Washington Merry-Go-Round

IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 30, 2023
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
Today’s Events in Historical Perspective
America’s Longest-Running Column Founded 1932
Who will replace DeSantis?
By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift         
 
          WASHINGTON — Republican voters are searching for someone to latch onto, someone to cheer for other than Trump. But in the words from “Camelot,” “Where in the world is there in the world a man [or woman] so extraordinaire/” Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis? We think not. Who then?
          This has happened before. A rising star fizzles out. There was Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman, on the Democratic side, and Rick Perry, the former Texas governor on the Republican side. O’Rourke raised more money than votes, and Perry stalled when he couldn’t remember the third Cabinet department he wanted to eliminate.
          Joining this pantheon in the field of broken dreams is DeSantis, once seen as the strongest rival to Donald Trump. Since formally entering the presidential race a month ago with a groundbreaking announcement joined by Elon Musk on the Twitter platform Musk owns, DeSantis has steadily lost ground.
          Running for president is a broken field of dreams, and DeSantis is getting an early lesson in what it takes, and how it might end. Trump is beating him by more than 30 points, and they haven’t even crossed paths on the campaign trail. DeSantis’ decline in the polls is mostly due to self-inflicted wounds.
          Why in the world where in the world he would take on Disney, the iconic company that underwrites Florida tourism, makes no sense from a political or economic perspective.  You don’t pick a fight with Mickey Mouse.
          Educated at Harvard and Yale, DeSantis is tone deaf to regular people. He struggles to make small talk, a skill set vital for a politician.
          In New Hampshire, he crossed swords with Republican women upset because he had scheduled a campaign event at the same time as their annual fundraiser. Instead of saying oops and re-scheduling, he doubled down, telling the women their event was sold out anyway, and it was in a different part of the state, so they should go fly a kite. He didn’t quite say that, but close.
          The man has no personality, no charisma. Emotion are important, and on all these fronts, he can’t hold a candle to Trump.
          The New Republic reported he said “woke” seven times in 26 seconds in a campaign rant about the “woke mind virus.” The Washington Post reported that he said Florida multiple times at an event in Iowa, citing his accomplishments and bragging about his state to excess. Iowans were nonplussed.
          In New Hampshire, when asked about the 1/6 insurrection, DeSantis said he “didn’t enjoy” seeing what happened that day, but “wasn’t anywhere near Washington and had nothing to do with what happened that day.” He went on, “We cannot be looking backwards and be mired in the past.”
          Rival candidate former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called those remarks “ridiculous,” a dodge that doesn’t pass the laugh test. “Did he have a TV? Was he alive that day? Did he see what was going on?”
          If DeSantis had lived up to expectations, he would be rising in the polls. But Trump is rising if only because DeSantis is faltering. Now the field needs a new rising star, not a new DeSantis, but a new alternative to Trump. Hence, the field of Republican presidential hopefuls continues to widen – not to replace Trump but to pick up the challenger’s gauntlet DeSantis has dropped.
 
          Eleanor Clift’s latest book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers).
          Twitter:  @douglas_cohn
          © 2023 U.S. News Syndicate, Inc.
          Distributed by U.S. News Syndicate, Inc.
END WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND