An Ill Wind Blows for Mr. DeSantis

In Washington, Mr. Ron gave off a whiff of naiveté: He came there, if not to be greeted as a hero, to give the impression that he is a national leader, gathering endorsements from high-ranking Republicans. However, he didn’t have express support of even a single senator, and just as he arrived at the Capitol, no fewer than seven members of Congress from his own state of Florida declared that they would support Trump.

Mr. Ron goes to Washington. Unlike Mr. Smith in the Frank Capra film, DeSantis is no innocent thrust into the lion’s den of politics. Since November, when he overwhelmingly won the vote that reconfirmed him as governor of Florida, he has been the single credible Republican alternative to Donald Trump for the White House. In the past few weeks, however, the wind filling his sails has ceased to blow. He is weighed down by political errors — crude and isolationist ideas about international relations, which do not lend to thinking of him as a statesman; continual delays about declaring his candidacy; the war against Disney culminating in a threat to build a prison among the children’s amusement parks — but also by ferocious attacks from a Trump who, as predicted, is sporting a Manhattan District Attorney indictment as a badge of honor. In Washington, Mr. Ron gave off a whiff of naiveté: He came there, if not to be greeted as a hero, to give the impression that he is a national leader, gathering endorsements from high-ranking Republicans. However, he didn’t have the express support of even a single senator, and just as he arrived at the Capitol, no fewer than seven members of Congress from his own state of Florida declared that they would support Trump. At the end of a meeting with DeSantis, influential Texas Rep. Lance Gooden issued an almost mocking statement: “Today, after careful consideration and a positive meeting with Governor DeSantis, I have decided to endorse President Donald Trump for 2024.”

Even some important Republican megadonors, such as Ken Langone and Thomas Peterffy, who, tired of Trump, were betting on DeSantis, are now keeping their distance, dismayed by his extremism on schooling and abortion. Of course, elections can be won even without major backers, and votes can be won without the support of local politicians; however, the most respected polls give Trump a 23 percentage point lead over his young (presumed) competitor. The former president, however, is not going easy on DeSantis. DeSantis is the only credible opponent, and with his combative political style, The Donald always needs an opponent. After the derogatory nicknames, the personal and moral insinuations, the accusation, formalized in a post, that DeSantis has launched an unannounced — and therefore illegal — presidential election campaign, now one of Trump’s political action committees has dropped the bomb, “DeSantis has his dirty fingers all over senior entitlements, cutting Medicare, slashing Social Security ― even raising our retirement age.”