(DailyVantage.com) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to run for president in 2024, has made a national name for himself over the past few years. He has helped to transform Florida into a solidly red state.
Some, though, worry that DeSantis, who is a staunch conservative, is too right-leaning to peel off independents, moderates, and center-right voters.
Former aide to Mitt Romney and political strategist , Kevin Madden, told The Hill that DeSantis’s hard-line conservative tendencies are a “legitimate concern that’s going to have to be dealt with at some point.”
Madden, along with others in the Republican Party, fear that the Florida Governor’s laser focus on cultural issues will isolate voters closer to the center of the political spectrum. The cultural issues, Madden says, “don’t really play as cleanly in the areas of the country that really matter in a general election…”
And while DeSantis continues to spar with former President Trump, it’s important to remember that he received Trump’s full support during his painfully close election against former Tallahassee mayor, Andrew Gillum.
In fact, one campaign ad during that election cycle shows DeSantis building a toy southern border wall with his daughter and reading her the words “make America great again”.
While some more middle of the road conservatives like Jeb Bush have endorsed DeSantis, he remains a product of the populist/Trumpist right.
And with Florida’s annual legislative session set to begin on Tuesday, DeSantis will feel mounting pressure from the hard-right to further restrict access to abortion in the state. As of right now, Florida has a 15 week abortion ban.
A Pew Survey from June of last year, however, found that 61% of Americans support the legalization of abortion in “all or most cases”.
So, if DeSantis is to be a viable candidate in a general election against a Democrat, he may have no choice but to temper his conservative instincts.
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