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The DeSantis Hillary Complex

One of the bizarre ironies of DeSantis’s flaccid campaign is that the guy who wanted to out-MAGA Trump has ended up looking like Clinton: an overly professionalized Franken-candidate who could never conjure the enthusiasm of a more charismatic rival.

Ron DeSantis has only a faint whiff of the support he had earlier this year, and he could very well be lapped in the coming months by another workhorse rival.
Ron DeSantis has only a faint whiff of the support he had earlier this year, and he could very well be lapped in the coming months by another workhorse rival. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Peter Hamby
September 11, 2023

For the class of people rooting for a singular Trump rival to emerge in the G.O.P. primary—Republican donors, NeverTrumpers, some Democrats—time is running out. The Iowa caucuses are only four months away. And the Republican who was hyped as Trump’s toughest opponent, Ron DeSantis, is currently trailing Trump by some 40 points nationally and around 20 points in Iowa.