Good evening.

Tomorrow, the man who many expected to give the former president his toughest primary

challenge of 2024 makes it official.

Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis getting into the race, taking on his fellow Floridian,

launching the campaign, and a streaming event with Elon Musk on Twitter, his opponent's

former favorite megaphone, which he used in 2016, of course, to pummel the rest of the Republican

field, including Florida Center Marco Rubio and former Governor Jebush, whom he turned

first into a verbal punching bag, then a campaign punchline, and finally a political footnote.

In a moment, Randy Kaye looks ahead to whether Governor DeSantis will do any better against

those kind of tactics.

First, the kind of political waters he is about to jump into.

In one way, they may appear promising for a Republican candidate.

The current president's job approval now stands at 40% in New Sinan polling out late today.

And with the debt ceiling crisis coming to a head, that same poll shows just 34% of proof

of the way President Biden is handling the economy.

As for his primary opponents, Governor DeSantis enters a large and likely growing field.

He'll be joining six others, the former president included, with at least five more known

to be weighing a run, including former Vice President Pence, the hamster Governor Chris

Sinuno, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.

It's the kind of large field that some experts say will favor the former president.

We did learn today that his New York criminal trial will begin next spring in the middle

of the primary, but of course, how that may impact the raises impossible to predict.

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