Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) may be shifting his 2024 presidential bid's messaging toward the economy amid a polling slide that has yet to be reversed by his focus on anti-woke ideology.
Next week DeSantis will unveil his economic policy during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, a crucial early nominating state that will be key to his attempt to muscle away the Republican presidential nomination from former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner to become the GOP's next standard-bearer.
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DeSantis's "Declaration of Economic Independence" speech next week comes as the U.S. gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 2.4% during the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department, and as the annual inflation eased to 3% in June.
It also appears that DeSantis, who has long attacked "wokeness" on the campaign trail, is subtly acknowledging that social issues may not be enough to put him over the top. DeSantis has faced an onslaught of negative headlines over his flagging poll numbers, anxious GOP donors who question his campaign's viability, and his recent gutting of a third of his campaign staff this week. His comments this week that he would nominate Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr to head the Food and Drug Administration or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only added to the perceptions of a struggling campaign. Another spat with Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) over Florida's education standards on African American history and slavery led to more attacks against DeSantis's campaign from the Trump campaign and its allies.
Despite touting his six-week abortion ban, taking a conservative line on transgender issues, and championing his actions to stop the spread of woke ideology on the campaign trail, DeSantis has not solidified himself as the top Trump alternative in the GOP primary.
The governor conceded in an interview with CNN host Jake Tapper last week that many people don't quite understand what woke means. "Not everyone really knows what wokeness is," DeSantis told Tapper about potential military recruits not viewing wokeness as a top issue. "I've defined it, but a lot of people who rail against wokeness can't even define it."
DeSantis aides told Fox News that his economic policy focus is "expected to be a key cornerstone of DeSantis’s campaign as he ramps up his insurgent message" as 2024 hopefuls gear up for the first Republican National Committee primary debate on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee.
Aides also said DeSantis's economic focus will be on "strategically decoupling the American economy from China and the globalist elites that have been wreaking havoc on the American dream." Concerns about the economy and inflation have long been a key topic for American voters. The issue dominated the 2022 midterm campaigns as Republicans slammed President Joe Biden's leadership. Biden and congressional Democrats have championed "Bidenomics" as part of his reelection messaging strategy. The push touts low unemployment, declining inflation, and his small-business credentials.
It remains to be seen whether a focus on the economy will help DeSantis overtake Trump in the primary race, but experts said an economic focus could be a wise move for DeSantis.
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"There is a perception among Republican primary voters that Donald Trump is significantly stronger than Gov. DeSantis when it comes to matters pertaining to the economy. So that certainly would make sense that they would try to close that gap," Adam Geller, a Republican pollster, told the Washington Examiner.
Trump currently leads all other 2024 Republican rivals according to national polls and has only increased his support despite another possible indictment from special counsel Jack Smith over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Trump polling at 52.4% among Republican primary voters, a 34-point advantage over DeSantis's 18.4%. DeSantis is the only non-Trump candidate to poll in the double digits consistently.