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Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his Republican presidential campaign on May 24, which means the national operation hasn’t quite reached the two-month mark. I don’t think it’s a secret that the Floridian expected to be in a much better place by now.
As we discussed the other day, the governor’s poll numbers are moving in the wrong direction; his finances are a problem; and he’s already shaken up his staff. NBC News spoke to a source close to DeSantis’ operation who said, “The entire campaign is on the brink. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
But the Floridian’s supporters can take heart in the fact that DeSantis and his team apparently intend to turn the campaign off and back on again. The same NBC News report explained:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign is planning a reboot, top campaign officials said, with a significant shift on messaging, events and media strategy. Expect fewer big speeches and more handshaking in diners and churches. There will be more of a national focus than constant Florida references.
At face value, this seems more or less sensible. If one approach isn’t working, it stands to reason that the team would try a new one.
So, what might the newly “rebooted” DeSantis have to offer? If there’s going to be “significant shift on messaging,” what might we hear the GOP governor say to help turn things around?
It just so happens that the Florida Republican said something on Fox News last night that I don’t remember him saying before. The conservative Washington Times reported:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is considering legal action against Bud Light’s parent company over its woke marketing campaign. The 2024 Republican presidential-primary contender said in a letter to state legal officials Thursday and an appearance on Fox News Channel that AB InBev’s Dylan Mulvaney campaign may have “breached legal duties owed to its shareholders” by aligning the brand with “radical social ideologies.”
Oh. We’re apparently back to the Bud Light thing again.
For those who might need a refresher — or, if you’re fortunate, those who never heard about this manufactured “controversy” in the first place — as part of a promotional campaign tied to the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, Bud Light partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a trans woman with a prominent social media profile. She posted a harmless and lighthearted Instagram video, which led to conservative apoplexy because ... well, it’s not altogether clear why. Apparently, much of the right doesn’t believe trans people should be involved in promotional campaigns with beer companies.
What followed was a surprisingly intense effort on the part of the right to effectively “cancel” Bud Light, complete with boycotts and social media videos featuring conservatives pouring beer down drains. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas even announced an investigation of his own for reasons that have never made any sense to me.
And now, evidently, DeSantis has decided to embrace the GOP’s approach to cancel culture as part of his struggling national candidacy.
For those familiar with the Florida governor, these developments won’t be especially surprising. DeSantis is, after all, a relentless culture warrior. When he spoke at a recent Moms for Liberty event, the audience heard the Republican use the word “woke” six times in 19 seconds — which rivaled another recent speech in which he said it seven times in just under 19 seconds.
Or put another way, it’s a little weird that DeSantis didn’t signal these anti-Bud Light plans sooner.
But it’s the context that stands out: The GOP candidate and his team were apparently under the impression that his message wasn’t working, so they were prepared to tweak their pitch. What we’re instead hearing is more of the same stale, prosaic social conservatism.
Meet the new Ron DeSantis; he’s the same as the old Ron DeSantis.