, promised a live stream on Twitter moderated by Elon Musk.
It was a way of embodying a breath of fresh air against his main rival for the Republican nomination, former President Trump, 77.
But turned into a fiasco due to a series of technical problems.
does not take off
“Your microphone is not open”, “what a pity, it doesn’t usually hpen”, were some of the words that hundreds of thousands of users heard, instead of the program that the governor of Florida wanted to present.
After being triumphantly elected as Governor of Florida in November 2022, DeSantis hoped to earn the trust of the entire United States with her positions on immigration, abortion and gender issues.
But on the ground he is reproached for lack of charisma and has been the target of ridiculeparticularly for his laugh.
“DeSantis has stumbled out. Does not connect with voters. He blames this on the media, but it’s really his fault,” said Todd Belt, a professor of political science at George Washington University.
“He’s not giving voters much to vote for” and it’s hard for people to see what makes him different from Trump, beyond his more extreme ideas, he told AFP. “He has tried to make some political statements, like on immigration, but most have come to nothing”.
The consequence is in sight.
The governor, on whom conservatives had pinned their hopes after the Republican Party’s dispointment in last year’s midterm elections, is now more than 30 points behind the former president in the polls, according to RealClearPolitics.
“The more people know about him, the more his polls go down,” Trump recently joked on his Truth Social network.
Other names
The investigations against him have not prevented the former president from launching himself fully into his third run towards the White House and presenting himself as a victim of a “witch hunt” led by the Democrats, a theory supported by many of his supporters.
Despite his accusations in a court in New York and one in Miami, the former New York businessman boasts of having raised millions of dollars thanks to the media attention that these legal proceedings monopolize.
DeSantis’ fall in the polls benefits the dozen trailing Republican candidates, such as former Vice President Mike Pence, although his chances of landing the nomination pear limited.
But all this does not mean that DeSantis is politically buried, his allies warn.
The battle for the Republican nomination has only just begun, and the ex-Navy officer will have many opportunities to counterattack before the first primaries, scheduled for mid-January.
To begin with, there is the first debate between the Republican candidates, scheduled for August 23. An opportunity for DeSantis, who has never attacked Trump head-on, to finally enter the arena.
AFP Agency
bp
Source: Clarin
