Ron DeSantis’ landslide victory in Florida has many conservative media and political analysts crowning the future leader of the US Republican Party. Florida’s governor won his second consecutive victory in the state in Tuesday’s US midterm elections, with a 20-point lead over Democratic challenger Charlie Crist. It’s an impressive feat in what used to be considered a swing state, says Scott Jennings, a CNN political commentator and Republican who has worked for former US President George W. Bush and Sen. Mitch McConnell. Jennings spoke to As It Happens host Nil Köksal about how DeSantis compares to former US President Donald Trump and what his success means for Republicans nationally. The following is part of their conversation. As you well know, some predicted a Democratic wipeout, a Republican red wave. In the end it didn’t happen. So, if not red tide, what words would you use to describe what happened last night? It’s not an “all is lost” moment, but … as I look at the results, I just look at all those independent voters who were sour [Democratic U.S. President Joe] Biden, sour about the economy, sour about the direction of the country, really unsure about things. And yet they stuck with the Democrats because, I think, the Republican brand associated with Donald Trump is still too much for them. That’s the lesson I think Republicans need to learn. We have a Trump problem. Is Ron DeSantis the solution to this problem, in your opinion? I don’t think Donald Trump has ever been weaker than he is right now among the Republicans who wholeheartedly supported him and voted for him twice. I think DeSantis has never been hotter. And I think in politics, when someone is weak, you have to go with it, because they can recover. We have seen this with Trump. He was weak on January 6. Everyone knew he had made a mistake. He had never been weaker in his life than at that moment. And yet the party let him off the hook. And now the difference is that there is someone to cover the breach. There is someone who will step up to a leadership role and move the party beyond Trump. Before, the problem was that it wasn’t clear who was going to, you know, push Trump or lead the party in a new direction. So he just recovered and filled the gap himself. Now, Ron DeSantis has never been in a better position to tell the Republican Party that the American people have spoken. They tell us we have a branding problem. The brand is Trump. And I’m here to tell you that a new marketing department will be installed soon. Stay tuned. If I were in his position, this is the message I would give. And it has the credibility and results to back it up. Scott Jennings, a CNN political commentator and Republican campaign consultant, says DeSantis is the future of the party. (Rogelio V. Solis/The Associated Press) I wonder if you think the party will actually listen. There was an interesting piece from David Frum today in the Atlantic, and writes in it, “For seven years, Donald Trump’s superpower has been the destitution of his fellow Republicans.” So, do you think the Republicans are really going to be willing to jump now? As I said, I think one of the reasons he was always able to bounce back in his weakest moments is because it was never clear who else was going to lead the party. Now there’s an alternative, and it’s an alternative named Ron DeSantis, who has a national profile, who has built a lot of goodwill with both Republican donors and the base. Beyond all that, Florida has become the model of governance that Republicans want to apply to the rest of the country. It used to be Texas, to some extent. We’ve always thought of Texas as, you know, a Republican capital of America. Now it’s Florida … and that’s in large part because of what DeSantis has done. You look at his results last night among the Spaniards. Check out what he did in Miami-Dade. You’re looking at the black and white suburbs of Florida. You’re looking at the farm handle. The DeSantis coalition is so broad. This is what Trump has never been able to do. He’s always been so limited because there are only certain parts of the Republican coalition that he can’t reach. But DeSantis can obviously reach and put it all together. If you want to win national elections, this is what you have to do. We haven’t won the popular vote since 2004, when George W. Bush put together a similar coalition. DeSantis seems to have the instincts to do it, and Trump seems too limited to do it. DeSantis, his wife Casey DeSantis and their children walk on stage to celebrate the win. (Octavio Jones/Getty Images) He is also the person, the ringleader, who sent asylum seekers to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses. So, how did – or didn’t – what we saw last night play out? You tell me. He won by 20 points. And it won an overwhelming number of Hispanics. You look at the shift of Hispanic voters across the board from 2020 to 2022. I mean, it’s seismic in terms of what it means for Florida politics and what it could mean for the national Republican Party. So I think DeSantis has, right now, the best instincts in the Republican Party about what to do and when to do it. Then again, he’s not a flashy showman. You know, he’s not a TV personality. He is not an expert. But he is a leader. And his instincts are proven time and time again to be really good. Beyond Florida, what do you think Ron DeSantis has to offer voters across the country? And what would the Republican Party look like with him as leader? I think what it offers them is a new generation of leadership. I mean, I think the one thing that Americans in general don’t want is a rematch between Biden and Trump. In fact, I don’t know a single person who wants a rematch, except for Trump and Biden. So the first thing he offers the Republican Party is a new generation of leadership. It gives you a lot of the aggression, the fight, that you get out of Trump. But it also gives you self-control and authority to govern. And it takes much of the drama out of politics. Another thing that DeSantis brought to the Republican Party is that he traveled all over the country campaigning for people and never really talked about himself or talked about his future aspirations. He just campaigned for whoever was on stage with him. Trump, on the other hand, made the campaign stops he made for himself — you know, attacking DeSantis in one, sabotaging a presidential campaign in another, showing up in Pennsylvania, where his presence clearly wasn’t helpful. Trump is primarily a selfish political entity. But DeSantis proved to be a team player.
