Tag: DeSantis in decline
DeSantis’ Campaign Reboot Cost Him 11 Points
11 points
A Yahoo News/YouGov poll finds Donald Trump with the clear lead nationally among Republican primary voters at 52%, followed by Ron DeSantis at 12%, Vivek Ramaswamy at 8%, Tim Scott at 4% and Nikki Haley at 3%. DeSantis plunged from 23% support in July.
Smells Like DeSantis
By now you probably have heard,
In New Hampshire Ron DeSantis is third.
In the current list he
Trails Chris Christie,
As his campaign circles the bowl — like a turd.
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
The ‘DeSantis In Decline’ Meme
“The ‘DeSantis in decline’ storyline is a body blow to one of the central arguments for his campaign: that he’d be a competent, disciplined version of Trump. Trump without the chaos. Trump, but with a more professional operation.”
— Playbook
Memo: Desperate DeSantis Scrambling to Reassure Donors, Reignite Campaign

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.