Recent polling shows that Donald Trump continues to dominate his challengers for the Republican nomination. He remains in control despite facing a 40-count indictment in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, his indictments in New York State, and likely pending indictments in Georgia.
Indeed, Donald Trump was just indicted yesterday for allegations he tried to overturn the 2020 election.
In the eyes of his supporters, these indictments cast Trump as the victim of a vindictive “Deep State.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose opening argument was that he is more electable than Trump, has faded into irrelevance due to campaign missteps and Trump’s successful campaign of casting him as just another pawn of Republican elites.
Trump leads DeSantis by a 37-point margin according to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll.
“Mr. Trump held decisive advantages across almost every demographic group and region and in every ideological wing of the party, the survey found, as Republican voters waved away concerns about his escalating legal jeopardy. He led by wide margins among men and women, younger and older voters, moderates and conservatives, those who went to college and those who didn’t, and in cities, suburbs and rural areas,” New York Times reporter Shane Goldmacher writes. “The poll shows that some of Mr. DeSantis’s central campaign arguments — that he is more electable than Mr. Trump, and that he would govern more effectively — have so far failed to break through.”
Donald Trump Dominates DeSantis Across Demographics
The former president enjoys an advantage over DeSantis among libertarian-leaning Republicans who are more likely to support LGBTQ rights.
DeSantis might have won a decisive electoral win in the Florida 2022 midterm race. Yet he is dominated by Trump in his home state.
“There are just more die-hard fans of Trump than there are of Ron DeSantis. Even in Florida,” Marcel Paba, a 22-year-old server in Miami, told The New York Times. “I don’t see people wearing a Ron DeSantis hat anywhere, you know?” The former president has honed his reputation as a “blue-collar billionaire” to lock in his supporters. The New York Times/Siena College poll notes that Trump leads DeSantis among those earning less than $50,000 per year by a 65% to 9% margin.
Trump leads DeSantis among those earning more than $100,000 by 23%.
DeSantis also loses among those who want the government to fight “woke corporations.” He only finds himself statistically tied among those who are white and college-educated.
DeSantis Lacks Trump’s Charisma
Part of DeSantis’s problem is that he lacks Trump’s charisma. That’s why some Trump voters say they would not consider the Florida governor.
“He does not come across with humor,” Sandra Reher, 75, a retired teacher in Farmingdale, N.J., said of Mr. DeSantis. “He comes across as a — a good Christian man, wonderful family man. But he doesn’t have that fire if you will, that Trump has.”
Media reports noted how DeSantis was not the sort of warm charismatic personality that Trump exudes to his followers from the start of his campaign in May.
“Then there’s the physical straitjacket he dons when he takes the podium or mingles with voters or walks through crowds protected by his ultra-protective retinue. Dead-eyed and dour, DeSantis speaks a body language that always seems to be looking for an exit. If no exit exists, he calms his demons by sparking some new senseless fight with the Disney corporation. If he becomes president, will the House of Mouse rank above or below China in his Axis of Evil?” Politico reported in May. “He’s now in a box — likely for his entire 2024 campaign — that will be difficult to break out of, even for the most talented escape artist.”
John Rossomando is a defense and counterterrorism analyst and served as Senior Analyst for Counterterrorism at The Investigative Project on Terrorism for eight years. His work has been featured in numerous publications such as The American Thinker, The National Interest, National Review Online, Daily Wire, Red Alert Politics, CNSNews.com, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Newsmax, The American Spectator, TownHall.com, and Crisis Magazine. He also served as senior managing editor of The Bulletin, a 100,000-circulation daily newspaper in Philadelphia, and received the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors first-place award for his reporting.
From 19FortyFive
The Second American Civil War Has Begun
