If former President Donald Trump were a vaccine that could ward off Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the attendees at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference have been double jabbed. And boosted.
DeSantis fever is not catching on at this year’s CPAC, despite his new bestselling book, a campaign-style advertisement touting his successes as governor, and daily, flattering appearances on Fox News.
Instead, people at this year’s influential confab of conservatives say they want the popular governor and rising star in the Republican Party to stay out of the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. They say it belongs to Mr. Trump.
“I think it’s incredibly disloyal for him to even pretend that he might run,” said Patricia Hope, 59, of Houston, Texas. “When you jump the line, that’s a big ‘X’ for me.”
Mr. DeSantis hasn’t declared himself a presidential candidate yet, but he is widely expected to get into the race as early as June.
The 44-year-old Mr. DeSantis has attracted strong interest from donors and voters, making him the most viable “non-Trump” candidate in the field, even though he’s not officially in the race.
National polling shows him ahead of all potential and declared GOP candidates except for Mr. Trump, while some polling in the GOP primary’s early voting states shows Mr. DeSantis beating Mr. Trump.
But CPAC attendees like Sharon Anderson, who has attended 32 Trump rallies around the country, say the party does not need to replace the 76-year-old Mr. Trump on the 2024 ballot with a new Republican star.
“He’s as new and exciting as you can get.” Ms. Anderson, 66, of Etowah, Tennessee, said of the former president. “And he’s also proven. He’s made promises and he’s kept them. That’s all I need. That’s more important to me than anything.”
Mr. DeSantis is not attending this year’s CPAC conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center near Washington. His schedule is tied up this week with book signings and appearances at a political dinner in Houston and at the Reagan Library in California.
On Saturday, the governor will attend a private event at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, with other potential GOP 2024 candidates and about 100 wealthy Republican donors who are looking for a Trump alternative in 2024.
Mr. DeSantis was elected to a second term last November in a landslide, beating Democrat and former Rep. Charlie Crist by nearly 20 points.
But some CPAC attendees questioned whether Mr. DeSantis can translate that popularity to voters in the rest of the nation.
“Will he be another Scott Walker and flame out?” wondered Edgar Anderson of Los Angeles, California.
Mr. Walker served as the governor of Wisconsin from 2011 until 2019. While popular in his home state, Mr. Walker’s 2016 bid for the Republican presidential nomination fell flat with voters and he quit the race after two months.
Despite Mr. DeSantis’ popularity in Florida, CPAC’s significant coalition of loyal Trump supporters warned he would lose a primary challenge against Mr. Trump and hurt his future presidential chances by angering Mr. Trump’s base in 2024.
“Because MAGA will not forget,” said Jonathan Ricks of Tampa, referring to the coalition of voters who support Mr. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.
“He needs ASAP to align himself with Trump and endorse Trump,” Mr. Ricks said. “And then, DeSantis is going to be president in 2028.”
On the bottom floor of the convention center, where CPAC vendors set up displays, Mr. Trump loomed large on hats, T-shirts and bejeweled purses and jackets.
A lone vendor displayed a T-shirt emblazoned with one of Mr. DeSantis’ signature sayings: “Florida is where ‘woke’ goes to die.” There was no other sign of Mr. DeSantis at the convention.
A trio of college students strolling past the CPAC vendors rejected the idea that the 2024 presidential ballot needs someone from a younger generation of Republicans, perhaps Mr. DeSantis.
“Trump is our leader,” said Cole Larson, 21, who attends Weber State College in Ogden, Utah. “What he accomplished in the first four years of his presidency is unparalleled. I don’t even think DeSantis could do that.”
Mr. DeSantis, appearing on Fox News on Thursday, said Mr. Trump was “the big enchilada” on political endorsements when he was president. But he said voters will judge each candidate independently.
“Our voters want to look at you and size you up,” Mr. DeSantis said. “And they take that responsibility very seriously.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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