DOVER, New Hampshire – For months, it had been clear that navigating primary politics in the mountainous Granite State was going to be a steep road for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Despite drawing sizable crowds through the end of his campaign, which the 45-year-old announced Sunday afternoon, DeSantis had been on a downward trajectory as anti-Trump voters coalesced around the former Carolina governor of the South, Nikki Haley, and Trump supporters. voters backed the man himself.
“DeSantis gave up on New Hampshire and put all his eggs in one basket: Iowa,” Kim Rice, a Haley supporter and former speaker pro tempore of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, told The Post before DeSantis retired.
“And I think his message clearly didn’t resonate with the people of New Hampshire.”
DeSantis started well. In April of last year, he swept through the Granite State as a star, following a landslide re-election victory in the formerly purple Sunshine State. His appearance at the Amos Tuck dinner, the Republican Party’s largest annual fundraiser in the state, raised record donations and drew a sold-out crowd.
While Trump, 77, was still leading in the polls, DeSantis was not far behind. A look at RealClearPolitics’ aggregate from that period shows the Floridian trailing Trump by 14 points, closer than Haley is now as voters prepare to go to the polls in the nation’s first primary.
Ron DeSantis withdrew from the 2024 Republican contest on Sunday. AFP via Getty Images
Unfortunately, that was the high mark for DeSantis. Beginning last spring, the first of four indictments against the former president created a rally-flag effect as outraged Republicans turned out in droves to support whom they considered their party’s leader.
When DeSantis launched his campaign in May of last year, Trump’s lead in the New Hampshire PCR average had grown to 18 points. DeSantis would never get that close again.
Triumph, Triumph, Triumph
In both sports and politics, the tendency when a highly-hyped team falls short is to focus on its shortcomings and mistakes.
But sometimes the other team is simply too strong.
Trump’s already formidable candidacy has been boosted by the fact that many Republican voters consider him their president, regardless of who currently occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Donald Trump has long been the Republican Party’s frontrunner for 2024. Getty Images
In both Iowa and New Hampshire, many Trump voters who spoke to The Post made it clear that they never considered any alternative to the 45th president.
“At first,” Dennis Malboeuf, 58, told the Post at Trump campaign headquarters in Manchester when asked if he had thought about another option.
“DeSantis, I mean the way he ran his state, was great,” added Malboeuf, who ultimately concluded that Trump had the best record at a higher level of government.
“Things get done” under Trump, he said.
Despising anti-Trumpists
DeSantis’ message to Republican voters was simple: He would defend Trump’s policies without the drama and chaos, while bringing much more competition to the White House.
This speech may have been the only way for DeSantis to increase his support, but it backfired in two ways: it failed to rally enough Trump supporters and it diverted the smaller group of potential anti-Trump voters.
“I don’t trust DeSantis because he’s one of Trump’s cronies,” said Haley supporter and unaffiliated voter Leon Mercier, 70, of Swanzey. “I was too close to him. “We don’t want another January 6.”
Despite Haley’s tenure as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mercier felt she had distanced herself from him enough since leaving office in 2018.
Lizabeth McLaughlin of Marlborough, who once supported former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, said she rejected Trump and chose Haley over DeSantis because she wanted more moderates in Washington.
Nikki Haley has become Donald Trump’s last remaining top challenger in the arena. REUTERS
“I think DeSantis has probably done a good job handling emergencies in Florida,” he said. “But other things I don’t think he’s done a good job.”
When pressed, McLaughlin added, “It’s just a feeling” before alluding to the culture war issues that have defined DeSantis’ tenure as governor.
intestinal control
New Hampshire is the land of grip and smile, the ultimate testing ground for a candidate’s retail political skills.
Regardless of how Granite State residents may have felt about DeSantis, some believed the Florida governor’s vibe was far from immaculate.
Glenn Hauser, 52, an unaffiliated voter from Bedford who leans Republican, recounted speaking with a restaurant worker who has seen dozens of candidates advance in multiple primary cycles.
“They said [DeSantis] “It was the worst candidate they have ever seen since they worked there,” he said, declining to name the restaurant.
“[He] “He doesn’t have very good interpersonal skills and if you can’t connect with voters, especially in New Hampshire where the state is so deep in the primary, you won’t have a chance,” added Hauser, who described DeSantis as “strange.”
Donald Trump has since withdrawn the ‘DeSanctimonious’ line of attack. REUTERS
Hauser intends to vote for Haley on Tuesday and describes both DeSantis and Trump as “vindictive people who tend to focus more on what is good for themselves than what is good for others.”
Suzane Corwin, 72, a Nashua parish nurse, was undecided between Haley and DeSantis, although she was leaning toward the former U.N. ambassador on Saturday, the day before DeSantis dropped out.
“It’s funny because I like some of the things he says,” Corwin said. “But, this is horrible, his voice bothers me. So I don’t think…he doesn’t seem as energetic as her.”
Late deciders
Many voters who made their decision late in the game focused on the viability of the campaign.
Miguel Velez, 30, a dentist from Rindge, attended a Haley event on Saturday. He was looking for an alternative to Trump and hadn’t given DeSantis much thought.
“I don’t know much about DeSantis,” she said, holding a baby in her arms. “In terms of Trump, I feel like [Haley] “She hit the nail on the head with the way she explained the chaos he has been causing.”
Until 2028
As DeSantis contemplated the mortality of his campaign, he experienced a marked shift from his previous anti-establishment persona.
He began giving more interviews to national media outlets he once despised, and reflected Friday that he should have covered the so-called “corporate shows” earlier in his career.
There is now some speculation that Ron DeSantis will run for president again in 2028. via REUTERS
On Friday, during what turned out to be his final campaign stop in New Hampshire at the Cara Irish Pub and Restaurant in Dover, DeSantis seemed much more relaxed than at the start of his campaign.
“God bless the people of New Hampshire,” his young daughter Madison told the audience to loud cheers from the packed room.
In his remarks, DeSantis reflected on how his children have acclimated to the snowy conditions in Iowa and New Hampshire after growing up in warm Florida.
He then pivoted to a policy-focused message and took questions from voters, while chiding Trump and Haley for being more closed to the public.
MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
DeSantis’ campaign ended as it began: in X. But that’s not likely to be the last America will hear from him.
The Florida governor’s term ends after the 2026 election and he cannot run again due to term limits. That would give it an advantage in the race to 2028.
Maybe next time New Hampshire voters will be less bothered by his voice.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn