Solving the Trump problem is the master key to this election, and no one has found it.
Mr. DeSantis, like almost every other Republican in the race, adopted a strategy of never criticizing Mr. Trump, for fear of alienating his ardent base.
The theory was that at some point Mr. Trump would disqualify himself, and Mr. DeSantis would be positioned to inherit his supporters.
But now, after three criminal indictments have failed to dent Mr. Trump’s popularity with Republican voters, pressure is mounting on Mr. DeSantis to stop pretending Mr. Trump isn’t in the race and take him on directly.
“Trump is the de facto Republican incumbent, and in order to beat an incumbent you have to give voters a fire-able offense,” said Terry Sullivan, who managed Senator Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign in 2016.
Persons:
DeSantis, Trump, ’ ’, Barbara Comstock, “ Trump, ”, Terry Sullivan, Marco Rubio’s
Organizations:
Trump, Republican
Locations:
Virginia