People here, for basically an entire year at this point, keep thinking it’s Trump or DeSantis. While that may be true, plenty of other GOP candidates have a solid shot at the nomination. I’m also not entirely sure what truly sets apart DeSantis from the likes of Scott Walker, or Rick Santorum.
What sets DeSantis apart is that he is current and hasn't lost an election. It's what set apart George Bush from Harold Stassen in 1980.
I think he means in the year they ran for president? I think this is a valid point. Recently, there have been a lot of "popular middle-aged conservative governor" candidates who looked very promising but flopped in the primary.
Walker was the popular incumbent governor when his campaign flamed out in 2016. He didn't lose the
governorship until 2018.
Perry ran as a locally popular big state incumbent in 2012 and flopped. You could say he was old news in 2016, but not in 2012.
Christie was also a locally popular incumbent governor with a winning record in 2016. He had a scandal on his record, but it seems pretty tame in retrospect. He also struggled and never broke out in the primary.
