https://thespectator.com/politics/desantis-giant-orange-roadblock-trump-2024-musk/
To win the Republican nomination, you have to knock out Donald Trump. That’s no easy task — polls currently show him leading by over thirty points among Republican voters. But the task is even harder because anyone who defeats Trump must win over his supporters to win the general election. That is Ron DeSantis’s double challenge: beating Trump without alienating his voters.
Trump will make both tasks as hard as possible. He is not just the least graceful loser in modern American history, he has retired the trophy. (Elon Musk retired the trophy for worst media rollout of a live presidential event. Unfortunately for DeSantis, it was his grand announcement.)
Why do Trump’s primary opponents fear his wrath? Because his vitriol sways his followers, and he still has a lot of them. Republicans running for president know that Trump stands between them and the nomination. They know, too, that Trump’s political career has been focused on his opponents’ defects, not his own accomplishments. He will do everything he can to smear his opponents, whatever their party.
This rhetoric rallies the base but holds little appeal for independents, who are crucial to winning the general election. But to get to the general election, you have to get past the giant orange roadblock. The first step is to become the leading alternative to Trump. Right now, that’s Florida’s successful governor, Ron DeSantis, so it’s worth looking closely at his strengths and weaknesses.
DeSantis’s strengths are formidable, beginning with his electoral victories and effectiveness in office. His political success is straightforward. He turned a purple state into a solid red one, winning a massive reelection victory and carrying a supermajority into the state house.
His policies are a mixture of traditional conservative and Trumpian populist measures. That program overlaps with the former president’s but differs in two crucial ways. First, DeSantis managed to pass his priorities into law, thanks to his success with down-ballot candidates. Primary voters will note that he didn’t compromise to win those victories, either. Second, DeSantis took hold of state agencies and got them to implement his policies, not obstruct or delay them. He governed.
Beyond those overarching achievements, DeSantis has a long list of specific accomplishments to run on.
Economic growth tops the list. Under DeSantis, Florida has become is the national poster child for economic growth, business formation, and in-migration from high-tax, high-regulation states like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Illinois, all governed by Democrats. While Florida ranks top for inward migration, Gavin Newsom’s California wins the U-Haul Prize for outward migration.
Also high on the list is his pandemic success. DeSantis kept Florida schools and businesses open during most the pandemic. Other states shut down, under strong pressure from the federal bureaucracy and iron-fisted “guidance” from the CDC. Florida resisted and proved right. As the governor will remind voters, the bureaucracies that shut them down their lives were part of the Executive Branch, and that branch was led by Donald Trump during the darkest days of Covid.
DeSantis won’t have any trouble getting his message out. He can raise a ton of campaign money, thanks to his success in Florida and his lead position as Trump’s opponent. He won’t have any trouble convincing Republican primary voters he is tough as nails and ready to go up against powerful, entrenched interests. His slogan, “Never back down,” says it, and his fight against Disney backs it up.
DeSantis can also credibly claim he represents a new generation of Republican leaders. That’s not because he looks decades younger than Trump and a millennium younger than Biden. It’s also DeSantis’s agenda. His program is all about the country’s next steps forward, an attribute he shares with every Republican candidate except one.
