Ron DeSantis Blew His Big ChanceNewsweek, Aug 24, 2024
<snip>
For months, DeSantis was considered the biggest rival to Donald Trump for the Republican's next presidential nominee, with members of the GOP and conservative media backing him to become the de-facto leader of the party heading into 2024.
Instead, DeSantis allowed political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy to take center stage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Ramaswamy, who has overtaken DeSantis as the second-placed candidate in some recent GOP primary polls, delivered the most talked-about performance of all the eight candidates, with his enthusiasm and outsider status giving his campaign momentum that DeSantis has consistently failed to muster.
Crucially, the other 2024 hopefuls during the debate appeared to consider Ramaswamy their biggest rival and targeted him instead of DeSantis.
As a result, DeSantis was not part of some of the more fiery moments on stage on Wednesday night. His lack of stand-out moments also made the Florida governor appear like another also-ran candidate, instead of one who at one time was tipped as a potential future president, an expert told Newsweek.
"DeSantis did not engage in the tussles between the other candidates," Joshua Scacco, associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Communication at the University of South Florida, told Newsweek.
"This decision is related to his reticence to engage in a format where message control can be lost. However, debates—by definition—highlight the clash of ideas and positions. When he did not engage with the other candidates, he was overshadowed.
More:
https://www.newsweek.com/ron-desantis-debate-gop-primary-performance-ramaswamy-1822216