Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign continues to shake up its staffing, on Tuesday replacing campaign manager Generra Peck by moving her into a chief strategist role.
Peck was the architect of the DeSantis campaign’s initial rollout, and after DeSantis’ decline in polls in recent months, the Florida governor is desperately trying to shake up his strategy. He’s now 38 percentage points behind former President Donald Trump in polling averages and has lost about 5 points in favorability among Americans since April.
The campaign announced in late July that more than a third of the staff had been laid off. High-profile speechwriter Nate Hochman was among those whose jobs were eliminated. The decision to let Hochman go came after he shared a video featuring Nazi imagery through a pro-DeSantis account, although not one directly affiliated with the campaign.
DeSantis has been too focused on ‘woke.’ And his campaign too reliant on meme culture.
DeSantis and his team have earned criticism for being too focused on his war against “woke.” But they’ve also been criticized for being “too online,” dedicating significant resources to sharing attack videos on social media.
Among Peck’s mistakes in guiding the campaign was to lean into right-wing meme culture, a sphere fueled by the “alt-right” online community embraced by some white supremacists and white nationalists. Feeding material to meme creators can be a viable strategy, but bringing them into the campaign became a distraction.
Campaigns need to focus on the things that culture war engagement can’t do, such as voter outreach. Leave the trolling to the terminally online.
On a positive note, DeSantis appears finally to be reorienting his campaign. The Florida governor is at his best in promoting his record of leading the nation’s fourth-largest economy and by contrasting himself with Donald Trump. DeSantis last week unveiled his economic plans if elected president, although the announcement was vastly overshadowed by yet another Trump indictment.
DeSantis’ economic plan:America’s economy is decimated. As president, I have a plan to rebuild it.
DeSantis needs to stop pulling his punches against the former president. Portraying the race as a choice between him and Trump is the right idea, and his recent willingness to denounce Trump’s lies surrounding the 2020 election is a refreshing development.
DeSantis still has time to mount a comeback
As Republicans move closer to the beginning of primary season and with the first GOP debate on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, DeSantis should focus on why he could win a general election against President Joe Biden, something Trump would struggle to do.
‘Bidenomics’ in action:Democrats’ excessive spending, mounting debt earn US credit downgrade
The best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago; the second best time is now. The DeSantis campaign, with Peck as its manager, failed in rolling out a winning strategy, but there is still time for a comeback.
Although a Trump nomination might appear inevitable, polls show that DeSantis remains a strong second-place candidate, despite the campaign’s many mistakes. As other GOP candidates drop out early next year, DeSantis has a chance to consolidate support as the most viable alternative to nominating Trump – a disastrous move that could ruin the United States (and the Republican Party) for decades to come.
Dace Potas is an Opinion fellow for USA TODAY. A graduate from DePaul University with a degree in Political Science, he’s also president of the Lone Conservative, the largest conservative student-run publication in the country.
