DeSantis makes pitch to Republicans looking to move from Trump
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told a group of donors and activists “we’ve got a lot more to do, and I have only begun to fight”.
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON – Governor Ron DeSantis has portrayed his record in Florida as a blueprint for the US as some Republicans see him as an alternative to Donald Trump.
In a speech on Saturday night, he told a group of donors and activists “we’ve got a lot more to do, and I have only begun to fight”.
Mr DeSantis did not mention the 2024 presidential race he is widely expected to enter while speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas.
But he detailed the extent of his landslide re-election victory on Nov 8
“When you stand up for what’s right, when you show people you’re willing to fight for them, they will walk over broken glass barefoot to come vote for you,” Mr DeSantis said, drawing a standing ovation. “You can be strong, you can get things done, and you can attract a huge, huge coalition.”
Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis are on a collision course for the Republican nomination race, and both spoke at the coalition’s annual meeting along with other potential presidential candidates from the party. It was billed as an early 2024 event.
Mr Trump, who launched his 2024 candidacy on Nov 15,
But several speakers and some attendees called for the GOP to move on from the former president, after candidates he backed performed poorly in key Nov 8 midterm races.
Their weak performance denied the party control of the Senate and governorships in key swing states and barely delivered the House. Under Mr Trump, the party previously lost the House, Senate and the White House.
“We keep losing and losing and losing, and the fact of the matter is the reason we’re losing is because Donald Trump has put himself before everybody else,” former New Jersey governor Chris Christie said in a speech on Saturday that drew an enthusiastic reception.
Mr Christie, a former Trump ally who has said he plans to decide early next year whether to run again after failing to clinch the nomination in 2016, called for the GOP to “get our house in order”.
He said the party should not be afraid to stand up to the former president and “against the lies, to stand up against the pettiness, to stand up against the self-interest”.
Many Republicans and donors are looking to Mr DeSantis, whose 2024 prospects skyrocketed after his landslide re-election while Republicans struggled in other states. Polls show he is the top choice among GOP voters after Mr Trump because he supports the former president’s policies and adopts his pugnacious style without the political baggage.
Mr Trump is “still the dominant force in the Republican Party”, said Mr Norm Coleman, a former senator and national chairman of the Republican Jewish Coalition. But the GOP nominating process is just starting and other candidates will be considered, he said.
Some donors and activists at the meeting said they supported Mr Trump in 2016 and 2020 and would back him if he wins the GOP nomination in 2024.
But they are wary about whether the former president can win and are eager to consider alternatives like Mr DeSantis.
Mr Lawrence Goldstein, 76, a commercial real estate broker from Los Angeles, said he prefers Mr DeSantis because he has been an effective governor while Mr Trump is still focused on the 2020 election he falsely said was rigged and stolen, which alienates independents and swing voters.
“To me, that shouldn’t be the main issue,” Mr Goldstein said. “It has to be someone other than him.”
Other potential Trump challengers who appeared at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s meeting included former vice-president Mike Pence; former secretary of state Michael Pompeo; former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley; Texas Senator Ted Cruz; South Carolina Senator Tim Scott; Florida Senator Rick Scott, and outgoing Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin withdrew after the recent University of Virginia shootings.
Ms Haley said she does not blame one person or bad candidates for the GOP’s poor midterms, adding that Republicans were outplayed by Democrats. Ms Haley, who said in 2021 she would not run if Mr Trump did, teased a 2024 campaign and said that, with the midterms over, she’ll “look at it in a serious way” and “have more to say soon”.
In his speech on Friday night, Mr Pompeo joked about the speakers appearing on a debate stage with Mr Trump and “who knows what nicknames we might have” – a reference to Mr Trump labelling his rivals in 2016 to diminish them, which he has already started this cycle by calling Mr DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious”.
Candidate quality
Mr Pompeo hasn’t broken with Mr Trump directly but has taken thinly veiled shots, including calling on Twitter for “more seriousness, less noise, and leaders who are looking forward, not staring in the rear view mirror claiming victimhood”. He also said he was more loyal to the nation, not a person.
“Personality, celebrity just aren’t gonna get it done,” Mr Pompeo said in his speech.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who has been critical of Mr Trump, didn’t mention him by name but said the party has learnt the hard way that candidate quality matters and “let’s stop supporting crazy, unelectable candidates” in GOP primaries.
“We need to convince swing voters that we have the best ideas and solutions,” Mr Hogan, a prominent GOP Trump critic who is exploring whether there’s a lane for him in the 2024 race, said in his speech on Friday night. “Excuses, lies, and toxic politics will not win elections or restore America.”
Mr Pence lauded what he called accomplishments of the Trump-Pence administration, including moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. But he has broken from his former boss over whether he had the authority to overturn the 2020 election during the Jan 6 insurrection in 2021.
The former vice-president has said he’ll give “prayerful consideration” during the holidays to running in 2024 and that “I think we’ll have better choices in the future” than Mr Trump.
