Keen political observers expected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to begin overt planning for a 2024 White House campaign.
Just a bit later.
Thinking DeSantis would wait until the end of this year's Florida legislative session on May 5, politicos found to their surprise that DeSantis' team is multitasking by preparing a list of key staffers in early presidential primary states.
As The Washington Post reports:
Advisers to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are actively preparing for a possible presidential run, according to two Republicans with knowledge of the conversations who described meetings and preliminary staffing moves — the latest indication that DeSantis is laying a foundation for a national campaign.
DeSantis's political team has already identified multiple potential hires in early primary states such as New Hampshire and Iowa, according to one of the Republicans, who said experienced operatives have expressed interest. This Republican also said that Phil Cox and Generra Peck — two key members of DeSantis's 2022 reelection team — are involved in ongoing talks about 2024.
Another Republican with knowledge of the conversations said DeSantis advisers met recently to discuss the 2024 election. The Republicans spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks.
It appears that DeSantis doesn't want to wait for former President Trump to recover from his initial campaign blunders and build up an insurmountable campaign apparatus.
He undoubtedly believes he has the strongest appeal with independent voters and the political sense to know that he must strike while the iron is hot.
Besides, as Hot Air blogger Ed Morrisey astutely notes, Floridians reelected DeSantis by nearly 20 points, all while knowing a 2024 presidential run was likely.
Particularly if he won in a landslide.
2024 is his best cycle in which to pursue the White House, especially with a bumbling Democrat incumbent in place. In 2028, the situation would be much different, with three potential scenarios:
Biden wins re-election in 2024 against Trump or a lesser GOP nominee. That means Democrats will run a fresher candidate on their ticket; it wouldn't be Kamala Harris unless for some reason she had to succeed Biden in the second term, at which point sympathy would likely build for her.
Trump beats Biden for a second and final term, which creates the same fresh candidate in 2028 from Democrats and leaves DeSantis fighting it out among other Republicans for the nomination from a weaker position than in 2024.
Democrats force Biden to retire in 2024 and run their fresher candidate in this cycle, winning against Trump in the general election. That would force DeSantis to run against a tougher incumbent in 2028, again from a weaker position within the GOP.
While many, if not most, onlookers still consider Trump the head of the Republican Party, his electoral record post-2016 — and impulse control — has more than a few conservatives worried about his general election prospects, even against a weakened Joe Biden.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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