'Comically awful' DeSantis campaign could hold key to finding a Trump alternative: columnist

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign, announced after much fanfare and hype from Republican donors and strategists who were hoping for a serious challenge to former President Donald Trump, has gone disastrously; DeSantis has been mired 30 points behind Trump, has struggled to connect organically with voters, is blowing through campaign funds as fast as he can raise them, and is now conducting layoffs and restructuring of his whole operation.

All of this should be a cautionary tale for Republicans, wrote Jennifer Rubin for The Washington Post — and a blueprint for how they could possibly do a better job of fielding a Trump alternative.

"A petulant, dull governor who has hidden from the mainstream media, who lacks foreign policy experience, and who lives in mortal fear of offending defeated former president and criminal defendant Donald Trump’s base didn’t strike me as a compelling figure," wrote Rubin, who previously identified as a conservative commentator before rejecting the GOP. "Yet, somehow, going all in on niche, extreme cultural issues and lacking any positive vision of the future, he convinced many pundits and donors he was going to be their alternative to Trump."

Now that DeSantis' "comically awful" run has left him with "the aura of a loser, a failed candidate," Rubin continued, he joins the ranks of other one-time rising GOP stars who couldn't hack it on the presidential stage, like former Govs. Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. And there are lessons to learn here.

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For one, wrote Rubin, "politicians who avoid the media usually do so for a reason: They don’t come off well unless they have total control of the exchange, and they are gaffe-prone, they lack basic knowledge and/or they are uncertain what position they want to take on issues"; an ideal candidate should be "self-deprecating and funny, not thin-skinned and grouchy."

For another, any Republican who wants to beat Trump has to hit him where it hurts, on issues like his advanced age or his criminal indictments, which DeSantis avoided dutifully. For yet another, "anti-woke" simply doesn't make a good policy platform, as not enough voters care about it or even understand it.

"A candidate who embodies these qualities and is willing to employ the suggested tactics against Trump might not be out there," concluded Rubin. "Maybe by fall, a remotely suitable Trump alternative will emerge. Right now, it’s fair to say that DeSantis is not that person."