A very bad night for Ron DeSantis' core message
#winning?
As Ron DeSantis moves closer and closer to a candidacy for president in 2024, his message is becoming more and more clear: I am Donald Trump — but a winner.
“We must reject the culture of losing that has impacted our party in recent years,” DeSantis said during a trip to Iowa over the weekend. “The time for excuses is over. If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.”
It drew him favorable headlines — including in the influential Des Moines Register.
And on its face, it’s a message that DeSantis can carry well. After all, he won overwhelmingly in Florida in 2022 — just two years removed from Trump losing the presidency.1
The problem? Night’s like Tuesday.
DeSantis endorsed two candidates — Kelly Craft in the Kentucky governor’s race and Daniel Davis in the Jacksonville Mayor’s race — who both lost.
Craft finished a distant third behind state Attorney General Daniel Cameron who, you guessed it, was endorsed by Trump.
Trump — as you also likely guessed — was quick to turn DeSantis' losses into political fodder via a post on Truth Social.2
Cameron seemed to lash out at DeSantis — and tout Trump — in his victory remarks.
“Let me just say the Trump culture of winning is alive and well in Kentucky,” said Cameron.
That sentiment was echoed by Chris LaCivita, a longtime Republican consultant and now part of Trump’s inner circle.
“So much for the #alwaysbackdown culture of winning,” he tweeted, a reference to Never Back Down, the DeSantis-aligned super PAC.
The New York Times even got in on the action. “DeSantis Goes 0-for-2 on Election Night,” read a headline in the paper.
That DeSantis lost is one thing. If you are going to be a national politician and insert yourself into lots of races, it’s going to happen from time to time.
But it’s the way DeSantis lost that makes his endorsement — especially in Kentucky — all the more baffling.
Craft, who hails from a coal fortune, had been trailing Cameron badly despite spending millions of her own money on the governor’s race.
Which made it weird that DeSantis — on Monday — recorded a robocall for Craft in which he said: “I know what it takes to stand up for what's right, and Kelly Craft's got it. She's proven it.”
The move was widely seen as DeSantis’ attempt to start a proxy war with Trump, who had been vocally for Cameron for months.
“DeSantis endorses Kelly Craft in pivotal Kentucky governor's race, setting stage for epic clash with Trump,” read the headline on Fox News.
But, why pick a fight you almost certainly won’t win? And why do it at the last minute when DeSantis’ ability to affect the race is decidedly small?
The only reason I can think of it that DeSantis agreed to back Craft in this race in exchange for her support — and money — in the coming presidential primary.
Which, in the long run, may not be the worst trade off for DeSantis. But, in the near term, it badly undermines his argument that he is all about winning.
And then there was the loss in the Jacksonville mayor’s race. If Florida and his victory there is at the center of DeSantis’ #winning pitch, then it is a very bad thing to see the biggest city (by population) in your state fall into Democratic hands.
“Fools! This is a BIG LOSS for the Republican Party,” trumpeted Trump on Truth Social about the mayoral defeat.
The problem with premising your campaign solely — or mostly — on the idea of winning is that you have to keep winning in order to preserve your message.
In short, DeSantis can’t have many more nights like Tuesday if he wants to keep arguing he is the candidate who can cure Republicans of their losing ways.
I have some questions as to whether DeSantis can sell Trump as a loser given that a big chunk of the Republican base thinks he the former president was cheated out of the presidency. But that’s for another post.
Yes, Trump spelled Daniel Cameron’s name wrong.
I see some who put forth the opinion that DeSantis and Trump are equally apt to become American Mussolini. Obviously no one knows.
The good thing about Trump is that he’s got at least some chance of being incarcerated soon and/or being called Home to, presumably according to his followers, sit at the right hand of God.
DeSantis’ advantage is having the winning personality of a turnip. I can’t imagine what sort of cult he’d inspire.
Having changed my registration to Republican in hopes of helping the country and my district be free of Elise Stefanik, I’ll get to vote in the GOP presidential primary, too. Not that it matters by the time it reaches NY.
As of now, Asa Hutchinson seems like the least disgusting choice. Or maybe go with the Elizabeth Cheney write-in.
Kevin, I am very confident that the "right hand of God" gig is already taken. However, I know of another locale that Trump might easily access and sit at the proprietor's right hand.