Although Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finished second in the Iowa caucus, it was nonetheless a massive disappointment for a candidate whose entire strategy for winning the GOP nomination centered around coming in first.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board, which has been open about wanting an alternative to former President Donald Trump to be the party's 2024 nominee, has written an epitaph for DeSantis' campaign in which it outlines the strategic errors he made throughout his candidacy.
"He tried a version of the Cruz strategy by running to Mr. Trump’s right on abortion and as an anti-woke warrior," the editors write. "But there isn’t much room in that lane. The Florida Governor earned some evangelical support in Iowa for Florida’s ban on abortion after six weeks, but Mr. Trump ran as the President whose Supreme Court appointees voted to overturn Roe v. Wade. Mr. DeSantis waffled on aid to Ukraine to appeal to Trump voters, but this has made him look inconstant."
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They then argued that this leaves former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley as the one Republican left who has any shot at knocking off Trump, especially given her recent strong polling in New Hampshire.
"Mr. DeSantis faces no clear path to the nomination," the editors write. "He’s well behind Ms. Haley in New Hampshire and South Carolina. If he believes, as he says, that Mr. Trump can’t win in November, he should leave the race and give Ms. Haley a chance to take on Mr. Trump one on one."
