With the third Republican presidential debate having come and gone, Ron DeSantis is turning his attention to yet another televised exchange of ideas.
In three weeks, the Florida Governor debates his California counterpart, Democrat Gavin Newsom, on the Fox News Channel. And on Thursday, Team DeSantis declared that debate will have “increased significance,” as it continues to promulgate the idea that President Joe Biden ultimately will not run for re-election in 2024.
“The next debate will be the biggest one yet,” said Campaign Manager James Uthmeier.
“As Democrats ramp up their efforts to replace the historically unpopular and failed Joe Biden as their nominee, Ron DeSantis’ showdown with Gavin Newsom is even more timely. A Newsom presidency would accelerate America’s decline, and November 30th will be the first chance to expose to a national audience just how dangerous his radical ideology would be for the country. Ron DeSantis will take this responsibility seriously and looks forward to sharing the stark contrast between his vision to revive our nation and Newsom’s blueprint for failure.”
DeSantis has suggested in stump speeches for weeks now that Biden may be off the Democratic ticket, replaced by Newsom or Vice President Kamala Harris. But the Governor’s campaign pushing this story going into the Veterans Day weekend suggests the narrative importance of the Fox News face off three weeks from now.
Ironically given DeSantis has been an active presidential candidate since late Spring, and an obvious pre-candidate before that, bettors on the 2024 presidential race see Newsom as a much better bet for the White House than the Florida Governor.
According to the Election Betting Odds website, Newsom has an 11% chance of winning it all, in third place behind Biden and former President Donald Trump. He is ahead of Nikki Haley (5.3%) and Robert Kennedy Jr. (3.5%).
DeSantis is regarded as more of a long shot, with a 2.9% chance of winning. Former First Lady Michelle Obama, at 3.2%, actually leads him, suggesting that DeSantis’ campaign needs the spectacle of the Newsom debate to overcome troublesome optics.
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