Ron DeSantis has little chance of beating Donald Trump

"He has been criticised as an isolationist for dismissing the war in Ukraine as a mere "territorial dispute", as an anti-corporatist for picking fights with Disney and as an extremist for signing a ban on abortion beyond six weeks of pregnancy."

"All the candidates agree that Mr Biden is intentionally wrecking the country, that wokeness has run amok and that the southern border must be sealed."

"Mr DeSantis could point out that the national debt soared by $8trn during Mr Trump's presidency; that crime and illegal immigration both increased despite all the former president's big talk on both scores; that covid-19 was poorly contained and that another epidemic, of wokeness, became more rather than less contagious during his presidency."

"He also wants to ban affirmative action, shut down the and use the army to dismantle Mexican cartels that ship fentanyl across the border."

"The party firmly believes in Trumpism, the blend of populism, protectionism, nativism and disdain for institutions and norms."

""Donald Trump will start taking DeSantis's head off in debates and kicking it around like a soccer ball."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Mr Trump is attacking Mr DeSantis from the left on fiscal matters, arguing that he will endanger Social Security (the state pension) and Medicare (free health care for the elderly), two sacrosanct programmes among older voters."

This is a negative sentiment.

"All the candidates agree that Mr Biden is intentionally wrecking the country, that wokeness has run amok and that the southern border must be sealed."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Whereas Democrats united behind Mr Biden in 2020 when it became apparent that Bernie Sanders, a left-wing ideologue, might secure the nomination, Republicans may be hard to corral."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Whereas Democrats united behind Mr Biden in 2020 when it became apparent that Bernie Sanders, a left-wing ideologue, might secure the nomination, Republicans may be hard to corral."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Early stumbles, such as his lacklustre campaign launch and an embarrassing dinner with a white supremacist, have been righted by a new campaign operation that is more professional than the chaotic family affairs of Mr Trump's past runs."

This is a negative sentiment.

"He thinks Mr Trump would have to be incapacitated to lose."

This is a negative sentiment.

"In damning contrast, Mr Trump's attempts to play kingmaker in the midterm elections went disastrously wrong, with many of the candidates he endorsed losing races that the Republican Party had considered in the bag."

This is a negative sentiment.

"At present, Mr Trump commands the support of almost 55% of primary voters according to a polling average constructed by FiveThirtyEight, a data-journalism outfit."

This is a positive sentiment.

"Mr Trump appeared suitably deflated when he launched his presidential campaign on November 15th at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Palm Beach, Florida."

This is a negative sentiment.

"The two candidates who failed to capitalise on such big leads were Ted Keedy, who ran against an incumbent president, Jimmy Carter, in 1980, and Hillary Clinton, who was eventually upstaged in 2008 by the charismatic Barack Obama."

This is a negative sentiment.

"The two candidates who failed to capitalise on such big leads were Ted Keedy, who ran against an incumbent president, Jimmy Carter, in 1980, and Hillary Clinton, who was eventually upstaged in 2008 by the charismatic Barack Obama."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Mr Trump, meanwhile, has recovered his step, making a triumphant return to the campaign trail."

This is a positive sentiment.

"In 2016 Mr Trump ran as an insurgent."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Mr Trump's encouragement of the mob that stormed Congress on January 6th 2021 hardly imperils his standing in the party, most of which believes that the election of 2020 was stolen."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Persuading Republican voters to defect from Mr Trump, as Mr DeSantis must now do, is a difficult task."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Other prominent Republicans, such as Kari Lake, a failed candidate for governor of Arizona last year, and Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, have taken to swiping at Mr DeSantis as well."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Unlike 2016, when the party establishment shued Mr Trump, today he dominates the race for elite endorsements."

This is a positive sentiment.

"Among likely voters in the primary, Mr Trump retains the stature of a former president, but is also seen as the put-upon underdog, owing to his claims that the election of 2020 was stolen, his bans from social media and his many legal troubles."

This is a negative sentiment.

"It might help to point out that Mr Trump, a man famous for peremptory sackings, failed to dismiss Anthony Fauci, the public face of efforts to repress covid, who is about as popular in conservative circles as gun seizures and sharia law."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Luckily for Mr Trump, he is facing a fractious, squabbling and timid bunch."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Mr DeSantis could point out that the national debt soared by $8trn during Mr Trump's presidency; that crime and illegal immigration both increased despite all the former president's big talk on both scores; that covid-19 was poorly contained and that another epidemic, of wokeness, became more rather than less contagious during his presidency."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Others are more isolationist than Mr Trump."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Saying that you're Trump without the drama, which is kind of where it seems Ron DeSantis is going -- that just doesn't work.""

This is a negative sentiment.

"Saying that you're Trump without the drama, which is kind of where it seems Ron DeSantis is going -- that just doesn't work.""

This is a negative sentiment.

"If cash were all it took to become president, America would be midway through the first term of Michael Bloomberg, a tycoon and former mayor of New York who lavished $1.1bn on a failed campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2020."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Early polls show some success in peeling off Trump voters, but it is a delicate operation."

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"They may be auditioning for the job of vice-president to Mr Trump, and see such attacks as a quick way into his good graces."

This is a positive sentiment.

"National polls are pretty meaningless -- they are going to mean something once voting has started," says David Kochel, a Republican consultant based in Iowa (the first state to vote) who previously worked with Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Just a short while ago Mr DeSantis seemed successfully to have engineered a form of Trumpism without Trump."

This is a negative sentiment.

"The plot to overthrow Mr Trump, which once seemed plausible, now looks forlorn.nn"

This is a negative sentiment.

", says Mr Miller of the Trump campaign, "will impede their ability to build coalitions and actually go and challenge the president..."

This is a positive sentiment.

"Mr DeSantis has been widely heralded as the candidate with the best chance of defeating the favourite, Donald Trump."

This is a positive sentiment.

"More optimistic sorts, however, point out that there is still a long way to go, even if Mr Trump's chariot is building speed."

This is a positive sentiment.

"It's not Trump first," says Mr Ramaswamy."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Mr Scott is calling for less confrontational politics."

This is a negative sentiment.

"Jason Miller, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, puts it this way, "Why would you go to see a Rolling Stones tribute band, when the Rolling Stones themselves are still on tour?"Are the primaries over before they have begun?"

This is a positive sentiment.

"Mr Trump will have no trouble raising money from his army of small-dollar donors and will again be able to portray himself as the authentic tribune of the people, assailed by the henchmen of the out-of-touch elite."

This is a negative sentiment.

"This reverence for Mr Trump makes it difficult for his competitors to attack him."

This is a negative sentiment.

"On May 24th, to greater fanfare, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, announced (during a glitchy Twitter interview alongside Elon Musk) that he will also run."

This is a negative sentiment.

"The Republican candidate who comes closest to both Carter-like incumbency and Obama-like magnetism this year is, of course, Mr Trump."

This is a negative sentiment.

"The Republican candidate who comes closest to both Carter-like incumbency and Obama-like magnetism this year is, of course, Mr Trump."

This is a negative sentiment.

"On May 22nd Tim Scott, a senator from South Carolina, joined the race to be the Republican nomination for president."

This is a positive sentiment.

"More internationalist candidates such as Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, argue that continuing to back Ukraine is vital for America's national security."

This is a negative sentiment.