Curt Flewelling, FISM News
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In what appears to be a ramp-up to announcing a presidential run, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke to a packed house of Republicans in Midland, Michigan on Thursday. The popular governor took the occasion to tout his accomplishments in the Sunshine State.
The governor told the crowd,
What we showed in Florida is that if you show bold leadership, if you pursue a bold agenda, you can beat Democrats. Our bottom line is we do not surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.”
The location of DeSantis’ speech was conspicuous. Midland County Republicans are typically more traditionally “mainstream” as opposed to the party’s more strident “MAGA” wing. These voters will be critically important if a primary showdown with former President Trump materializes.
Republican consultant Dennis Lennox feels that Mr. DeSantis will win the Republican nomination as he noted that the governor attracted the “normal wing of the Republican party” to Thursday’s breakfast.
DeSantis continues to traverse numerous battleground states promoting his new book “The Courage to be Free” and billing himself as a stalwart supporter of conservative principles. However, he is very careful, at least at this stage of the game, to not engage Donald Trump.
DESANTIS VS. TRUMP?
Like many of his potential Republican opponents, the governor has not exploited the former president’s legal problems. He actually went out of his way to denounce New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg by accusing him of “weaponizing the prosecutorial power to advance a political agenda.”
Donald Trump’s recent grand jury indictment does not seem to be hurting his chances of gaining his party’s presidential nomination for the third time. A recent Monmouth University Poll has Trump ahead of DeSantis by a 41% to 27% margin with several other Republican hopefuls polling in the low single digits.
However, the poll does reflect some encouraging news for the Florida governor. When pollees were asked who they would vote for in a head-to-head matchup between DeSantis and Trump, the two rivals were virtually even with Trump enjoying a 47% to 46% advantage.
For now, Ron DeSantis can continue to leave political pundits to wonder when and if he will be running for president in 2024. However he can’t wait too long as The Republican National Committee (RNC) has announced that their first primary debate will be held in August of this year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.