We’re probably about a week or so away from Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis dropping out of the race

Since announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president last May, Ron "Don't Say Gay" DeSantis and his cowboy boots have been on a crash course.

Mark

Jan 13, 2024 - 19:00

0 5

We’re probably about a week or so away from Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis dropping out of the race

DES MOINES, IOWA - JANUARY 09: Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis participates in a Fox News Town Hall on January 09, 2024 in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa Republicans will be the first to select their party’s nominee for the 2024 presidential race when they go to caucus on January 15, 2024. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Since announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president last May, Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis and his cowboy boots have been on a crash course, marred by embarrassing gaffes, crappy poll numbers, and negative headlines.

On Monday, January 15, Republicans in Iowa will gather in schools, community centers, and church basements to kickoff the party’s presidential nominating cycle by casting their ballots. Republicans in New Hampshire will follow suit one week later, on January 23.

DeSantis, who was once believed to be the strongest candidate to beat Trump in the GOP primary, is expected to come in third in both states, according to the polls. And, when that happens, it will likely mark the end of his doomed campaign.

A new survey released yesterday by the Suffolk University Political Research Center found Nikki Haley has zipped past him for a distant second place behind ex-president Donald Trump in the Hawkeye State. She’s now polling at 20% to his 13%. Trump leads with 54%.

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, things are even worse for the gay-hating Florida governor. An Emerson College Polling/WHDH New Hampshire survey released yesterday found him trailing both Haley and Trump by double digits.

The poll found Trump with 44% support from Republican primary voters in the Granite State, down from 49% in November, and Haley with 28% support, up from 18% in November.

DeSantis barely cracked 7%, which is unchanged from November.

On top of all that, his campaign has burned through tens of millions of dollars with virtually nothing to show for it. Haley actually called him out for this during Wednesday night’s CNN Republican debate in Des Moines.

“The best way to tell about a candidate is to see how they run their campaign,” she said. “He has blown through 150 million dollars. I don’t even know how you do that.”

“He’s spent more money on private planes than he has on commercials trying to get Iowans to vote for him. If you can’t manage a campaign, how are you going to manage a country?”

We hate to agree with the popcorn queen on anything, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Nikki Haley torches Ron DeSantis' dysfunctional campaign:

"He has blown threw $150 million. I don't even know how you do that. He has nothing to show for it. He has spent more money on private planes than he has on commercials trying to get Iowans to vote for him." pic.twitter.com/s8nkMjLJ7P— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) January 11, 2024

In an op-ed published yesterday by Politico, political commentator Rich Lowry writes:

DeSantis has to hope that some combination of weather-induced low turnout, an overperforming ground operation and massive polling error lead to a shockingly strong finish for him [in Iowa]. Otherwise, the governor is going to have to drop out or limp on as an afterthought.
Even if DeSantis holds off Haley but finishes a distant second to Donald Trump, it will effectively be the end of the line.

Why DeSantis has even stayed in the race this long is a mystery. Pretty much everyone agrees he has no path to victory. (Haley, on the other hand, still appears to be a contender for winning the party’s nomination, having seen a steady upswing in momentum in recent weeks.)

Ron’s doting wife Casey (a.k.a. Walmart Melania) is still holding out hope, however.

She claimed to have knocked on her “three millionth door” this week in Iowa, tromping through the snow with volunteers from the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down to pester people into casting their ballots for her homophobic husband.

“This will be our three millionth door in the early states, and it’ll be nearly a million doors in Iowa alone,” Casey told local media. “No matter the weather, you got to show up, you got to make your case, you got to get to the doors.”

Ron appeared to thank his wife for her door-knocking dedication with an awkward handshake at Wednesday night’s debate.