Editor’s note:?Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio’s daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show.” Follow him on Threads at?www.threads.net/@deanobeidallah. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. Read?more opinion?at CNN.
This past week saw a wave of media coverage about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis struggling in his quest for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
He currently trails the front-runner — twice-indicted former President Donald Trump — by more?than 30 points?in one recent Fox News poll.?The New York Times?detailed how the “DeSantis Campaign Continues to Struggle to Find Its Footing,” while?The Wall Street Journal?and?Politico?ran articles on the “DeSantis stall.”
Even over at Fox News on Sunday morning, anchor Maria Bartiromo?asked?DeSantis to his face about his flailing poll numbers: “There was a lot of optimism about you running for president earlier in the year. … What happened?”
(Nevertheless,?DeSantis’ campaign touted raising $20 million?during the second fundraising quarter that ended June 30, calling the haul?“the largest first-quarter filing from any non-incumbent Republican candidate in more than a decade.”)
People have?debated?what’s behind the governor’s “failure to launch” (as Politico put it), but his challenges can be blamed on one person: Ron DeSantis. That may seem obvious to some, but on?paper DeSantis is damn impressive. He graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School with honors. He served in the US Navy as a lawyer, being?awarded the Bronze Star Medal?for meritorious service.
From there, he was a federal prosecutor. And while he won his?2018 race for governor?by only .4%, DeSantis was reelected in 2022 by?nearly 20 points?— an?impressive margin in a statewide race?in Florida — and he?raised?an eye-popping?$100 million-plus?for that campaign.
With this impressive resume — coupled with Trump-backed candidates losing in key battleground states in 2022 and the former president being dubbed the midterms’ “biggest loser” — DeSantis began?surging?in the polls.?For example, a February Quinnipiac University?poll?showed Trump with just a six-point lead on DeSantis.
But as?Politico?noted in its article Saturday, Trump soon stepped up his personal attacks on DeSantis. In late January, I penned a?CNN column?urging DeSantis to “punch back” in response to Trump’s attacks because the GOP base values strong leaders, not punching bags.
Instead, DeSantis tried to take the high road with comments in February about how he delivers results for the people of Florida,?adding, “I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans.”
Trump launched even more barbs against DeSantis on everything from?his handling of Covid-19?to his long-running?feud with Disney?— with the former president?predicting?DeSantis would be “absolutely destroyed” by the company.
DeSantis’ response was muted at best. Despite Trump’s onslaught of attacks, DeSantis is “still not hitting the 45th president with any bare-knuckle punches,”?The Hill reported last month.
To be blunt, many of his critics must be asking themselves if DeSantis can’t (or won’t) stand up to the twice-impeached, 77-year-old Trump, how can anyone believe he will take on our nation’s enemies?
DeSantis also comes across as cold, flat and bordering on whiny. For example, asked about?his lackluster polling?last week on Fox News, his low-key answer was to?blame?the “corporate media” and — oddly — the president of Mexico. “I think if you look at the people like the corporate media, who are they going after, who do they not want to be the nominee? They are going after me,” he said,?repeating pretty much the same line?again Sunday on that network.
DeSantis added, “Who’s the president of Mexico attacking because he knows we’ll be strong on the border and hold him accountable in the cartels? He’s going after me.” (President Andrés Manuel López Obrador?has urged Latino voters?not to support DeSantis, given his state’s tough immigration policies.)
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Does either point hold up to scrutiny? Hasn’t the media been critical of Trump, too, especially after the January 6, 2021 insurrection? And wouldn’t the Mexican leader’s criticism likely help DeSantis with GOP voters, given their views on immigration?
Let me add this caveat about DeSantis’ polling challenges, as?others?have: It’s still early in the 2024 race for the GOP nomination. At this point in the 2016 race, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was leading among Republicans in?many surveys. And in the 2008 race for the Democratic nomination, at this point, many pundits were saying?Hillary Clinton was inevitable, yet?Barack Obama eventually won the nomination?— and the presidency.
To that point, DeSantis?said?last week, “I’m running to win in January and February. I’m not running to juice polling now.”
But as each day passes and he doesn’t seem to be changing tactics, DeSantis?threatens to become?just another good-on-paper candidate who may not?have what it takes on the national stage.