DeSantis Campaign — Not Much of a Reset

“For a campaign that promised allies a new approach while shedding staff amid a cash crunch and declining poll numbers, the meet-and-greet with homebuilders was just one of a string of events in Iowa and New Hampshire in recent days that were distinctive less for any change in DeSantis’ tack than for the appearance of waning interest in his candidacy. … At least at the outset, DeSantis has reset in name only.”

NBC News

Puck Reporter Coins New Term for DeSantis Campaign: ‘DeSantasy’

“It’s been a long, harrowing fortnight for Ron DeSantis, the former putative political wunderkind who I’ve been reporting for months was more of a Republican donor’s fantasy of a candidate than an actual voter’s. But after watching DeSantis shed 38 staffers, and after assessing days of leaked memos and background quotes promising a great reset, those heavily invested in the DeSantasy are now wondering if it’s time to jump ship, and to whom.”

Tara Palmeri

Is DeSantis in a Death Spiral?

“The bad DeSantis news doesn’t mean he’s dead. But he’s entered a familiar cycle that often ends in collapse: A candidate is hyped up as a top contender, struggles in the polls, and then scrambles to reset a flagging campaign as donors and voters alike parse every move for signs of weakness — or strength. … Donors are a key group for DeSantis, who is more reliant on big Republican money than Trump. And while the weekend shakeup placated some, it’s caused others to grow even more uneasy.”

Semafor

Memo: Desperate DeSantis Scrambling to Reassure Donors, Reignite Campaign

NBC.com

An internal memo from the Ron DeSantis presidential campaign acquired by NBC News provides a rare insight into the inner workings of the Florida governor’s seven-week-old primary effort.

The document, dated July 6, lays out the campaign’s strategy of doubling down on New Hampshire, postponing spending on Super Tuesday and singling out Tim Scott as the only other candidate besides Donald Trump who DeSantis sees as a threat.

The memo sums up the candidate field as the DeSantis camp sees it this way:

As it has been for the last year, Trump and DeSantis remain the only viable options for two-thirds of the likely Republican primary electorate. While Tim Scott has earned a serious look at this stage, his bio is lacking the fight that our electorate is looking for in the next President. We expect Tim Scott to receive appropriate scrutiny in the weeks ahead. We’ve found low to no interest in Vivek, Burgum, and Nikki while far too many voters will not consider Pence and Christie for them to feel remotely viable.

Overall, the memo, which is called a “friends and family update” reads like a self–pep talk, an eho-chamber attempt to slap some lipstick on a pig of a campaign and make it seem like everything is going according to plan, rather than down the toilet, as the media have largely characterized it.

Murdochs Souring on DeSantis

“They are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away,” said one Fox insider, to Rolling Stone.

“Since the beginning of the Biden presidency, the powerful Murdoch family has favored the Florida governor in the 2024 presidential primary, largely due to a conviction that DeSantis would be a more electable, and less chaotic, evolution from Donald Trump. But in recent weeks, the Murdochs have grown increasingly displeased with the DeSantis campaign’s perceived stumbles, lackluster polling, and inability to swiftly dethrone Trump. … They have also seriously questioned whether the governor is capable of defeating Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.”

DeSantis Campaign Stalls

$20 million

Playbook: “On the fundraising front, there is more evidence of a campaign losing momentum. DeSantis raised $20 million in Q2 despite only being a candidate for six weeks of the reporting period. … But dig into that figure: The $20 million includes an impressive $8.2 million on his first day as a candidate. Which means that after Day One, he raised an average of just over $300,000 a day for the next 36 days of the fundraising quarter.”