Big Shakeup in 2024 GOP Primary as DeSantis Loses Second Place Position
The Republican electorate’s anti-establishment mood has not abated. If anything, it has intensified.
According to the Daily Signal, a conservative news outlet affiliated with The Heritage Foundation, the latest poll from RMG Research showed businessman Vivek Ramaswamy surging into second place among GOP presidential candidates.
Meanwhile, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, long perceived as former President Donald Trump’s most formidable challenger, fell to third place.
The poll of 229 likely voters showed Trump at 60 percent, Ramaswamy at 13 percent and DeSantis at 8 percent. All other candidates polled at 5 percent or less.
On Wednesday, Political Polls tweeted the results of this latest poll and noted in parentheses each candidate’s gains or losses since RMG Research’s most recent poll, conducted on Aug. 7-8. Significantly, the new poll shows a seven-point decline in support for DeSantis.
2024 National Republican Primary (Shift since 8/8):
Trump 60% (+5)
Ramaswamy 13% (+3)
DeSantis 8% (-7)
Christie 5% (+4)
Pence 4% (-1)
Haley 4% (+3)
Scott 2% (-2).@RMG_Research, 229 LV, 8/11-14 https://t.co/ERKBHN8EPq pic.twitter.com/cpISBHGkAK
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) August 16, 2023
On the other hand, Trump and Ramaswamy gained a combined eight percentage points.
Trump, of course, holds a commanding lead overall of 47 percent. It might seem odd, therefore, to analyze his polling results in conjunction with Ramaswamy’s. But the analysis yields compelling insights, for it quantifies the Republican electorate’s present mood.
On Monday, a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, handed up the latest sham indictment of the former president. RMG Research conducted this new poll before Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced the indictment.
Republican voters, however, have had plenty of time to observe the pattern of persecution against Trump. They also have had time to notice that among GOP presidential candidates only Ramaswamy has leapt to Trump’s defense.
Furthermore, Ramaswamy has positioned himself as a younger and even more Trumpian version of Trump, at least on substance.
For instance, under “Policy Vision” on Ramaswamy’s official website, one finds the heading “America First 2.0.” On this same page, the surging candidate presents “25 Policy Commitments to Take America First further than Trump.”
In this same context, it is worth noting that Trump and Ramaswamy have gained a combined 13 points in the RMG Research poll since June. According to the Daily Signal, on June 21-22 Trump polled at 57 percent and Ramaswamy at only 3 percent.
DeSantis, on the other hand, appears to have paid the price for his tepid remarks on the ongoing persecution of Trump.
Needless to say, we must advance such conclusions with caution. One never knows precisely what motivates a few hundred respondents to a political poll.
Still, the recent polling pattern looks as clear as the pattern of Trump’s persecution.
As the establishment’s attacks on Trump have reached demonic levels, the only GOP challenger to have surged in the polls is the one candidate who has exhibited Trumpian courage while promising to advance Trump’s agenda.
If that does not lead to an anti-establishment conclusion, then it is difficult to see what would.
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