Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has officially entered the 2024 election, filing the requisite paperwork necessary to throw his hat in the ring with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday afternoon, just ahead of a highly anticipated sit down chit-chat with Twitter owner Elon Musk. This is an announcement that many have been expecting for quite some time now, especially since the release of his recent book.
“With his entrance into the race, many political pundits and analysts now view the Republican Party primary as a two-horse race between DeSantis and former President Donald Trump—both of whom are polling significantly higher than the rest of the field,” the Daily Wire reported.
🚨Here we go…Florida Governor @RonDeSantis has filed FEC paperwork to run for President of the United States.https://t.co/qcpOne8zKu pic.twitter.com/P2C6VHupsg
— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) May 24, 2023
“The 44-year-old governor was born in Jacksonville but was raised on the other side of the state in Dunedin. DeSantis excelled in academics and athletics growing up, eventually playing baseball at Yale and later obtaining his law degree with honors from Harvard Law School. After law school, DeSantis joined the U.S. Navy as a JAG officer and was deployed to Iraq as an adviser to U.S. Navy SEALs in Fallujah and Ramadi,” the report added.
The vast majority of DeSantis’ campaign will be focused around the mountain of achievements he secured as Florida’s governor, which as been referred to as the “Florida Blueprint” and how he can take the principles behind those accomplishments and bring them up to the federal stage, should he be successful in nabbing the presidency.
“The governor’s rise to the top of the Republican Party was cemented by his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which included bucking Dr. Anthony Fauci, the public health official whom the previous administration repeatedly took advice from throughout the course of the pandemic, and resisting draconian measures that impeded on the freedoms of people in his state. As a result, the state led the country in net-in migration over the last couple of years,” The Daily Wire said.
Thanks in large part to his popularity in the state, which was underscored by his taking a massive 19-point victory during his reelection campaign, the legislature in Florida mostly does what he says when it comes to putting his agenda into action.
Now, lots of people are trying to pit DeSantis and Trump against each other as bitter rivals — something Trump’s own statements have played a large role in — but the truth of the matter is, either one of these two gentlemen would make outstanding leaders.
What 2024 boils down to is who possesses the greatest chance of defeating Joe Biden? And yes, I’m largely ignoring other candidates who have decided to run for the GOP nomination because, let’s face it, none of them are serious contenders. Not with Trump and DeSantis in the mix. It’s almost a waste of time for anyone else to keep campaigning at this point.
As to whether Trump or DeSantis has a greater shot at winning the general election, if early polling is to be believed, the answer is Trump. Is that accurate? Who knows? Polling made it look like 2022’s midterms were going to be a red tsunami and we see how that worked out.
Guess we’ll just have to decide that when primary season rolls around.
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