{"id":2155611,"date":"2024-01-22T08:46:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-22T13:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-there-was-nothing-desantis-could-have-done-to-beat-trump\/"},"modified":"2024-01-22T08:54:40","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T13:54:40","slug":"no-there-was-nothing-desantis-could-have-done-to-beat-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-there-was-nothing-desantis-could-have-done-to-beat-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis had no chance against Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fno-there-was-nothing-desantis-could-have-done-to-beat-trump%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2155611&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Now that Ron DeSantis is no longer a presidential candidate but merely a governor who endorsed Donald Trump, the media are about\u200d to misdiagnose his failed bid as a \u2064case of bad campaign strategy. Some of the \u2063concerns will be real, but\u2064 to focus on strategy is to\u200b miss the forest for the trees. Months of polling \u200ctrends tell an \u200cunmistakable story, and it\u2019s more about \u200dTrump than DeSantis.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"kGf3VCmD2TX0N8ZFSKahJOigYRdtvoQj9UAsBex5pn46MyLqI7c\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ratio ratio-16x9\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"BREAKING NEWS: DeSantis Drops Out Of Presidential Race And Endorses Trump\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Cdg6_gGvdEY?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>A\u2063 smart consultant who happened to work on one of the failed presidential primary campaigns floated an obvious-sounding theory past me last week. People, he said, don\u2019t vote for president like \u200dthey vote for governor. That is to \u200bsay, they vote for governors more pragmatically; they vote for presidents\u200c more inspirationally. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1019292872\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f1a4c9503d18f07844516a14e1790eb3 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f1a4c9503d18f07844516a14e1790eb3\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Charisma<\/h2>\n<p>For this reason \u200dand many more, it\u2019s likely Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis never stood\u2063 a chance against Donald Trump.\u200d Why \u200ddidn\u2019t DeSantis\u2019 recent electoral romp translate into the primary? I suspect there\u2019s something to the\u2064 aforementioned \u2063theory.\u2064 <\/p>\n<p>DeSantis is a policy guy. It\u2019s the center\u200c of his appeal in Florida. He\u2019s engineered an innovative legislative campaign against cultural radicalism and elite\u2062 authoritarianism. He\u2019s put money where his mouth is. But \u200dDeSantis lacks the charisma of his major opponent, and policy comes second \u2064in nomination battles, especially one in which the leading candidate is being battered with \u2062unprecedented lawfare.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lawfare<\/h2>\n<p>To the extent this lawfare constituted a policy question, \u200dof course, DeSantis could have been better by refusing to suggest the indictments reflect negatively on Trump\u2019s\u200b character or electability. (For the record, I happen to think some of it does but, like many voters, understand \u200cplenty of \u2063politicians with grave \u2064character defects are ignored or\u2064 rewarded\u200b for their misconduct.) The Republican primary electorate is obviously different than the general electorate. They know Trump is wild \u2014 some of them even hate that he is \u2014 but they\u2019re equally or even more incensed by the double standard.<\/p>\n<p>This is where the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/15\/why-trump-is-winning-by-double-digits-heading-into-iowa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">McIntosh Memo<\/a> \u2062 discussed \u200dhere last week comes into the picture. You can have\u200d the perfect combination of messaging and policy, but in advertisements that\u2064 hit Trump with some of DeSantis\u2019 critiques, viewers lose trust quickly. \u201cIt is essential \u2062to disarm the viewer at the opening of the ad by establishing that \u2063the person being interviewed on camera is a Republican who previously supported President Trump,\u201d \u2063the September memo read, \u201cotherwise, the viewer will automatically put their guard up, assuming the messenger is just another Trump-hater whose \u200bopinion should be summarily dismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3a8c2d64ca9e4820810b9210ebc3c36e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3a8c2d64ca9e4820810b9210ebc3c36e\"><\/div>\n<p>But on social media \u2014 think Instagram and TikTok \u2014 any sound\u200b bite can be clipped from its context. The criticism \u2063starts to take center stage. That can happen through\u2062 no fault of the candidate, although in this case I think the candidate and his campaign\u2064 bear some of the blame for not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-legislature-subpoenas-blackrock-for-documents-linked-to-esg-effort\/\" title=\"Texas Legislature Subpoenas Blackrock for Documents Linked to ESG Effort\">aggressively fighting back<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Media<\/h2>\n<p>After his second-place finish in Iowa, DeSantis told Hugh Hewitt he regretted his media strategy. \u201cI came\u200d in not\u200b really doing as much media,\u201d\u200d he said. \u201cI should have just been\u2062 blanketing.