The spectacular failure of Ron DeSantis: 7 reasons why Florida governor's 2024 campaign fell flat

Seven reasons behind Ron DeSantis' early setback in presidential campaign

A year ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was expected to be the Republican frontrunner in the 2023 presidential race. More than half a year after he announced his candidacy in May 2023, the White House dreams seem to be falling apart. Not-so-shiny second place in the Iowa caucus behind friend-turned-rival Donald Trump, combined with Nikki Haley's rising popularity, indicates the expectations of him being seated in the Oval Office in January 2025 have indeed gone south. Let us look at why the Florida Governor's presidential campaign failed this early in the race.

1. Failure to work on weakness due to success in Florida

DeSantis's success as Florida Governor reflected poorly at the national level as he failed to improve his weaknesses. As the head of a state, he often tried to avoid mainstream media and used them as press conference props. His inexperience became evident during interviews and town halls as a presidential candidate, negatively affecting his ability to handle perceived unfriendly questions.

2. Reluctance to engage with Donald Trump early in the race

Despite speculations of DeSantis's presidential run announcement, he refrained from defining former President Donald Trump. About a month before the announcement, the Florida Governor denied being a candidate when asked about the decline in polls compared to Trump during a visit to Japan. Also, instead of calling a snap election right after the 2022 mid-term election when his popularity peaked, the Governor kept avoiding making any remarks about Trump. Instead, he focused on piling up his accomplishments in Florida's legislative session.

3. Failure to understand how to persuade GOP primary voters

DeSantis's thought process aligned with Ted Cruz's in 2016, underscoring the importance of ideological purity. And he failed to understand that today's GOP primary voters could not be influenced based on conservative authority. Therefore, adding to Trump's far-right views on abortion rights did not do well with the voters, reducing his chances of grabbing the GOP nominee ticket.

4. Impact of Donald Trump's indictments

Ignoring Trump early in the race was DeSantis's biggest mistake. Instead of assuming the current Republican frontrunner would drop out, the Florida Governor could have focused on his electability. Engaging in a competent campaign over the former real estate mogul's four indictments could have closed DeSantis's campaign early in the race. With a clear majority of Republicans still holding on to the rigged election of 2020 and January 6 charges against Trump as political prosecution, Florida's head failed to hinder Trump's influence over the party.

5. Defending Donald Trump

Yet another reason DeSantis's campaign was dead on arrival was his decision to defend Trump on the indictments. He helped the former President by claiming the indictments were politically motivated, and his decision to pardon Trump if elected did not create a positive momentum among his supporters. This fired back as DeSantis himself provided reasons for GOP voters to remain loyal to Trump rather than thinking of an alternative candidate.

6. Attempt to woo hardcore Trumpers first

Adding to the list of campaign failures at the earlier stage, DeSantis tried to bring the hardcore Trump supporters to his side. Instead, he should have tried to court the never-Trumpers of his party and then moved on to soft-Trump voters who are ready for an alternative. Furthermore, his stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a "territorial dispute" also drove past potential Reagan Republicans.

7. Focus on 'very online' voters

DeSantis was heavily focused on the young, educated, and very online voters right from the start. His campaign refused to focus on the ordinary voters who might go for the Iowa caucus, another failure in consolidating the GOP electorate. Furthermore, his reliance on online campaigns, including hosting his official campaign announcement on Twitter (now X), did not bode well.