Early assessments of presidential candidacies are dangerous — and often wrong.
“Ike is running like a dry creek,” the Scripps-Howard newspapers concluded in the summer of 1952, less than three months before World War II hero Dwight Eisenhower captured the presidency with more than 55% of the vote.
More recently, then Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain were both tabbed as losers because of slow starts in the year before they won the 2008 Democratic and Republican presidential nominations.
On the other hand, some highly touted candidates flopped, like Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2008 and Govs. Scott Walker and Jeb Bush in 2016.
That brings us to the curious case of Ron DeSantis. Long touted as a top 2024 GOP prospect, some pundits are already counting the Florida governor out before he formally enters the presidential race, possibly later this month.