Ron DeSantis is conservative media’s darling — but it’s not backed up by the polls. By David Marcus.

[Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is] on a massive book tour, he’s doing more TV spots than Sammy Davis Jr. in his prime, he has a strong, dedicated and influential fan base defending him on social media, and he’s visiting places like New Hampshire and Iowa. So why is Donald Trump surging in the polls? …

When a potential presidential campaign does a public relations full court press for three months you can’t spin a double digit decline in the polls as a good result. …

Conservative media and pundits are mainly for DeSantis, because of electability:

Conservative media, especially conservative legacy media, is more or less all in for the Florida governor. Santa Claus doesn’t get this kind of positive coverage, but the flip side of this is that a lot of GOP voters are asking, why?

Conservative voters are asking themselves why every career politician, every donor, and every billionaire media mogul so clearly wants DeSantis. Well do these voters remember the 2016 primary in which entire right wing magazine covers were dedicated to “protecting” voters from the allegedly dangerous Trump.

It backfired back then, and it seems to be backfiring again.

The experts and influencers pushing DeSantis, again just as in 2016, argue that this is all about electability. DeSantis can win the general election, they argue, Trump can’t. There are two problems with this approach, one is that it’s not really backed up by much evidence, but far more importantly, electability is not a major driver for most voters, even in a primary.

Trump is a middle finger to the ruling class, but DeSantis is not:

The vast majority of voters … vote for the candidate they like, the one who they think is listening, and the one who they think shares their priorities.

For now that is still Donald Trump, and every pundit from Pittsburgh to Portland can promise that DeSantis will appeal to suburban moms in swing states, or whoever, but it won’t matter. Pundits don’t win elections, voters do. …

All is not gloomy for Ron DeSantis and his many fans. He is beating other non-Trump candidates by double digits and may be developing a polling floor of about 25 percent of voters, that’s a very strong position from which to officially launch a campaign.

Trump’s attacks on DeSantis are going down badly (by Melissa Koenig):

Donald Trump’s energetic crowd of fans fell notably silent when the former president started making fun of Florida governor Ron DeSantis at a rally on Saturday.

Speaking to a crowd of MAGA supporters in Waco, Texas, Trump recounted how DeSantis once asked him for an endorsement so that he could win the Florida governorship.

The former president even mocked DeSantis for making the request – imitating him in a pleading, crying voice.

But unlike Trump’s attacks on his other political rivals like Hillary Clinton or Ted Cruz, the crowd did not seem to laugh or cheer at his remarks – and instead were eerily quiet during the tirade.

It was only after Trump hurriedly changed the subject and noted that he is ahead of other Republicans in polls for the 2024 presidential election that the crowd started to become animated and cheer again. …

Feedback:

Conservative broadcaster Piers Morgan called the reaction ‘awkward’ in the aftermath, tweeting: ‘It seems Trump supporters don’t like him bashing a wildly successful Republican governor…’

Another user online wrote: ‘Him ripping on DeSantis is only going to hurt him. Also, he and everyone should understand that Ron hasn’t even entered the race. If he does, his numbers are going to skyrocket when it becomes a reality.’

While a third added: ‘That’s as passive of a crowd as I’ve ever seen,’ as another chimed in: ‘Very low energy.’

Another commented: ‘He’s not doing himself any favors by criticizing DeSantis.’

And a fifth Trump supporter admitted: ‘Voted for Trump twice. His over the top sensitivity to legit competition from DeSantis is a huge turnoff. Give me maturity; we have some serious work to do to take back our country.’

The Republican ticket should obviously be Trump for president, DeSantis for VP. The sooner they do the deal, the better.