DeSantis Was a Good Candidate With a Bad Campaign

With Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially out of the race for President, the Republican primary has officially become a two-person race between former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former US President Donald Trump.

As the election calendar moves onto the second state to allocate their delegates, many are asking what caused the DeSantis campaign, which was long presumed to be Trump’s greatest threat in the primary, to drop out after only one state picked their nominee.

Armen Kurdian, a retired US Navy captain and entrepreneur, spoke with Sputnik’s Fault Lines to explain what he thinks went wrong with the governor’s campaign. “[DeSantis] was quite capable of being a very good candidate,” Kurdian explained. “You could be a great person, you can have great ideas, you can have all the positive characteristics of an individual. If your campaign isn't properly organized, or your campaign makes a lot of mistakes, you know, campaigns win elections more often than candidates win elections. A good candidate can drive a good campaign, but a bad campaign can't really drive a good candidate.”

DeSantis’ campaign got off to a rocky start when he made his announcement during an audio-only X (formerly Twitter) Spaces chat with X CEO Elon Musk. Fault Lines Co-host Melik Abdul asked if that decision was a mistake, noting the bevy of technical issues that occurred during the event.

“The kick-off did not help at all,” Kurdian explained. “A big rally with a large crowd in front, with cameras and news media. I'm sorry, that's just how you do it. Then you can go and do all the social media and have these town halls and engagement.”

“This should have been a two-person race between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis and he had the chance to gain a tremendous amount of momentum going forward,” Kurdian said.

“It could have been a competitive race through Super Tuesday considering all the money that went to Ron DeSantis,” Kurdian added, noting that the Governor raised more than $200 million between his campaign and related PACs. “That is just out of control for a primary when you think about it."

As for Trump’s remaining opponent, Kurdian does not think Haley has much of a chance of snatching the nomination. “I like Nikki Haley, but I don't really see a path for her if you have to spend that much money in order to come in second place. Those donors are going to want to keep the rest of their powder dry for November.”

Later, Kurdian noted that a recent poll showed that most of Haley’s supporters are anti-Trumpers, adding that it will be interesting to see if she encourages them to get behind Trump in the general election. “[The Republicans] can’t rest on their laurels… because Democrats are very good at getting the vote out.”

But it is that reliance on the anti-Trumpers that is likely to doom Haley’s campaign, David Pyne, an active GOP member and campaigner told Sputnik in an email. Describing Haley as representative of the Neo-Conservative faction of the Republican party and Trump as the embodiment of the American First branch, Pyne explained that Haley is representing a rapidly shrinking portion of the electorate.

“Nikki Haley and the tired old neoconservative Bush Republican faction of the party have no chance to prevent Trump from winning the Republican presidential nomination in 2024,” he explained. “I suspect the New Hampshire election contest will prove to be her high-water mark … it is very possible she may not win a single state given her anemic position in the national GOP primary polls.”

Pyne noted that there was a stark difference in the foreign policies of Trump and Haley and that Trump’s is more in line with the majority of the Republican party.

“Nikki Haley has never met a war she didn’t want the US to get involved in,” Pyne explained. “She has offered her full support for Biden’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine including Biden’s $61 billion proposal for additional arms and financial support to Ukraine whereas Trump has been calling for an immediate cease-fire and peace agreement ending the war in Ukraine to avert a potential Third World War.”

Pyne noted that only 3.5% of attendees at the conservative America Fest 2023 Convention said in a straw poll that they support giving humanitarian aid to Ukraine “let alone military assistance.”

The New Hampshire primary will be held on Tuesday, January 23.