Ron DeSantis' bet

I consider George Will the most trenchant critic of Joe Biden and Donald Trump. But Will’s critique of Ron DeSantis strikes me as shallow.

Will suggests that DeSantis is to Trump what New Coke was to the classic version. The comparison comes from a “Republican who might join the nomination scramble.” I’m surprised that Will found merit in it.

New Coke was a brand-new concoction intended to replace a product that, although losing market share, was still the nation’s most popular soft drink. DeSantis is the wildly successful governor of one of America’s most populous states.

DeSantis has crushed the Florida Democratic party. And today’s edition of the Washington Post acknowledges that, as the housing market tanks nationwide, Florida’s is holding steady because Americans and American businesses are flocking to the state DeSantis runs. (Naturally, the Post declines to mention Florida’s governor in its lengthy article.)

Meanwhile, Trump, having presided over three consecutive poor election showings by his party, is no Classic Coke. He hasn’t just been losing “market share.” He’s been losing, period.

In Will’s view, though, DeSantis’ marketing strategy is flawed:

DeSantis has been marketing himself as Trump with the jagged edges filed off. But Trumpkins love their hero because of his jaggedness. And people repelled by Trump are uninterested in a smoother version of him.

Yes. But DeSantis is betting (or maybe just hoping) that there aren’t enough Trumpkins to propel Trump to the nomination and that there are many non-Trumpkin Republicans who admire Trump’s combativeness up to a point. If that’s the case, the nomination might well go to DeSantis.

DeSantis’ bet might turn out to be a losing one. Current polling suggests it will. But given Trump’s enduring popularity among Republicans, DeSantis’ strategy seems like the most promising approach to wresting the nomination from the former president.

Will objects that DeSantis’ combative approach will “forfeit the votes of the millions of Americans who are experiencing pugnacity fatigue.” But polls show Trump and DeSantis to be the overwhelming favorites of Republican voters. It seems clear that most Republicans are not experiencing pugnacity fatigue.

Many Americans might be. Thus, it’s possible that DeSantis’ combativeness will hurt him if he’s the GOP nominee. But to become the GOP nominee, DeSantis must take down Trump. I can’t see him accomplishing this unless he satisfies primary voters that he’s a genuine fighter in the Trump mold, up to a point.

Will concludes his column on a more positive note:

DeSantis is admirably results-oriented. With blunt directness, he points to his remarkable record of enacting his agenda and says: This is why I should be president.

It should be said on his behalf that governorships are the best incubators of presidents because executives must demonstrate leadership and management skills in the service of convictions. Ronald Reagan, the most formidable president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, was, like FDR, a former governor of the nation’s most populous state.

DeSantis’s modest rhetorical talent is reassuring: He has not risen, as so many in today’s politics have, on updrafts of his own hot air. If his jutted jaw is not glass, he will receive the protracted scrutiny he has earned.

Right. DeSantis might not prevail over Trump, but he’s not New Coke. He’s a serious contender — more serious, I strongly suspect, than the potential candidate who came up with the inapt New Coke label for the Florida governor.