\u2063 I \u200bshould\u200c have gone on all the corporate shows. \u200dI should have gone \u2064on everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While it\u2019s doubtful this would\u200c have \u2062made the difference, this is a\u2062 compelling observation from DeSantis. As \u2064he contemplated running, DeSantis and his team made serious overtures to conservative media and high-profile national voices. This was\u200d the right thing to do for\u200c many reasons, strategically and morally. He\u200c did \u200bthis \u200bas governor as well. <\/p>\n<p>Indeed one strategy DeSantis\u2063 took seriously in\u200d Tallahassee\u200d involved working\u200b more closely with journalists\u200d outside\u2063 the corporate\u2063 press, giving them scoops and\u200b shunning reporters from outlets that routinely lied about\u2064 and\u200c misrepresented him. Personally, I\u2019ve \u2062long said this is\u200b an important position for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/yes-mitch-mcconnell-would-rather-lose-the-senate-than-his-leadership-status\/\" title=\"Yes, Mitch McConnell Would Rather Lose The Senate Than His Leadership Status\">anti-establishment candidates<\/a> to\u200b embrace. It changes the broken incentive\u2063 system. It starves \u200cliars of their\u2062 access. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-81951b2eea9a1171a4c1172ae92c5edf fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-81951b2eea9a1171a4c1172ae92c5edf\"><\/div>\n<p>In a national \u2063presidential race against the most media-savvy politician of all time, however, DeSantis is \u2062probably right that he needed to do more corporate press to be seen contrasted constantly with the \u200cpolitical\u2063 elite rather than\u200d with \u2064Trump.\u200b (My colleague Eddie Scarry made this <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/13\/time-for-ron-desantis-to-do-it-live\/\">argument<\/a> shortly before \u2062DeSantis shifted his approach. I disagreed at the time.) Trashing the media \u200cis always helpful with GOP voters, but parceling out access and taking those \u200bselect opportunities to\u2063 blast\u200c worthy journalists \u2063on camera is what \u200bactually gets people \u200dexcited.<\/p>\n<p>Again, though, plausible as\u200d these campaign problems are, they pale in importance to one variable that was entirely outside DeSantis\u2019 control. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fighting the Inevitable<\/h2>\n<p>As DeSantis \u2064entered the race last spring with a surge of momentum, Trump was about to get a mugshot. A month before Trump\u2019s first indictment, and three\u200c months before DeSantis launched his campaign, the \u2064two\u2064 were separated \u200dby about 13 points \u200din RealClearPolitics\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolling.com\/polls\/president\/republican-primary\/2024\/national\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">polling average<\/a>. The race really \u2064narrowed between DeSantis\u2019 impressive reelection in November and the Manhattan grand jury proceedings over Trump in late March. That number\u200d actually\u2062 started to rise just\u2062 as talk of the indictment rose.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Trump never \u200cslipped below\u200c 40 percent support. Since the spring, he\u2019s climbed to \u206266 percent in RCP\u2019s average. Even now,\u2064 DeSantis and\u200b Haley \u200bare in\u2062 a virtual tie nationally, with him at 10.5 percent and \u2063her at 11.5 percent. <\/p>\n<p>This is where a\u2062 lot of the postmortems on DeSantis\u2019 campaign are going \u2064to go wrong. They\u2019re going to focus on\u200d the infighting and mismanagement that seemed to\u2063 be endemic\u2063 to his campaign culture.\u200b They\u2019ll revel in the palace intrigue about his leadership style. \u2063None\u2063 of this is helpful to a campaign, there\u2019s \u200cno question \u200babout it. But there is an open\u2063 question \u2063as to whether\u200c even a perfectly executed strategy could \u200dhave come anywhere near toppling Trump in a year \u2062that was certain to feature a flurry of indictments. The evidence suggests it would have been nearly impossible. <\/p>\n<p>Could DeSantis \u2064have known this a\u2064 year ago? By the time he\u2063 launched, the post-Bragg gap was \u200dalready\u200c widening. \u2064He had success and money and support, and voters were open to an alternative. It\u2019s easy to second-guess his decision \u200cnow. Yet with\u2062 the benefit of hindsight,\u2063 it\u2019s also easy to see\u200b the\u2063 window was \u200cclosing for reasons that\u200c had nothing to \u2062do with DeSantis before he even entered the race. He said\u2062 as much in his\u2063 departure speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s\u200c clear to me that a \u200cmajority \u200dof Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,\u201d DeSantis argued Sunday. \u201cThey watched his presidency \u2062get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day \u200dto attack \u200dhim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From the perspective of a conservative, there\u2019s much to\u2062 admire about Ron DeSantis. \u2063There has been\u2064 since his days in the Freedom Caucus. The governor\u2019s decision \u200dto immediately endorse Trump in remarks that\u200d described Nikki Haley as \u201ca repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism\u201d showed his political instincts\u200d are still sharp and\u200c will earn him back some\u200c goodwill with Republican voters. It\u2019s so easy to be bitter and resent the people who \u200crejected your\u200d campaign. But Trump is Trump.