Ron DeSantis Presidential Campaign Could Impact Conservatism in Republican Party

Sometimes, doing the right thing turns out to be the wrong move. We can’t know until November — indeed, as contingent as politics can be, we won’t really know for years — but as things stand today, it looks like Ron DeSantis might have made a mistake by running for president in 2024. That choice may now end up having potentially grave consequences not only for DeSantis but for the party and the country.

Now, I will be the last person to criticize DeSantis for that decision. I was loudly in favor of DeSantis’s running and made the argument vigorously before and during his primary campaign that it was the right thing to do. Based on what we knew at the time, I still think it was a worthy, calculated gamble. Republican voters were owed a choice other than a coronation of Donald Trump, and DeSantis was widely recognized to be the strongest possible alternative. Even now, we see how Democrats have paid for not giving their own voters a similar choice.

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Sometimes, doing the right thing turns out to be the wrong move. We can’t know until November — indeed, as contingent as politics can be, we won’t really know for years — but as things stand today, it looks like Ron DeSantis might have made a mistake by running for president in 2024. That choice may now end up having potentially grave consequences not only for DeSantis but for the party and the country.

Now, I will be the last person to criticize DeSantis for that decision. I was loudly in favor of DeSantis’s running and made the argument vigorously before and during his primary campaign that it was the right thing to do. Based on what we knew at the time, I still think it was a worthy, calculated gamble. Republican voters were owed a choice other than a coronation of Donald Trump, and DeSantis was widely recognized to be the strongest possible alternative. Even now, we see how Democrats have paid for not giving their own voters a similar choice.