Ready or not, the speculation for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis making a presidential run in 2024 has begun.
This week, Ed Rollins, the one-time campaign chairman for former President Ronald Reagan, and conservative activist Lillian Rodriguez-Baz, helped launch a political action committee in DeSantis’ honor.
It’s worth noting, though. The “Ready For Ron” PAC has no direct affiliation with DeSantis — who’s seeking gubernatorial reelection this November — even though it represents the first hint of the Florida governor chasing the GOP nomination in two years.
In the meantime, the PAC will begin recruiting an “army of supporters” to convince DeSantis to run for president in 2024.
For any other two-year election cycle (midterms in 2022, presidential in 2024), DeSantis might seem like a lock for a run at the White House.
However, at age 43, DeSantis is seemingly in no rush to make a firm presidential push. Especially with former President Donald Trump, 75, most likely to seek the GOP nomination in 2024.
DeSantis and Trump are viewed as political allies; and things could potentially turn awkward, if the two popular leaders were obliged to sling the proverbial “mud” during the 2024 primary season.
Plus, with Trump and DeSantis both representing the state of Florida, the pairing would be prohibited from being part of the same president/vice president ticket in a general-election setting.
As such, the “Ready For Ron” team was respectful of Trump during their PAC announcement, saying only that Trump remains undecided about his political plans for 2024.
“The era of President Trump was wonderful, but now, since he isn’t currently running, we must get ready for a new leader, we must be ‘Ready for Ron,'” said Rollins in a statement.
The PAC has already launched a petition online for supporters to sign to “draft” DeSantis to run for the presidency, as well as a new advertising campaign to garner support for a potential DeSantis candidacy.
According to the Daily Mail, the PAC also took “the unusual step” of asking the FEC permission to share its supporter list with DeSantis, if the governor invariably makes a run at the presidency.
None of the GOP’s nomination contenders (Trump, DeSantis, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, former Vice President Mike Pence) have yet to formally announce their plans for the 2024 presidency.
Perhaps that’s a nod to former President Trump, who remains the Republican Party’s most influential asset.
Asked whether DeSantis should run if Trump jumps into the race, Rodriguez-Baz — who emigrated from Cuba to Florida as a child — says: “We’re not concerned with whether or not Trump is going to run.
“To the people that are concerned with that, or to the people that are, I guess, tempted to draw any parallels, we would say that Ron DeSantis is probably the best person, if you look out on the sea of politicians right now, to carry on Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda policy.”
In the meantime, DeSantis will likely keep his 2024 plans close to the vest. He’s focused on defeating the Democratic Party challenger in the Florida governor race.
During a recent TV appearance on FOX News, DeSantis said this about any 2024 speculation:
“My goal would be, if we win the election really big, [TV pundits] who analyze these things are going to say: ‘The days of Florida being a swing state are over. Florida is a red state.’ And I think that’s because of a lot of what we’ve done.”
Ed Rollins oversaw President Reagan’s reelection campaign in 1984, the same year in which Reagan carried 49 of 50 states.
Via Newsmax
