Free Ron DeSantis What he needs at the Republican primary debate isn’t a reset but a return to his winning message of September 2022:Kimberley A. Strassel
The Ron DeSantis campaign continues to reset its reset. At some point it might consider that what it needs isn’t a reset but a reversal—a return to the Ron DeSantis of yore.
Last September Mr. DeSantis stood on a stage near Miami and gave a speech to remember. He spoke enthusiastically about the Florida model, ably connecting its successes to free-market conservative philosophy. The state’s thriving economy was a product of low taxes, modest government, the quick abandonment of unscientific Covid lockdowns. Its surplus was thanks to fiscal prudence and policies that expand the “economic pie.” Widespread school choice produced rising test scores; accountability in public universities kept tuition low. Support for law enforcement equaled public safety.
People were flocking to Florida because “common sense” and “rational” policies provided better roads, trustworthy elections, good jobs. His comments about critical race theory and gender ideology were framed in the broader context of the need to protect parental and employee rights. He used Disney to make a compelling distinction between “free enterprise” and subsidized “corporatism.” He invoked Ronald Reagan’s most terrifying words in the English language: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”—though the Floridian called to update them to take into account the modern bureaucratic state.
That Ron DeSantis came across as smart and optimistic, bold and absolutely in tune with needs of the “average” families he frequently mentioned. It’s the formula that six weeks later handed the Florida governor a landslide re-election victory, in which he won the rural vote, the suburban vote, even the urban vote, 62 of 67 counties and nearly every demographic. It’s the formula that made him the biggest threat to Donald Trump’s renomination.
Where’s that Ron DeSantis today? Smothered under a pile of polling data, focus groups and chattering advisers, which have spoiled his prior winning recipe. The problem isn’t the campaign’s tactics or its spending or where it is deploying resources. The problem is the governor’s adoption of Trump-style grievance politics, which has him chasing a slice of GOP primary voters that won’t have him anyway. For this, he’s ceding the rest of the electorate.
Consider Mr. DeSantis’s recent economic speech, part of the reset. It was a welcome pivot from his nonstop talk of woke culture wars, and buried in it were solid economic proposals—of the type that propelled Florida. Not that you could find them, or hear the Florida success story. Gone were the common-sense explanations, crowded out by Mr. DeSantis’s rants against “central planners,” “the ruling class,” “elites,” “progressive corporations,” “entrenched Washington politicians,” and “China.” It was a speech designed to rile people up, to reduce the election to class and ideological warfare, or as Mr. DeSantis summed it up: “We win. They lose.” This is light years away from the Ron DeSantis who last year winningly made the case that economic growth benefits all.
One irony is that Mr. DeSantis’s Miami speech last year was delivered to the National Conservatism conference, a gathering of intellectuals who style themselves populists. They want the Republican Party to become Bernie Sanders Lite, and they have a decidedly Trumpian bent. Mr. DeSantis didn’t feel the need to cater to them then, yet now can’t seem to evict them from his head. It isn’t that his policy agenda has changed, but his efforts to shoehorn it into a natcon framework has muddled his message, and sent him down rabbit holes and into cul-de-sacs. See his shifting and hedging on Ukraine funding, or his lost time complaining about Disney.
The question is why. A recent New York Times/Siena poll showed Mr. Trump with 44% of the Iowa vote, though 47% of those say they are open to switching candidates. That means less than 25% of Iowa voters are committed to the former president—though committed they most certainly are. National polls show roughly the same dynamic. These are the folks most motivated by demagogic politics—yet the folks least likely to think anyone will ever do it better than Mr. Trump. Mr. DeSantis is wasting his time.
He’s also losing out on the 70% to 75% of the GOP primary electorate that wants to hear a candidate who has ideas, optimism and a plan. Those voters are open to a contender who can showcase a solid record of conservative policy and electoral wins. They don’t need full-on Trump bashing, but won’t mind the occasional glancing zinger (another lost DeSantis strategy). They don’t want a GOP version of Elizabeth Warren, banging on about rich people and “corporate greed.” They might appreciate someone who doesn’t divide the world into “us” and “them,” but who preaches a message of broad American revival. That helps explain the rise of Vivek Ramaswamy.
It’s not too late, even after the resets. Mr. DeSantis has a perfect opportunity for reversal at the Aug. 23 GOP debate—the first time millions of Americans will truly focus on the candidates. Let the guy who shows up be the Florida governor of old. Free Ron DeSantis.
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