Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign is struggling in the crucial state of New Hampshire and may have made the situation worse by scheduling an event on Tuesday in competition with a speech by Donald Trump to Republican women, prompting one prominent strategist to call the move “stupid”, Politico reported.
“It’s the worst strategic move he has exhibited thus far,” the New Hampshire Republican strategist, Mike Dennehy, told the website. “It’s just stupid, actually. You don’t take on the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women.”
An unnamed adviser to a rival candidate chimed in, saying: “If there’s one thing you don’t do in New Hampshire, it’s piss off the grassroots women.
“Don’t mess with them, they remember everything. Rookie move.”
The hard-right governor of Florida formally launched his first presidential campaign last month. He remains a clear second to Trump in polling but trails by about 30 points in most averages, Trump’s state and federal indictments having failed to significantly dent his support.
Detailing DeSantis’s “stumbles” in New Hampshire – the second state to vote in the GOP primary, traditionally a bastion of libertarian-minded conservatives – Politico said: “There are signs that even inside DeSantis’s orbit, they see New Hampshire as a challenge.”
Politico and other outlets noted that DeSantis’s culture war-heavy record in office, featuring use of state power to regulate private behaviour (abortion) or to punish corporations which oppose his policies on issues including LGBTQ+ rights and teaching (Disney), would probably land heavily in libertarian New Hampshire.
John Kasich, the former Ohio governor who came second to Trump in New Hampshire in 2016, told NBC: “I’ve never thought that all this social issue stuff was really a winner.”
A Super Pac supporting DeSantis has paused advertising in the state, Politico said, though its founder, Ken Cuccinelli, told the site New Hampshire remained “literally in the top priority tier”.
DeSantis, who did not comment, is due to visit New Hampshire on Tuesday, appearing in Hollis two hours before the state women’s group stages its annual lunch in Concord, with a headline speech from Trump.
Last week, Christine Peters, the group’s events director, said: “It has always been a New Hampshire hallmark to be considerate when scheduling events. To have a candidate come in and distract from the most special event [the group] holds in the year is unprecedented.”
Politico said DeSantis sources rejected the criticism, as he would appear elsewhere and at a different time.
Another state Republican operative, Matthew Bartlett, told NBC the competition between DeSantis and Trump was “absolutely intensifying. This is game on. This is presidential politics. This is smash-mouth. You better bring your A game. It’s not amateur hour.”
But polls have shown another Trump alternative, the former New Jersey governor and experienced political brawler Chris Christie, improving his standing in New Hampshire.
Another state GOP operative, Dave Carney, told Politico: “Right now, Trump’s the guy to beat in New Hampshire – that’s just a fact. It doesn’t mean he can’t be beat. But right now … no one’s beating him.”
DeSantis also trails Trump in Iowa, the first state to vote, and South Carolina and Nevada, other key targets among early primary contests.
Dennehy said DeSantis had to “turn it around” – or face a political “death by a thousand cuts”.
