DeSantis Drops Out

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the Republican presidential primary yesterday afternoon. The signs were all there.

While he finished second in the Iowa caucuses, it was a distant and disappointing finish given the tremendous effort his campaign invested in the state. Polls in New Hampshire were even worse, and it’s difficult to claim momentum after back-to-back losses.

Then stories emerged Saturday that his campaign abruptly canceled two major Sunday interviews due to “scheduling conflicts.” That seemed like a “tell.”

DeSantis has been an effective governor of Florida. In any other year, he might well be the frontrunner. But this is not his year. Nevertheless, I believe Ron DeSantis definitely has a future in the emerging populist conservative Republican Party.

DeSantis immediately endorsed Donald Trump, saying it was clear that a majority of GOP primary voters were behind him. And he wasn’t the only one endorsing Trump.

Friday afternoon, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott threw his support behind Donald Trump over Nikki Haley, who appointed Scott to his Senate seat in 2012. (Scott has easily won reelection ever since.)

Polling in New Hampshire shows that the vast majority of DeSantis supporters chose Donald Trump as their second choice. Polling also found that a strong plurality of Ramaswamy supporters chose Trump as their second choice. Only Chris Christie supporters are backing Haley over Trump.

Some pundits insist that Haley is the future of the Republican Party. Well, I’ll concede that youth is on her side. But, from a policy perspective, she’s a throwback to the Bush era – not the GOP’s future.

The New Hampshire primary is tomorrow, and it is hard to predict the makeup of the electorate. The latest polls are predicting a big Trump win. We’ll find out soon enough.

Meanwhile, here’s something else to consider.

There is an organized effort among Democrats and left-wing Independents to vote for Haley in the Republican primary, which is allowed. This is being touted by her supporters and some commentators on Fox News as evidence that she can attract moderate voters in November.

I’m not so sure. These are people who want to keep the GOP in turmoil and who only want to stop Donald Trump. Those are totally different things. They are not voting for Haley. They are now and will be Biden supporters in November.

As one of these liberal activists explained to Politico, “We only care about damaging Donald Trump. For better or for worse, the only thing you can do if you really want to stop Trump is to vote for Haley.”