Why Trump Can’t WinDon’t fall for the illusion of Trump’s strength in early polling. There's a reason Democrats are working hard to lure Republicans into nominating him.
It would be way too premature to conclude that former President Donald Trump has strangled Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s candidacy in the cradle. DeSantis’s bid has not even gotten to the cradle yet — even as Trump chooses to hold campaign rallies rather than attend his civil rape trial, all while frantically dancing between the prosecutorial raindrops. The governor is clearly doing everything a politician in his position would do to prepare a formal candidacy, but the best case for him as president is that he’s inclined to solving problems rather than tweeting about them. His best move is to finish the ongoing legislative session and rack up more accomplishments. That will take a few more weeks.
When DeSantis does announce, he’ll get a bump. By contrast, the air is already draining — albeit too slowly — out of the Trump balloon that weirdly inflated upon his being indicted. The nomination race will surely tighten when DeSantis officially enters. He may even pull ahead. That would be a hopeful sign that Republicans still have a self-preservation instinct, but it would hardly be a lock for DeSantis. He’ll still have to prove himself on the national stage. I hope he does, but I could also see the race taking unexpected turns — perhaps a support surge for South Carolina senator Tim Scott, an impossible-to-dislike figure whose conservative leanings and compelling personal story could make up for his policy lightness.
There’s lots of time for all that.
What I want to talk about is the defect in the Wall Street Journal polling that shows Trump ahead of DeSantis by 13 points among likely GOP primary voters, even though those Republicans give DeSantis higher marks than Trump on favorability (84–78), on the likelihood of his ultimately beating Biden (41–31), and on his presidential temperament (48–28). Indeed, when the lens is widened to include all registered voters in the survey (i.e., not just Republicans), the same poll has the governor leading President Biden by three points, while Trump trails Biden by the same margin.
I believe we will remember this poll as Trump’s high-water mark. That should be a hint. What the poll fails to convey is that there is no potential of upward climb for the universally known former president. Donald Trump cannot win a national election............
https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/04/why-trump-cant-win/The article makes some good points. Trumps concentration of going after a conservative is not putting a feather in his cap.
As for DeSantis, IF he should run needs to focus on his accomplishments and how he will move this country in a positive direction. He should leave his focus on 'wokeness' behind at least for now. Just my opinon.
