DeSantis Campaign Unfazed By Polls in New Debate Memo: “Here For The Long Haul”
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — In a memo to donors and supporters this weekend, Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign manager, James Uthmeier, said the fundamentals of the battle for the GOP nomination have not changed.
“Ron DeSantis, on Wednesday night, will again show the American people why he strikes so much fear in the establishment,” Uthmeier wrote. “He is the only candidate that has both the vision to reverse the nation’s decline and the proven conservative record to show he can get the job done.”
A CANDIDATE FOR THE LONG HAUL
Supporters are encouraged in the memo to “help echo the governor’s message” on social media throughout the debate on Wednesday, September 27. Uthmeier says Ron DeSantis isn’t afraid to “show up, debate the issues, and prove that he has what it takes to be the leader of the greatest nation on earth.”
As the campaign finance quarter ends on September 30, the push for individual donations will likely increase throughout the week. Uthmeier says DeSantis is the only candidate with the resources and organization for the long haul, something he says the media and politicians in D.C. will privately admit to when pressed.
“That’s why many of them continue to prop up the former president, even after a disastrous stretch in which he gave the middle finger to a packed Iowa stadium and attacked pro-life legislation passed not only in Florida, but also in Iowa, South Carolina, and Georgia,” Uthmeier wrote.
AN EXPANSIVE GROUND GAME
Despite his campaign’s confidence, DeSantis has trailed Trump by double digits in national polls since the first debate and other GOP candidates are now cutting into his second-place standing. But Uthmeier says it’s still early and many voters are just starting to tune in.
A recent CNN-University of New Hampshire poll placed Vivek Ramaswamy (13 percent), former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (12 percent), and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (11 percent) higher than DeSantis, who stood at 10 percent in the early-voting state.
“Thankfully, we don’t elect presidents based on early primary polls – especially September polls – or history would have been radically different,” Uthmeier told The Florida Standard. “Winning in the early primary states requires an expansive ground game and ability to get the candidate in front of as many voters as possible.”
“RUDE AWAKENING”
Trump’s willingness to capitulate to Democrats on key issues is troubling, Uthmeier told The Florida Standard, and if the former president “continues to run a basement campaign, then he will be in for a rude awakening.”
DeSantis’ campaign has ramped up its criticism of Trump on abortion and his decision to skip the debates.
Trump said he would skip the second debate and travel to Detroit for a speech alongside the United Auto Workers on strike against the Big Three automakers. His campaign spokesman, Steve Cheung, called the memo from the DeSantis campaign “a desperate cry for help from a candidate who is flailing in the polls and has lost all control.”
WILL VOTERS TUNE IN?
In the first debate in Milwaukee in August, many thought DeSantis gave a solid performance. Still, they noticed that he was often overshadowed by a crossfire barrage between Ramaswamy, Haley and Pence. The memo did not say whether DeSantis would attack former President Trump during the second debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
“I’m sure everybody wishes their candidate got more time, but I thought he used his time spectacularly well, looked very presidential, stayed above the fracas going on across much of the rest of the stage,” Ken Cuccinelli, founder of pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down told The Florida Standard.
In an interview on Iowa radio on Friday, DeSantis said that while the debates are important, he doesn’t think “most voters are making up their minds in September.”
“I think they’re gonna make them up as we get into the new year,” DeSantis said.