The top two Republican presidential hopefuls are employing wildly different strategies when talking about each other.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) called for the GOP to reject a "culture of losing," which was yet another veiled shot at Republican front-runner Donald Trump. But the former president himself used no such restraint.
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"Ron's not a winner because Ron, without me, wouldn't have won. If I would have left it alone, he would have lost by 30 points or more," Trump told the Messenger over the weekend. "He's got no personality. And I don't think he's got a lot of political skill."
That continued a pattern from both men, with DeSantis mostly refusing even to say his opponent's name, while Trump not only names DeSantis but frequently rolls out new nicknames.
Polling so far appears to favor the latter strategy.
At the end of February, DeSantis trailed Trump by 12.8% in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls. That gap has more than doubled to 34.3 points amid Trump's New York indictment and other candidates piling into the contest. An Emerson College poll from late April had Trump at 62% to just 16% for DeSantis. All other candidates remain in single digits.
John Thomas, founder of the Ron to the Rescue PAC, said Trump is working to define his opponent before his opponent defines him, which tends to work because most voters are not aggressively following politics at any given time.
Trump is breaking one of the cardinal rules of politics in doing so, Thomas adds, which is to never attack down, but then breaking political rules is within character for Trump.
"In a weird way, it's flattering for DeSantis because it shows they perceive him as a threat," he said. "If they didn't, they wouldn't dedicate precious campaign resources to attack ads against him."
DeSantis retains strong financial support and a host of super PACs that have been more aggressive in targeting Trump. He can also point to the fact that he still is not officially a candidate.
The Florida governor has been active in national political circles this year while holding off on a campaign announcement. He spent the weekend in Iowa, making headlines for another veiled shot against The Donald.
“We must reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years,” DeSantis said in Sioux Center, referring to Trump and GOP defeats in recent years. “If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again, and I think it’ll be very difficult to recover from that defeat.”
Republicans lost control of the House in 2018, then lost the Senate and presidency in 2020. The party largely underperformed in 2022 as well, only narrowly retaking the House.
DeSantis often touts his conservative record as a contrast against the theatrics of Trump.
“Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling,” he added in Sioux Center. “It’s ultimately about winning and producing results.”
Pointing out that the first votes won't be cast for more than six months, University of South Florida professor Rob Mellen Jr. says DeSantis is using a slow-but-steady approach that could win out in the long term.
"DeSantis doesn't have a lot to worry about right now because you won't lock up the nomination before Iowa votes next year," he said. "He has time to play this out and let Trump fester and keep attacking him. The more that Trump attacks him, the better it's going to end up for DeSantis in the long run."
Mellen argues that DeSantis can still gain from increased name recognition once he announces his candidacy and predicts Trump's legal troubles will begin to take their toll as voters head to the booths.
Still, the low-key strategy has its share of detractors.
Thomas says DeSantis should have announced his candidacy "yesterday" and that his window to overcome Trump is closing.
"He should provoke dialogue and go right for the jugular," Thomas said. "You have to approach the core weakness of Donald Trump, and that is that he cannot win."
Republican strategist John Feehery has a different take.
"I don't think electability as an argument is a proven vote-getter," Feehery said. "DeSantis would be better off offering a vision of how he would govern and contrast that with Trump's vision, which delivered us a more divided nation and the COVID lockdowns."
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That would include saying the opponent's name.
“He is running against Trump," Feehery said. "He shouldn’t shy away from that.”