DOVER, New Hampshire – For months, it was clear that crossing the mountainous Granite State’s political primary would be a steep climb for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Despite drawing huge crowds until the end of his campaign — which the 45-year-old announced Sunday afternoon — DeSantis has been on a downward trajectory as anti-Trump voters coalesce around former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Trump-sympathetic voters support 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 quit.
“And I think the message is clearly not resonating with the people of New Hampshire.”
DeSantis is starting to heat up. In April last year, he swept through the Granite State as a star, after a landslide re-election victory in the once-purple Sunshine State. His appearance at the Amos Tuck Dinner, the state’s largest annual GOP fundraiser, drew record donations and drew sold-out crowds.
While Trump, 77, still leads in the polls, DeSantis isn’t far behind. A glance at RealClearPolitics aggregates from that period shows the Floridian 14 points behind Trump — closer than Haley is now as voters prepare to go to the polls in the nation’s first primary.
Ron DeSantis dropped out of the 2024 GOP race Sunday. AFP via Getty Images
Unfortunately, that was the high water mark for DeSantis. Beginning this past spring, the first of four impeachments of the former president created a rallying-flag effect as angry Republicans flocked to support who they saw as their party’s leader.
By the time DeSantis launched his campaign in May of last year, Trump’s lead in the New Hampshire RCP average had grown to 18 points. DeSantis will never be that close again.
Trump, Trump, Trump
In both sports and politics, the tendency when a hyped team falls short is to focus on its shortcomings and mistakes.
But sometimes, the other team is too strong.
Trump’s already formidable candidacy has been bolstered 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 reigning 2024 GOP front-runner. Getty Images
In Iowa and New Hampshire, many Trump voters who spoke to The Post made it clear that they had never really considered any alternatives to the 45th president.
“At first,” Dennis Malboeuf, 58, told The Post at Trump’s campaign headquarters in Manchester when asked if he was considering other options.
“DeSantis — I mean the way he’s run his state, it’s great,” added Malboeuf, who ultimately concluded that Trump has a better track record at higher levels of government.
“Things are done” under Trump, he said.
Tolerate the anti-Trumpers
DeSantis’ message to Republican voters is simple: He will champion Trump’s policies without drama and chaos, while also bringing more efficiency to the White House.
This pitch may have been the only way for DeSantis to increase his support, but it backfired on two fronts: It failed to turn off enough Trump supporters, and it turned off the smaller pool of 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. “He was too close to her. We don’t want another January 6.”
Although Haley herself served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mercier feels she has gained enough distance from him since leaving office in 2018.
Lizabeth McLaughlin of Marlborough, a supporter of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, said she rejected Trump and chose Haley over DeSantis because she wants more moderates in Washington.
Nikki Haley has emerged as Donald Trump’s last major challenger left in the arena. Reuters
“DeSantis, I think, probably did a good job handling the emergency in Florida,” he said. “But other things I don’t think he did a good job.”
When pressed, McLaughlin added: “It’s just a feeling” before referring to the culture war issue that has defined DeSantis’ tenure as governor.
Check the gut
New Hampshire is the land of gripes and smiles, the ultimate test of a candidate’s retail political skills.
However Granite Staters may feel about DeSantis, some believe the Florida governor’s mood is far from perfect.
Glenn Hauser, 52, an unaffiliated voter from Bedford who leans Republican, recounted talking to a restaurant worker who had seen dozens of candidates roll over in several primary cycles.
“They said [DeSantis] is the worst candidate in the history since they’ve been working there that they’ve seen,” he said, declining to name the restaurant.
“[He] don’t have good interpersonal skills and if you can’t connect with the voters, especially in New Hampshire, where the state is in the primary, you don’t have a chance,” added Hauser, who described DeSantis as “Awkward.”
Donald Trump has since ended his line of ‘DeSanctimonious’ attacks. Reuters
Hauser intends to vote for Haley on Tuesday, describing both DeSantis and Trump as “vindictive people who tend to focus more on what’s good for them than what’s good for everyone else.”
Suzane Corwin, 72, a parish nurse from Nashua, is undecided between Haley and DeSantis, although she leaned toward the former U.N. ambassador on Saturday, the day before DeSantis was dropped.
“It’s funny because I like some of the things he says,” Corwin said. “But — this is terrible — his voice bothers me. So I don’t think — he doesn’t seem as energetic as he is.”
Late decision makers
Many late-game voters are focused on the viability of the campaign.
Miguel Velez, 30, a dentist from Rindge, attended Haley’s event on Saturday. He’s looking for an alternative to Trump and doesn’t think much of DeSantis.
“I don’t know much about DeSantis,” she said, holding a baby. “In terms of Trump, I feel like [Haley] hit the nail on the head with the way he explained the chaos he brought.”
To 2028
As DeSantis contemplates the demise of his campaign, he undergoes a marked change from his previous anti-establishment persona.
He began giving more interviews to national press outlets he had previously rejected, and reflected on Friday that he should have shut down so-called “corporate shows” early in the race.
There is now some speculation about Ron DeSantis running for president again in 2028. via REUTERS
On Friday, during his final campaign stop in New Hampshire at Cara Irish Pub and Restaurant in Dover, DeSantis appeared much more relaxed than he did at the start of his campaign.
“God bless the people of New Hampshire,” his daughter Madison told the audience to loud cheers from the packed house.
In his speech, DeSantis reflected on how his children have adapted to the snowy conditions of Iowa and New Hampshire after growing up in balmy Florida.
He then turned to a policy-oriented message and fielded questions from voters, chiding Trump and Haley for being more closed than the public.
MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
DeSantis’ campaign ended as it began — at X. But that’s unlikely to be the last America hears of it.
Florida’s governor’s term ends after the 2026 election, and he cannot run again because of term limits. That would give him a better head start in the race for 2028.
Maybe New Hampshire voters will be less bothered by his voice in the future.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
