If former President Donald Trump had a vaccine that could stop Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an attendee at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference is double jabbed. and extended.
Despite his new bestselling book, a campaign-style ad touting his successes as governor, and a flattering showing on Fox News daily, DeSantis’ fever at this year’s CPAC is not taking hold.
Instead, conservatives at this year’s influential convention say they want popular governors and rising stars in the Republican Party to stay out of the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. They say it belongs to Mr. Trump.
“I think it’s incredibly treacherous for him to be able to run,” said Patricia Hope, 59, of Houston, Texas. “When you cross the line, that’s a big ‘X’ for me.”
Mr. DeSantis has not yet declared himself a presidential candidate but is widely expected to join the race in early June.
Mr. DeSantis, 44, has attracted strong interest from donors and voters, making him the most viable “non-Trump” candidate in the field, even though he is not officially in the running.
National polling shows him ahead of all potential and declared GOP candidates except for Mr. Trump, while some polling in early voting states for the GOP primary shows Mr. DeSantis beating Mr. Trump.
But CPAC participants such as Sharon Anderson, who has attended 32 Trump rallies across the country, say the party does not need to replace Mr. Trump, 76, with a new Republican star on the 2024 ballot.
“She’s about as new and exciting as you can get.” Ms. Anderson, 66, of Etawa, Tennessee, said of the former Pres. “And he’s proven too. He’s made promises and he’s kept them. That’s all I need. That’s more important to me than anything else.”
Mr DeSantis is not attending this year’s CPAC convention at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center near Washington. His schedule is interspersed with book signings and appearances at a political dinner this week in Houston and at the Reagan Library in California.
On Saturday, the governor will attend a private event at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, along with other potential GOP 2024 candidates and about 100 wealthy Republican donors who are seeking a Trump alternative in 2024.
Mr. DeSantis was elected to a second term in a landslide last November, defeating Democrat and former Representative Charlie Crist by nearly 20 points.
But some CPAC attendees questioned whether DeSantis could translate that popularity to voters in the rest of the country.
“Will he be another Scott Walker and put out a fire?” Wondered by Edgar Anderson of Los Angeles, California.
Mr. Walker served as the governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. While popular in his home state, Mr. Walker’s 2016 bid for the Republican presidential nomination fell flat with voters and he left the race after two months.
Despite Mr. DeSantis’ popularity in Florida, CPAC, an important coalition of loyal Trump supporters, warned that he would lose a primary challenge against Mr. Trump and harm his future presidential chances in 2024 by angering Mr. Trump’s base. Will deliver
“Because Maga will not forget,” said Jonathan Ricks of Tampa, referring to a coalition of voters who support Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.
“They need ASAP to align themselves with Trump and support Trump,” Mr. Ricks said. “And then, DeSantis is going to be president in 2028.”
On the lower floor of the convention center, where CPAC vendors demonstrated, Mr. Trump loomed large over hats, T-shirts, and bejeweled purses and jackets.
A lone vendor displayed a T-shirt emblazoned with one of Mr. DeSantis’ signature sayings: “Florida is where the ‘woke’ goes to die.” There was no other sign of Mr. DeSantis at the convention.
The trio of college students strolling near CPAC vendors debunked the idea that the 2024 presidential election needed someone from the younger generation of Republicans, perhaps Mr. DeSantis.
“Trump is our leader,” said Cole Larsen, 21, who attends Weber State College in Ogden, Utah. What he accomplished in the first four years of his presidency is unparalleled. I don’t think DeSantis can do that.”
Mr. DeSantis, who appeared on Fox News on Thursday, said Mr. Trump was a “big enchilada” on political support when he was president. But he said voters would evaluate each candidate independently.
“Our voters want to see you and shape you,” Mr. DeSantis said. “And they take that responsibility very seriously.”