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DeSantis’s Zombie Comeback Tour

Allies have pointed to McCain’s 2007 campaign comeback as the “perfect example” of why DeSantis shouldn’t be written off. But, as someone who rode the bus with McCain during those bleak days, I can tell you the comparison is perfectly imperfect.

Can DeSantis pivot to the scrappy town hall strategy, fix his sagging poll numbers, and come back from the dead?
Can DeSantis pivot to the scrappy town hall strategy, fix his sagging poll numbers, and come back from the dead? Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images
Peter Hamby
July 31, 2023

News of a campaign “reset” is often accompanied by the smell of death, and over the last two weeks, the conversation around Ron DeSantis has felt downright funereal. His much-hyped campaign, barely two months old and slipping in the polls, has laid off staffers in an effort to make up for sky-high spending, promised a new shift in tone and performance, and tiptoed into the mainstream media waters DeSantis has shunned for so long, even doing an interview with Jake Tapper on the dreaded CNN.