PRESIDENT DeSANTIS?
HIS EVERY UTTERANCE SEEMS calculated to send progressives into a frenzy. He’s one of the most prolific political fundraisers in America. His endorsements of other like-minded America First conservative candidates help those beneficiaries pull ahead in crowded primaries. And the worst-kept secret in American politics is that he wants to swap out his Sunshine State address for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as soon as possible.
No, the politician in question is not Donald Trump but rather Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who lately seems bent on executing just about every page of the former president’s political play-book—only with a sunnier demeanor, less offensive language and fewer of the personal antics that make Trump so polarizing. At 43, the once little-known backbench congressman has transformed himself into perhaps the hottest, most consequential political figure of his generation so far—possibly the only one capable of going head-to-head with Trump for the GOP nod in 2024 and with a shot at taking the presidency away from Joe Biden or whoever the Democrats nominate. The only real question is whether he’ll run against Trump if the former president enters the race or risk his flame burning out by waiting until 2028 or beyond.
“He is Trump without the boorish behavior and name calling, the insults and the bullying—the very reasons Trump lost suburban women in 2018 and lost a significant number of college-educated suburban men in 2020,” says Jim Dornan, a veteran GOP strategist who worked on Trump’s 2015 exploratory campaign committee and this year is advising Republican candidates in Oregon, Maryland and California. “On the Republican Party circuit, whether it’s in D.C .or the suburbs, DeSantis is the first name that comes up when people start talking about 2024.”
That DeSantis aims to be president, possibly sooner than later, seems clear from the rat-a-tat pace of political moves he’s been making lately, taking frontline positions in the culture wars against Woke America. There’s his ban on instruction of critical race theory and discussion of sexual identity in public schools (a.k.a. the “Don’t Say Gay” bill). Limitations on how schools and workplaces can handle race and gender discrimination and new penalties and restrictions on protestors. Outlawing abortion after 15 weeks. New rules on voting and transgender women playing women’s sports. He’s even battling Mickey Mouse, after Disney’s CEO spoke out against the governor’s agenda.
DeSantis, who. But in more than a dozen interviews with people who know him personally or have observed his career at close range, there is little doubt he is positioning himself to run for the presidency. The timing is all that’s up in the air.
