On the Outside Looking In – By Susan Milligan (US News) / May 26, 2023
With former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dominating the news and leading in the polls, are back-of-the-pack contenders being dismissed too quickly?
A popular senator with a compelling personal story, former and current governors, a former mayor on a mission for fiscal austerity, a vice president with “governor” and “congressman” on his resume – on paper, and during an earlier era, any one of those individuals would be considered a serious contender for the Republican nomination for president.
But with former President Donald Trump and his top target and agitator, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, dominating the news and leading in the polls, the rest of the pack has already been relegated to the category of “also-rans,” the candidates who never manage to achieve the Venn diagram of donor, media and voter attention to make a serious bid for the nomination.
But are the back-of-the-pack contenders being dismissed too quickly? Is there a chance that one of the many candidates now in single digits in the polls could rise up and eventually win the Republican nomination?
“Absolutely,” says Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center and a veteran pollster and observer of contests in the state that has long been a critical winnower of the presidential field.
