Although Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has yet to announce his bid to be the Republican Party's presidential nominee in 2024, he is hitting key presidential primary states and meeting with locals in a manner that traditionally precedes an imminent announcement.
However, as MSNBC's Sarah Posner wrote, he may need to adjust the main thrust of why he should be the GOP nominee because it does not test well with Democrats, independents and a suprising number of Republicans.
As Posner explained, DeSantis' reliance on repeating "woke" over and over again may work with his rabid supporters, but it is a big dud outside the far-right bubble.
For evidence, the MSNBC analyst offered up a recent poll that shows a healthy number of voters are not only not offended by accusations of "wokeness" but actually approve.
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"The poll, conducted by Ipsos and published last week in USA Today, shows that 56% of Americans consider 'woke' a positive term, meaning 'to be informed, educated on, and aware of social injustices.' Even more than a third of Republicans agree. Just 39% agreed with a negative definition: 'to be overly politically correct and police others’ words,'" she wrote before adding that DeSantis' belief that his "anti-wokeness" rants led to his re-election in 2022 by a substantial margin may lead him to "over-play" his hand.
"But if most Americans believe 'woke' is a positive term, why would they want a president to suffocate it, and replace it with autocratic power grabs and far right curricula? DeSantis won his gubernatorial reelection handily, but he might be a little high on his own supply," Posner explained.
She added, "... outside that base, such a message falls flat. The USA Today-Ipsos findings are broadly consistent with a Morning Consult poll earlier this year, which found majorities of voters opposed lawmakers punishing companies that speak up in favor of abortion rights and other issues. And Republican attempts to use attacks on 'woke Democrats' in last year’s midterms fizzled."
"DeSantis may believe that most Americans share the right-wing doctrine that America’s white Christian heritage is threatened by learning about history, racial injustice, and systemic racism — or that at least that his own charms will convince them of it. But in fact, he’s out of touch with Americans and American families, and that is the most important thing to know about his presidential aspirations," she wrote before predicting, "All that remains is for voters to tell him at the ballot box."
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