Presidential win has more to do with likability & personality than debate skills. DeSantis lacks both.
Trump is “polarizing”. His backers love him, his opponents are over the top mad, but he does not appeal to people who want to live a quiet life.
Political battles are won at the margins, all Trump does is rile up his supporters. (I will vote for him over any Democrat.) A lot of Ann Coulter (a raw-meat conservative if ever there was one) criticism about Trump are accurate.
When Trump was elected, I said that if he just played golf for four years the economy would do better than under Obama. He did much better, and his Supreme Court appointments were superb. He was great on illegal immigration. I just wish he did not act childish and pick pointless fights with potential supporters.