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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is among the most overhyped, worst-performing and comically awful in memory. His run is right up there with the 2016 presidential campaigns of former Florida governor Jeb(!) Bush and former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. Like Walker, DeSantis faces the real possibility he might not even make it to the primary contests beginning in January.

Consider that he is “shaking up” his staff (<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-fires-roughly-dozen-staffers-campaign-shake-rcna94470" target=_blank>firing about a dozen people</a>),  <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/15/us/politics/desantis-pence-trump-fundraising.html" target=_blank>burning through money</a>, <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2024/president/us/2024_republican_presidential_nomination-7548.html" target=_blank>struggling in the polls</a> and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/13/top-donors-tim-scott-00106062" target=_blank>shedding donor support</a>. When your money men are looking at a candidate who polls in low single digits (<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/13/top-donors-tim-scott-00106062" target=_blank>Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina</a>), it might be time to wonder if gracefully exiting early would be preferable to staying in for an embarrassing performance that would effectively end aspirations for higher office.

DeSantis’s lousy showing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/26/desantis-2024-debate-not-presidential/" target=_blank>hardly surprises me</a>. A petulant, dull governor who has hidden from the mainstream media, who lacks foreign policy experience, and who lives in mortal fear of offending defeated former president and criminal defendant Donald Trump’s base didn’t strike me as a compelling figure. Yet, somehow, going all in on niche, extreme cultural issues and lacking any positive vision of the future, he convinced many pundits and donors he was going to be their alternative to Trump. Maybe he could still be — if<i> everyone </i>else in the field drops out, Trump’s base of support finally crumbles under the weight of multiple indictments and no other plausible candidate steps in. But how likely is that?

DeSantis now has the aura of a loser, a failed candidate. Sure, there is always a slim possibility he could turn it around. But that would take the sort of wholesale personality transplant and campaign transformation that someone as stubborn and pouty as DeSantis probably could not manage.

If Republicans really want a Trump alternative — and it’s far from certain they do — they will take DeSantis as an object lesson. The GOP in all likelihood is not ready for a true leader and iconoclast such as former Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney. However, Republicans might want to look for specific qualities before picking their next Trump alternative.

For starters, politicians who avoid the media usually do so for a reason: They don’t come off well unless they have total control of the exchange, and they are gaffe-prone, they lack basic knowledge and/or they are uncertain what position they want to take on issues. Like it or not, the GOP nominee is going to have to engage with the mainstream media at some point; he or she is, at the very least, going to be covered by them. The ideal (or at least better-than-DeSantis) candidate would be someone comfortable in his or her own skin, certain about his or her positions and able to tangle with campaign trail reporters. If Republicans really hit the jackpot, they will find someone who is self-deprecating and funny, not thin-skinned and grouchy.

Second, an adequate alternative to Trump must be able to knock Trump down to size in ways that will raise questions among the MAGA crowd and consolidate support among the someone-other-than Trump contingent. One viable angle: Trump’s age. Seriously, the man is incoherent (more so with each passing year) and is clueless about popular culture. If not his age, his nonstop legal proceedings provide fodder for a skilled opponent. (“Defendant Donald” would be an apt nickname.) Emphasizing Trump’s frequent court appearances might impress upon primary voters that a criminal defendant is a bad choice for their nominee. Whatever the specific tactic, an alternative cannot meekly wait around for Trump to collapse.

Third, DeSantis’s “woke” hooey plays on Newsmax, Fox News and talk radio, but it leaves the vast majority of voters confused. Even if a candidate deplores elite culture, accurate history and pluralism, what agenda item would possibly address that? (Surely the GOP nominee is not running for national school board president.) It’s one thing to use “anti-woke” as a throwaway line; it’s another to build an entire campaign around it. If looking for an issue that would interest the base and not come across as completely daft in the general election, a potential Trump alternative might try crime and immigration (front and center for Trump in his 2016 run) — which carry the implicit criticism that Trump didn’t solve the issues.

And finally, if the Trump alternative wants to engage on foreign policy, he should get to the right of Trump and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/joe-biden-2024/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">President Biden</a> on China, an issue that raises concern in both parties. It’s not clear what policy alternative the candidate might present, but, candidly, it hardly matters. Stressing the need to push back against China’s illegal trade practices, human rights abuses, cyber-mischief and intellectual property theft at least would make for a compelling discussion.

A candidate who embodies these qualities <i>and</i> is willing to employ the suggested tactics against Trump might not be out there. But there is no rush. Only the pundits and campaign consultants insist candidates enter the race 18 months or more before the first vote is cast. There is something to be said for letting the electorate grow tired of the current field, sitting back while other candidates burn through money and letting true panic set in among donors and more sensible Republicans.

Maybe by fall, a remotely suitable Trump alternative will emerge. Right now, it’s fair to say that DeSantis is not that person.

University of California at Berkeley, BA in history

University of California at Berkeley, JD

Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post. She is the author of “Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump” and is host of the podcast Jen Rubin's "Green Room."

Jennifer Rubin

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Republicans need an alternative to DeSantis's disastrous campaign

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