Ron DeSantis is trailing Trump in the polls because he hasn’t ‘hit him hard enough’ and isn’t a ‘memorable personality,’ political experts say
Alex Wong/Getty Images; John Tully for The Washington Post via Getty Images
- Ron DeSantis hoped that Donald Trump's legal woes would hurt his opponent, per The New York Times.
- But the Florida governor continues to trail behind Trump in the polls.
- A USC political science professor told Insider that DeSantis hasn't hit Trump "hard enough."
Ron DeSantis has privately hoped that former President Donald Trump's mountain of legal troubles would slow his opponent down, but polls continue to show the Florida governor trailing behind in second place, The New York Times reported.
With eight months until the primaries, the public's opinion can still change — and so can Trump's legal standing. But so far the GOP base has primarily stood behind the former president despite his avalanche of legal woes.
The indictments haven't impacted Trump as much as his opponents had hoped because he relies on an old playbook that has so far worked for his supporters: Deny, deflect, and blame the Democrats.
"This witch hunt is all about election interference and a complete and total political weaponization of law enforcement," Trump wrote, in all capitals, on Truth Social, after special counsel Jack Smith notified the former president that he is a target of the DOJ's January 6 investigation.
According to University of Southern California political science professor Christian Grose, if Trump was to apologize and try to move past the issue, it could have hurt him more.
"What he's done (instead) is what he usually does as a strategy and just sort of denies, blames 'left-wing' media, etc.," Grose told Insider. "So I think his strategy of blaming others for the legal woes that are upon him — that seems to help him rally the Republican base."
As for Trump's top challenger for the GOP nomination, Grose said DeSantis hasn't quite "hit him hard enough."
"DeSantis tends to avoid saying what Trump has done is wrong," Grose said. "He has even gone on the record sometimes saying that these are unfair cases against the former president."
When Trump was indicted a second time on charges related to mishandling classified documents, DeSantis came to Trump's side, following the former president's characterization that the Biden Administration had weaponized the Department of Justice.
After it was clear Trump was also a target of the Justice Department's probe into the January 6 riot, DeSantis told CNN, "I hope he doesn't get charged."
Notable attacks on Trump from DeSantis or his campaign have often been limited to hot-button culture war issues — in one recent ad attempting to paint Trump as someone sympathetic to LGBTQ groups — and the former president's handling of COVID-19, accusing him of kowtowing to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Attacking Trump through his legal troubles is a delicate situation, Grose said. Voter opinion could change if any one of Trump's indictments leads to a conviction, but "there's a lot of in-between for that to happen."
"It's a very tough line because so many of the voters DeSantis wants — they like Trump," the professor said. "So it's more about: Do you vote for somebody you find more electable even if you like Trump better?"
DeSantis is not a 'memorable personality'
Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University, echoed this sentiment, telling Insider there was no chance that DeSantis could prevail without going on the offense with Trump. He said, however, that transitioning from someone who has been light on Trump to a fierce competitor would be difficult.
"I think everybody does agree that a reboot is necessary, both to save money and to retool the message, but how you do that, particularly with a candidate that is not particularly verbally skilled, is hard to figure out," Jillson said.
Regardless, it appears like the DeSantis campaign is working hard on its reboot. The campaign recently fired 38 staffers, Politico reported. The move is meant to "streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary," according to a statement released by his campaign manager.
A spokesperson for DeSantis's campaign did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
According to Jillson, the campaign is "not a first-rate experienced national presidential campaign" but an operation full of "Florida cronies."
But beyond his weak stance on Trump, Jillson said that, ultimately, DeSantis's problem is his lack of vigor, charm, and wit — basically, all the things that make for a winning politician.
"He hasn't caught on nationally, because he is a little awkward," Jillson said. "He is often expressionless and obviously doesn't enjoy retail campaigning, which is critical in places like Iowa and New Hampshire. So he doesn't have the whole toolkit that a politician like a Ronald Reagan, say, or a Bill Clinton or even a Donald Trump has."
"He is not, fundamentally, a memorable personality," Jillson continued: "And he doesn't have a second gear, apparently. He's not able to analyze his shortcomings and deal with them effectively and move from there."
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/qEaGl3X
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