Bahama Times

Friday, Mar 29, 2024

These could be some of the reasons DeSantis hasn't announced a presidential run (yet)

These could be some of the reasons DeSantis hasn't announced a presidential run (yet)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won't discuss a possible run for the GOP presidential nomination, but his fundraising and upcoming book release likely represent a stealth campaign.

In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis won reelection by a wide margin, reinforcing his position as a strong contender for the party's presidential nomination in 2024.

But DeSantis isn't showing signs that he is ready to officially announce his candidacy. He says he's focused on being governor and dismisses questions about presidential ambitions.

But for anyone who looks, there are some obvious signs that he's preparing to run. He has an autobiography titled The Courage to Be Free due to be released early next year. The publisher's press release says it is the story of a governor who, "has fought—and won—battle after battle, defeating not just opposition from the political left, but a barrage of hostile media coverage proclaiming the end of the world."

DeSantis raised more than $200 million for his reelection for governor, including $10 million in a single donation from a Las Vegas real estate developer, much more than he needed. He currently has at least $90 million in the bank and is still fundraising. His immense campaign fund helped him beat his Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, by nearly 20 points.

At a recent news conference, DeSantis said, "We really showed, I think, how it's done in the state of Florida," and went on to say he received the highest percentage of the vote for a GOP governor in the history of Florida. Actually, Florida's first Republican governor, Harrison Reed, was elected by a wider margin during the Reconstruction era. But DeSantis' overwhelming victory sent a strong signal that Florida, once considered the nation's largest swing state, is now firmly in the Republican column.

Republican media consultant Giancarlo Sopo says DeSantis' commanding victory strengthens his appeal. "He knows how to really excite Republican voters while also drawing independents and moderate Democrats into the party," Sopo says. Others point to a lackluster turnout by Democrats as a major factor in DeSantis' big margin of victory.

Here are some of the possible reasons why DeSantis hasn't announced a run for president, yet:


Reason 1

If DeSantis decides to run for president while remaining governor, it will likely require a change to Florida law. Florida currently says state officeholders must resign their positions if they run for a federal office. But Republican lawmakers, including state Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, say don't worry about the law — the legislature will repeal it. "When you think about it," Passidomo recently told reporters, "if an individual who ... is a Florida governor is running for president, he should be allowed to do it."

As a possible Republican presidential candidate, DeSantis has a strong conservative track record. He tapped into public frustrations with COVID-19 and led the fight against vaccine and mask mandates. He's promoted "parental rights" and signed into law restrictions on how race, sexual orientation and gender identity are discussed in the schools. He also approved a law banning abortions after 15 weeks.

Those policies have made him a regular on Fox News, boosting his name recognition among Republican voters nationally. Some recent polls show him more popular with Republicans than Donald Trump. Trump, who's already announced he's running, has noticed. He's said it would be a "mistake" for DeSantis to enter the race. He's already tried out an attack line, labeling him Ron "DeSanctimonious."

DeSantis has largely avoided commenting on the attacks, dismissing them at one news conference as "just noise." He rarely mentions the former president now, a far cry from his last election when he ran a campaign ad in which he read Trump's Art of the Deal to his infant son.

"He wants to be kind of the Trump policy without all of the unhinged commentary and Twitter warfare and personal attacks," says University of North Florida political scientist Michael Binder. DeSantis is very much interested in Trump's supporters, Binder says, "and I think he's found himself a very nice niche there."


Reason 2

Binder expects DeSantis won't officially enter the Republican presidential contest anytime soon. One reason is that as he soon as he does, it will likely spark open warfare with Trump. As governor, DeSantis can largely ignore Trump while also talking to donors and traveling to states with early 2024 primaries.

University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald says he sees DeSantis focusing on issues, not personal attacks — taking a page from the guy who beat Trump. "It was 'Sleepy Joe,' " McDonald says, using Trump's nickname for the president. "And DeSantis in some ways is fashioning himself out of the ... mold of Sleepy Joe Biden, somebody who's not throwing firebombs, someone who's just more focused on policy."

As a popular governor in the third-largest state, DeSantis has a lot going for him. But running for president would put him in the spotlight. And University of North Florida's Binder says there are still a lot of unknowns about DeSantis. "He hasn't been great on a debate stage," Binder says. "He isn't a particularly comfortable politicker in a sense of the small group, hand-to-hand shaking of the hands on the lines. He doesn't thrive in a stadium full of 20,000 people."


Reason 3

For DeSantis supporters, there is another caveat. History often hasn't been kind to early presidential frontrunners. Just ask another popular former Republican governor, Scott Walker of Wisconsin. He peaked early before the 2016 election and was knocked out of the race by Trump himself.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bahama Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×