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DeSantis Extinction Theory, Revisited

What if those Scott Walker comparisons are misguided, or at least profoundly premature? Right now, the Republican campaign is in a limbo state until three important unknowns shake out: Republican voters respond to Trump’s indictments, the first G.O.P. debate in August, and whether DeSantis can grow outside of his Florida comfort zone.

Are the shrill articulations of Ron DeSantis’s demise premature and overcooked?
Are the shrill articulations of Ron DeSantis’s demise premature and overcooked? Photo: Scott Eisen/Getty Images
Peter Hamby
June 12, 2023

When I was on my honeymoon in South Africa, a few weeks ago, a fellow tourist heard that I was a political journalist and wanted to talk shop. He seemed more like a news junkie than a partisan, and he asked me about a fresh New York Times push alert regarding Ron DeSantis and the infamous presidential announcement on Twitter. Even this guy understood the patent absurdity of it all: who does a campaign announcement on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk? And who was this for, exactly? Surely not primary voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina, people who have jobs and families.