
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">There is no doubt that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the early frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – if he chooses to run. ; It appears that he is leaning in that direction, and the political winds are pushing him ahead.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I have previously written that DeSantis should run &#8212; even if former President Trump is in the race. ; I have stated that he would beat Trump – with the possible exception of another 16 Republicans entering the contest and dividing the anti-Trump vote evenly. ; That is unlikely to happen again.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"> ;I based my recommendation to DeSantis on my belief that Trump was not nearly as popular with Republican voters as both the Democrats and Trump like to claim. ; Current information suggests I was correct.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump is not only cratering, but he has become politically toxic among a very wide band of American voters – including a majority of Republican voters. The Democrat-owned news media are no longer calling Trump’s GOP nomination “inevitable” – they are no longer saying that the Republican nomination was his for the asking.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The recent <em>U.S. Today</em> poll has DeSantis as the Republican voters’ choice for 2024 – and it is not even close. ; The Florida Governor trumps the former President. ; While 31 percent want Trump to run again, 61 percent do not. ; Other polls are showing similar numbers.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That is why Democrats and their media cronies have now turned all their partisan political guns on DeSantis. ; Remember, the left-wing press is devoted to defeating Republican (conservative) candidates in every office – from President to school board. ; Theirs’ is a partisan mission. ; They have sold out to the Democratic Party.  ; Their vision is a one-party rule, with Washington being the control point. ; Make no mistake about it, today’s Democrat leaders and NOT democrats.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">They are still going after Trump – even though they know he is no longer the dominant force in the Republican Party. ; They want to drive every last nail in his political coffin – which he helped them build – because Trump is the centerpiece of the attack on ALL Republicans. ; If the voting public does not see Republicans as the Party of Trump, Democrats may be the losers.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Poll after poll shows that DeSantis is more than a threat to Trump. ; He is the current game changer. Without a single attack on Trump, DeSantis is proving that the king has no clothes. ; Trump is not invincible. ; He never was, but now even the illusion is fading away.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But … before DeSantis gets too confident, he should look at the record of early frontrunners. ; At this time in 2016, most pundits and polls gave the nomination to Florida Governor Jeb Bush. ; We all know how that turned out. ; Hillary Clinton was the leading candidate early on – until a young upstart named Barack Obama flew past her in 2008. There was a time when Kamala Harris was ahead of Joe Biden in the early days of the 2020 campaign season. ; Go back in history and check out Jack Kemp, Rudy Giuliani, Lyndon Johnson, Morris Udall, and Paul Tsongas – all early frontrunners.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">There are reasons why early frontrunners do not do well. ; One is voter fatigue. ; After month after month of seeing one candidate in the news every day, that fresh face is … well … refreshing. ; Also, early frontrunners not only get most of the media attention but also get most of the media attacks.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">This is happening to DeSantis – arguably more than even most early frontrunners. ; The left-wing media fears DeSantis, so they are pulling out all stops to tarnish his image and undermine his chances. ; Because they see him as the candidate who can beat Biden – or his replacement – the media is in full character assassination mode.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">DeSantis cannot stop being noticed, but he can tamper down his own publicity machine in these early days. ; He can give the left a smaller target, at least for the next six to eight months – before the presidential campaign season gets into full gear.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He should let the media chew on Trump’s political carcass without being pulled into the issues surrounding the former President. ; DeSantis does not need to take on Trump to outrun him. ; He is doing that already. ; This is a time DeSantis should keep a low profile as much as possible – focusing on retail politics in key primary states.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there ‘tis.</p>

DeSantis needs to avoid early frontrunner jinx
