![]() There’s no rush,” Mike DuHaime, who ran campaigns for Rudy Giuliani and later former New Jersey Gov. But veteran GOP strategists say that DeSantis, whose book currently tops the New York Times’ nonfiction bestseller list, is right to hold off. Trump broke precedent by getting in right after last year’s midterms, which in theory gave him more time to outflank DeSantis. (Octavio Jones/Getty Images)īut there’s also the question of when DeSantis should formally enter the contest. ![]() Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey, celebrate his victory at the Tampa Convention Center on Nov. A DeSantis campaign spokeswoman declined to comment on the possible DeSantis super-PAC. Those familiar with the situation say Cox will team up with another top campaign consultant, Liesl Hickey, to run his super-PAC when he announces - confirming the news first reported by Puck News last month. Phil Cox, a former head of the Republican Governors Association, runs his political operation. His wife, Casey DeSantis, is his top adviser. Trump, by contrast, announced his Iowa leadership team last month, led by the son of Terry Branstad, a former governor who served as Trump’s ambassador to China.ĭeSantis has a small inner circle, so it’s perhaps not surprising he hasn’t yet assembled his forces in the early states. Although he recently won reelection in Florida by nearly 20 points, he’s still seen by some as too stilted and closed-off to fend off Trump in states like Iowa and New Hampshire, where retail skills are particularly prized.ĭeSantis’s presence in those early-voting states has been minimal. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)īehind the scenes, meanwhile, veterans of previous presidential campaigns have been wondering whether DeSantis has the charm and likability needed to win national office. Ron DeSantis greets people at an event for his new book, “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival” on March 8 in Pinellas Park, Fla. But whether DeSantis has a better shot at the White House is debatable - Trump has already won it once before, and polls indicate that either man would have a shot at beating President Biden next year.įlorida Gov. The Florida governor’s supporters insist that DeSantis is a more electable alternative to Trump, one of the most wildly divisive figures in modern American history. Trump, who announced his run for the White House last year, has been carefully directing a state-by-state strategy, lining up party officials loyal to him to craft primary rules favorable to his candidacy.Īnd DeSantis, despite routinely beating back questions about when he will announce a bid for the White House, has been making all the moves associated with a tightly crafted White House bid - from corralling major donors to writing a book and using the tour to make campaign-style stops in critical early voting states. Yet both men have been busily gearing up for the campaign ahead, hiring veteran staffers and wooing power brokers in early nominating states. Trump still relies on his inimitable insult-comic schtick, an angry voice promising his supporters, as he recently did at the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this month: “And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.” DeSantis, a relative newcomer to the national stage, is more disciplined and traditional, a conservative hoping to win over Republicans who loved Trump and those who merely tolerated him. (Janos Kummer/Getty Images)īut their tone and style remain distinct. Tucker Carlson speaks at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Feszt on Aug. Anthony Fauci, touted his fight with “woke” corporations like Disney and bragged about having shipped undocumented migrants on flights from Texas to Massachusetts. In a speech in Iowa on Friday, DeSantis played the highlights from his four years in the governor’s office. DeSantis, meanwhile, wants Republican voters to see him as a mix of what they like about Trump, without Trump’s baggage: a younger, fresher rabble-rouser who can champion causes that the right cares about without alienating the rest of the country. Ron DeSantis, are looking to define themselves and each other as next year's primary battle takes shape.ĭespite his status as a former president and the GOP’s most powerful figure, Trump has cast himself as a populist outsider and avatar of the party’s angry grassroots. The two frontrunners for the Republican nomination, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. (Photo Illustration: Jack Forbes/Yahoo News Photos: Alex Wong/Getty Images, Cheney Orr/AFP via Getty Images) Former President Donald Trump, left, and Florida Gov.
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