Team DeSantis to "Ron to the Rescue" PAC: Not so fast...

AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell

There is a lot of enthusiasm for Governor Ron DeSantis to run for president in 2024. Everyone loves a winner and DeSantis has proven he’s a winner.

A super PAC has formed and is running an ad on social media to encourage support for DeSantis as the 2024 GOP presidential candidate. DeSantis, however, is fresh off a landslide win for re-election and his hard work over the last four years helped flip Florida from a purple-ish state to a solidly red state. His legal team says everyone should just take a step back and let the man breathe. There is no rush if he decides to enter the Republican primary. ‘Pro-DeSantis’ PACs have formed and are using his current popularity to raise money.

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One super PAC in particular, ‘Ron to the Rescue’, is out there and a little more enthusiastic than DeSantis’ inner circle is comfortable with, at least for now. DeSantis’s lawyer wants donors to know that he is not working with the super PAC.

“Whether well intentioned or not, the organizers of these PACs have not been in contact with DeSantis leadership and such efforts may create confusion amongst supporters of the Governor and his policies,” Gibson wrote.

“It is important to make clear to supporters that Governor DeSantis and his team are not affiliated with the ‘Ron to the Rescue’ PAC, have not authorized it to conduct any activity on their behalf, and contributions made to the ‘Ron to the Rescue’ PAC will not benefit Governor DeSantis or his agenda,” Gibson said.

GOP strategist John Thomas launched the super PAC because he says he wants DeSantis to know that Americans are in support of a run if that is what he decides to do. He plans to run an ad in Iowa this week, too.

“The American people need to show the governor we’ve got his back,” Thomas said. “We need to put in place the infrastructure so that we have a turn-key operation that we can hand over to the governor, if and when he decides to run for president.”

Since launching the PAC over the weekend, Thomas said it has nabbed more than a million in “hard commitments.” He also has plans to hit television airwaves in the key caucus state of Iowa in about a week.

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Thomas takes his inspiration from the solid victory DeSantis experienced and said he hasn’t seen that level of success since the days of former Governor Jeb Bush in 2002.

“I’m a very vocal Trump supporter, have been since 2016,” Thomas said. “But what we’re saying is, we would like the former president to shift from a party leader to a party elder and make room for Gov. DeSantis, who has shown the way that he can save the Republican Party in 2024.”

I think that is the reality for many Republican voters. Trump announced his candidacy for a 2024 run just one week after the midterm elections and I don’t think he has received the enthusiastic approval he expected. Sure, his hand-picked guests at Mar-a-Lago were gung-ho when he made the official announcement but most Republicans are keeping their powder dry and taking a wait-and-see approach. The mid-terms are barely over – there’s still a run-off election to get through in Georgia for a senate seat – and Trump jumped the gun to try and discourage other Republicans from running. We know what he’s doing. It’s way too soon, though, and no one is ready to get excited about 2024 yet.

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Thomas hopes that DeSantis will announce a run after the first of the year. That, again, is way too soon. Floridians deserve DeSantis as their governor. Clearly, DeSantis is interested in 2024 but is focused on being governor. He is making his opinion clear. DeSantis told reporters on Wednesday that everyone needs to chill.

“We just finished this election. People need to chill out a little bit on some of this stuff, seriously,” he said. “We just ran an election. We have this Georgia runoff coming, which is very important to Republicans to win that Georgia runoff.”

Good for him for putting attention on the Georgia run-off race. Trump should have waited until after the run-off on December 6.

Neither Trump nor DeSantis needs the early jump into the 2024 primary. Both men are well-known and have enthusiastic supporters. Both men are capable of raising millions upon millions of dollars from donors. There are others who are testing the water now. Mike Pence, for example, is everywhere promoting his new memoir and talking about consulting his family over the holidays about a potential run. Nikki Haley seems interested, as does Mike Pompeo. The good news is that Republicans have a strong and deep bench, unlike the Democrats.

In the meantime, let’s let DeSantis do his job and work for the people of Florida. He obviously loves the job and they love him. There are over 700 days until the 2024 election. There is plenty of time.

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Beege Welborn 5:00 PM | December 24, 2024
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