As Ron DeSantis drops in polls, backers zero in on tired-of-Trumpers

Nypost ^ | Nov 1, 2023 | Diana Glebova

[backpacker_c]

With two new polls of key early states showing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis losing ground to former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the main DeSantis-supporting super PAC is focusing on Republican voters who want to move on from the one-time commander-in-chief.

Never Back Down has spent more than $30 million to date on advertising

Despite the massive spending and fundraising haul, DeSantis has not made any headway in the race for the GOP nomination.

“The way we look at this race is that there are three buckets,” a source familiar with Never Back Down’s advertising strategy tells The Post. “There’s the Trump base. Those are voters that are definitely with him and are never leaving him. There’s the middle bucket, which are voters who voted for President Trump..... but they feel like it’s time to move on.

However, the so-called middle bucket “has grown” in the last few months, ... and is “consolidating behind DeSantis,” the source said.

Even then, Republican strategist John Thomas argued, the “math isn’t there” for DeSantis to overcome Trump’s lead, especially since Haley is unlikely to drop out anytime soon.

[backpacker_c]

Political consultants and neverbackdown are apparently whispering in desantis' ear that there is a huge pool of people who could be convinced to vote for someone other than Trump, and somehow desanctimonious is the one to convince them to vote for him.

Even if the math based on polls doesn't seem to show it's possible.

[dfwgator]

They may be tired of Trump, but they’re even more tired of everybody else.

[lee martell]

Wouldn’t it be ‘funny’ if someone convinced Kevin McCarthy to run for that nomination. It is probably too late for any new contenders anyway.

[joshua c]

hang in there ron

and let the opposition destroy the Constitution

and take out Trump

dont say a word and just let it happen

[mass55th]

So what they're saying is that the majority of DeSantis supporters consist of "tired-of-Trump supporters."

No surprise there, since DeSantis droolers have consistently posted most of the anti-Trump articles on FR, and whined incessantly on pro-Trump articles. We know them all by name because they've made such chronic nuisances of themselves.

[jmaroneps37]

They have a clear shot at getting all twenty thousand across the country.
Good luck quisling scumbags.

[wild74]

I can’t stand Trump the Rump so I will go with DeSantis he don’t have the baggage the Rump has, with jail threats in New York and Georgia

[backpacker_c]

I think it’s even more hilarious that team desantis and neverbackdown consider haley to be more likely to be supported by nevertrumpers, and thus a more better uniparty rino candidate, than desantis is...

Poor desantis... not even considered good enough to be the better swamp GOPe rino uniparty candidate by his own team...

[dforest]

Oh please, those are the people who back him already. This is nothing new.

[TornadoAlley3]

NeverTrumpers don't have one candidate they will get behind.

Trump will be nominated if not jailed or executed. NeverTrumpers will stay home or vote RFK. If Trump is not on the ballot, Nobody but Trumps will do the same thing.

We've got to unite for the GE. We agree with way more policies than we disagree on.

[Paraclete]

Just threw the third oversized postcard flier into the garbage a couple of days ago and flagged the group for “misinformation” on FB :-)

Here’s the elephant in the room: the decision has already been made by Iowa voters and most others. But, in Iowa we’ve figured out the caucuses are an economic cash cow, therefore the need to keep the illusion of a contest going. Frankly, it’s becoming pretty passe’ in the world we find ourselves. The real election can’t come soon enough.

[Jim W N]

They may be tired of Trump, but they’re even more tired of everybody else.

Compared to being tired of the stale air from all these politicians, Trump is always a breath of fresh air. Maybe you can get tired of fresh air, but it's the best we got.

[dfwgator]

We need a spanner in the works, and Trump is the closest thing we’ve got to one.

[epluribus_2]

Republican voters who want to move on from the one-time commander-in-chief.

Which means they want to vote for Democrat policies but atill have an R after their names.

[Dartoid]

and living rent free in your empty head

[frank ballenger]

If, God forbid, Trump is no long alive or has been kept off the ballots in states, we will go back to the lesser of two evils choices. I won’t embarrass Romney by citing him-—oops, I just did.

Problem with voting for the lesser of two evils is you are still voting for evil, a quote attributed to Edward Snowden.

Haley and Vivek
Jeb and Christie
Ron D and Pence

I’ll stop now.🤢

[Widget Jr]

"There’s the middle bucket, which are voters who voted for President Trump..... but they feel like it’s time to move on."

Those voters moved on before the primary season started. At times it seems the main job of Republican political consultants is staying on a candidate's payroll.

[Jim W N]

Trump comes under the heading of whatever it takes to defeat the Delusional Lying Left and get our beloved country back - our Free Constitutional Republic.

[dfwgator]

Exactly.

[ridesthemiles]

I AM BEYOND TIRED OF NOT ELIGIBLE HALEY