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There’s been a lot of rumors lately that Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign is on the rocks. His polling numbers have been falling; he’s even trailing President Trump in his home state of Florida.

A most recent poll suggests that wild card entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is nipping at DeSantis’ heels for the coveted position of distant second-place.

It’s no secret that DeSantis is finding it difficult to break out of Trump’s enormous political shadow and connect with voters. The charisma deficit is real.

A recent report from Newsweek paints a even bleaker picture for DeSantis, claiming the entire campaign is now “imploding.” Apparently, DeSantis’ unfavorable numbers are rising at a steady pace. DC insiders, even RINOs who dislike Trump are saying the DeSantis campaign is nearly over.

Just 35.9 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of DeSantis, compared to 45.2 percent who say they view him unfavorably as of June 29, according to FiveThirtyEight’s national average tracker, although experts point out the campaign is still in its early stages.

DeSantis’s unfavorable rating among potential voters has been steadily rising since late March, when he recorded a split 39.3 percent favorable rating. This includes the time after he confirmed his 2024 bid in late May in an error-strewn Twitter Space online announcement.

[…]

Trump has come out on top in all the most recent surveys, according to FiveThirtyEight’s collection of GOP primary polls. A YouGov poll conducted between June 24 and 27 showed the former president 27 points ahead of DeSantis (52 to 25 percent).

As of June 30, Trump leads the GOP primary on average with 51.8 percent, with DeSantis a distant second on 23.5 percent.

Speaking to CBS in late June, former Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan said DeSantis’ campaign is “one of the worst I’ve seen so far, and he’s dropped like a rock.”

“I think it’s getting close to being over,” Hogan told weekly podcast The Takeout.

Also in late June Jeff Timmer, a senior adviser at the Lincoln Project, a Republican PAC consisting of Donald Trump critics, said that “Ron DeSantis is the worst candidate I’ve ever seen.”

[…]

Recently, DeSantis sidestepped a question from Fox News’ Martha MacCallum after she asked if he was “frustrated” by his poll numbers.

“Our mission is very simple,” DeSantis said. “We’re going to defeat Biden. We’re going to get all this stuff done for the American people. [Newsweek]

Back in April, Ron was asked about his faltering poll numbers and this is what he said then:

The situation is so bleak that Steve Cortes, the spokesman for DeSantis’ SuperPac took to Twitter to lament the fact that DeSantis is “way behind” in recent polling:

A top spokesperson for Ron DeSantis’ super PAC is sounding a decidedly dour note on the Florida governor’s presidential prospects, saying his campaign is facing an “uphill battle” and is trailing badly in the key nominating states.

Steve Cortes, who previously supported Donald Trump, also heaped praise on the former president, calling him a “runaway frontrunner” and “maestro” of the debate.

Remarkably, at this early stage in the campaign Cortes already seems to be pre-rationalizing an inevitable DeSantis primary loss.

But he also rationalized a DeSantis primary campaign failure by predicting healthy competition could benefit Trump in a general election.

“If we do not prevail — and I have every intent on winning, I didn’t sign up for this to come in second — but if we do not prevail I will tell you this, we will make President Trump better for having this kind of primary,” Cortes said. [Politico]

Despite dismal support from the electorate, DeSantis enjoys friends in high places, including mega-donors and perhaps most importantly Fox News media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Ever since Fox News’ ouster of Tucker Carlson, Rupert has attempted to implement top down messaging discipline that includes conspicuous support for DeSantis over Trump.

Even when Fox News conducts a poll that begrudgingly uncovers enormous support for Trump, the channel itself bends over backwards to spin away or simply ignore the result. The Fox News channel studiously ignored the major finding of a recent Fox News poll touting Trump’s post-indictment surge,  with five different Fox News shows (including Tucker Carlson’s replacement) covering the poll failing to mention the key primary result.

Murdoch’s life support to DeSantis goes beyond universally favorable coverage on Fox, and extends to the financial sphere. Recent reports revealed that DeSantis’ net-worth shot up from $300k to over $1.1 million as a result of a sweetheart book deal by Murdoch owned Harper Collins

Despite Murdoch’s desperate attempts to salvage the DeSantis campaign, many are starting to wonder if the celebrated Florida governor has irreparably tarnished his political career with this ill-fated and premature primary run.

This would be a shame, as DeSantis by all accounts was a very effective governor of Florida, and had a bright political future ahead of him if only he would make prudent choices and wait for the appropriate time. Perhaps there is still a way for the Governor to bow out gracefully.

Only time will tell.

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