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll never know\u200c whether DeSantis would have won the nomination if the GOP field didn\u2019t include the former president. To the extent his failure reflects on\u2063 the political future of post-Trump Republican politics, it\u2019s a\u2063 lesson that Trump himself remains the\u2063 most important part of that equation for GOP voters\u2064 because he\u2019s the primary target of their\u200c enemies.<\/p>\n<p>Ron DeSantis first catapulted \u200bto\u2063 success because he\u200b understood that. It can take him to new heights again. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e74d14517f2733eeeba9d6630603d651 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e74d14517f2733eeeba9d6630603d651\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> rnrn  <\/p>\n<h2> How did the media&#8217;s\u200b role in DeSantis&#8217; campaign impact his visibility and\u200d ability to differentiate himself from the political \u2064elite and Trump<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Ld have been an uphill battle for DeSantis from the start.<\/p>\n<p>One \u200cof the key factors that worked against DeSantis was his lack of charisma compared to Donald Trump. \u2062While DeSantis\u200b is\u2064 known for his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-chip-roy-calls-out-the-maga-wing-over-circular-firing-squad-in-profanity-laced-rant\/\" title=\"Video: Chip Roy Criticizes MAGA Faction for Self-Destructive Behavior in Explicit Tirade\">policy-oriented approach<\/a> and successful tenure\u200d as governor of\u2062 Florida, he struggled\u200b to inspire voters \u2062in the same way that \u2064Trump did. In a presidential election, voters tend to vote more inspirationally,\u200c whereas in\u200c governor elections, \u2062they vote more pragmatically. This meant that DeSantis \u200bwas at a disadvantage from the\u2062 beginning.<\/p>\n<p>Another challenge DeSantis faced was \u2063the issue of lawfare. As Trump faced numerous legal challenges and indictments, DeSantis had to navigate \u200dhow to address these issues without alienating Trump&#8217;s loyal\u200d base. While some voters may have been concerned about Trump&#8217;s character or electability, many were incensed by \u2064what they saw as a double standard in \u200bthe treatment \u2064of Trump\u200d compared to other \u200bpoliticians with\u200c character flaws. This made it difficult for DeSantis \u200dto effectively criticize \u200dTrump without risking backlash from his supporters.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the media played\u200d a significant role\u2063 in DeSantis&#8217; campaign. After his second-place finish in Iowa, DeSantis admitted that he should have done more media outreach and appeared on corporate shows to increase his visibility. While DeSantis had made\u200d efforts to work closely \u200cwith conservative media and high-profile national voices, it may have been necessary for him to engage more with the corporate press to contrast himself with the political elite rather than \u200cwith Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these campaign challenges, the biggest factor that\u200b worked against DeSantis was\u2062 the inevitability of Trump&#8217;s presence \u200cin the race. As DeSantis entered the race, Trump was about to \u2064face indictments,\u200d which\u200b significantly \u200bimpacted the dynamics of the race. Trump&#8217;s support remained high throughout the \u200ccampaign, and he consistently polled above 40 percent. Even\u2064 now, DeSantis and other candidates such as Nikki Haley\u200c are in a virtual tie nationally, with Trump still holding a significant lead. This suggests \u200cthat even a perfectly executed campaign strategy \u2062may not have been enough to topple Trump in a year dominated \u2064by\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/constitutional-crisis-or-political-war\/\" title=\"Constitutional Crisis or Political War\">legal proceedings<\/a> against him.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, while there may\u200d be\u200d legitimate concerns about DeSantis&#8217; campaign strategy, it is important to recognize that the outcome \u200dof his bid for presidency was\u2063 largely influenced by factors beyond his control. The charismatic appeal of Trump, the challenges posed by lawfare, and \u200bthe dominance of Trump in the\u2063 media all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgetown-donates-1-million-to-racial-reparations-org\/\" title=\"Georgetown Donates  Million To Racial Reparations Org\">played significant roles<\/a> in shaping the outcome of the race. Ultimately, it was the impact\u2063 of these factors, \u200brather than a failure\u200b in campaign strategy,\u200c that led to DeSantis&#8217; unsuccessful bid for \u2064the presidency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After Ron DeSantis withdrew as a presidential candidate and endorsed Donald Trump, the media may wrongly attribute his failure to campaign strategy. While some concerns are valid, fixating on strategy overlooks the bigger picture. Several months have passed, and it&#8217;s time to reassess the situation with a broader perspective<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":554,"featured_media":2155612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2155611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/554"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2155611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2155612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2155611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2155611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2155611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}