Voices: Trump eats Ron DeSantis’ lunch in the endorsement contest

Earlier in my career, I covered the moment members of the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. After that, I ran into Texas Representative Al Green, who told me an adage about politics that explained why so many members of the CBC endorsed her instead of Senator Bernie Sanders: Make your friends before you need them.

Mr Sanders had served in Congress, both as a member of the House and Senate, for 25 years by the time he had announced his candidacy for president in 2016. But as an Independent who kept at arms length from the Democratic Party as a whole, he didn’t have the strong bonds with Black members of Congress that Ms Clinton, a former first lady and United States senator, had as a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party. That problem would carry over to Mr Sanders’s troubles with Black voters, the most reliable primary voting bloc in the party, during the Democratic presidential primaries.

That memory and Mr Green’s aphorism echoed in my mind this week when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited Washington, only to be met with a torrent of Republicans from his state’s congressional delegation lining up one after another behind former president Donald Trump.

Mr DeSantis should have been greeted as a conquering hero. After serving in the House from 2013 to 2018 and as a founding member of the barn-burning House Freedom Caucus, he took his talents back to South Beach and ran for governor and served as a staunch conservative, mostly keeping the state open during the Covid-19, restricting abortion and targeting LGBT+ communities. That propelled him to win an overwhelming re-election this last November when other Republicans faltered.

Just on Wednesday, the Florida Board of Education approved the expansion of his “Don’t Say Gay” law to prevent students of all grades from learning about gender identity or sexual orientation. He’s also continued his campaign against Disney, which opposed the law, even hinting at constructing a prison next to the Magic Kingdom.

That combination, along with the fact that Mr Trump has been criminally charged and faces multiple investigations, should prime Mr DeSantis for a coronation. Unfortunately, it did’t go as planned for the Florida governor. Instead, a torrent of Florida Republican members of Congress – including Representatives Vern Buchanan, John Rutherford, Greg Steube and Brian Mast – all got behind Mr Trump. This adds to Representatives Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz and Anna Paulina Luna supporting Mr Trump instead of the governor.

And a big reason for this might be Mr DeSantis’s well-documented aloofness. Politico’s Playbook reported that Mr DeSantis never returned Mr Steube’s repeated attempts to contact him and that when he was initially invited to stand beside the governor after Hurricane Ian, he was told he would not be part of the event. Conversely, Mr Trump called Mr Steube when the congressman fell during a tree-trimming accident. In turn, Mr Steube said acidly “Floridians want him focused on Florida.”

Moreover, Mr DeSantis’ contiued attempts to “own the libs” might hurt him in the one area he actually thrives – his ability to raise prolific amouts of money. Republican megadonor Thomas Peterffy told the Financial Times this week that “I have put myself on hold” when it comes to giving Mr DeSantis money “because of his stance on abortion and book banning . . . myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry.”

Of course, all is not lost for Mr DeSantis, as he hasn’t even announced his candidacy yet. But he’s continued to run out of options largely because he did not make his time in the House count and translate it into close alliances. Now, he might not have someone to help him when he drowns.