The suck-up strategy
DeSantis and other Republicans are trying to beat Trump by [checks notes] defending him.
Imagine if Dr. Pepper launched an ad campaign making fun of Coca-Cola, and Pepsi responded with an advertising blitz savaging…Dr. Pepper, while issuing a statement insisting that New Coke was actually a brilliant idea and tasted much better than their own swill.1
That’s basically how the GOP nomination race is playing out:
Ron DeSantis needs “to take a sledgehammer” to Vivek Ramaswamy, the political newcomer who is rising in the polls. He should “defend Donald Trump” when Chris Christie inevitably attacks the former president. And he needs to “attack Joe Biden and the media” no less than three to five times.
A firm associated with the super PAC that has effectively taken over Mr. DeSantis’s presidential campaign posted online hundreds of pages of blunt advice, research memos and internal polling in early nominating states to guide the Florida governor ahead of the high-stakes Republican presidential debate next Wednesday in Milwaukee.
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“1. Attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times. 2. Sta…
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