South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott visited Arizona’s southern border last week where, after listening to harrowing stories of hardship on the path through Mexico to the United States, he declared, “The most compassionate thing we can do is tell people, ‘Don’t come to our border illegally.’”
Recounting his own recent tour of the US-Mexico border, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that same day told an Iowa audience that if he were elected president, certain illegal entrants “are going to end up stone cold dead” because they would be lethally shot by his border patrol and military.
Perhaps no two Republican presidential contenders have more disparate approaches to courting primary voters than Scott and DeSantis. On matters of policy, the pair are aligned more often than not. But their messaging reflects diametrically opposing assessments of what GOP voters want in an alternative to former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner for the party’s 2024 nomination.
Scott leads with optimism and empathy and preaches unity. DeSantis reflexively counterpunches at all comers and stokes political divisions with promises to “destroy leftism.” DeSantis has vowed to end the political fights Trump started by winning them. Scott is betting Republicans want to pick their battles more selectively.
Their contrasting styles have become all the more apparent lately as the two have tussled in public on several fronts and moved closer to each other in the polls heading into the first GOP primary debate later this month. Over the next week, they’ll visit the Iowa State Fair, where would-be caucus-goers will have an up-close look at their distinct deliveries. Less clear, though, is whether Republicans remain animated by the grievance politics championed by Trump and adopted by DeSantis, or if Scott’s sunnier disposition resonates among those GOP voters tired of defeats….
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