It’s difficult to see how Biden turns those numbers upside down if he is the nominee. And if plan B (meaning Harris) is activated instead, the numbers likely would look worse, considering that she’s polling lower than Biden in almost every sampling. Throw in her awful 2020 campaign for the party nomination, which ended in 2019 before one vote was cast, and it’s looking gloomy for the Blue Team in 2024.

Unless, of course, Trump enters the fray — because there’s no greater reverse motivator for the Democratic base and independents than the 45th president. It’s easy to foresee a hold-your-nose election in which those who might otherwise vote against Biden or just stay home would, instead, turn out for Biden because they viewed another Trump presidency as infinitely worse…

A 2024 Trump campaign would be all about Trump, which is the way he likes it. Yes, he’d hit on all the key issues, but he wouldn’t be able to resist rambling about the 2020 election being “stolen,” which the press would make its main takeaway. Almost every media analysis would be about the man, the tone, the past, the impeachments but not his overall record or vision moving forward.

That wouldn’t be the case with DeSantis. He still would receive the kind of negative press that Republicans John McCain, Mitt Romney and, especially, Trump received during their presidential campaigns. But the governor has shown that he knows how to engage in this battle; the most notable example of this was when he struck back hard against an obvious hit piece by “60 Minutes” regarding his vaccine distribution in Florida earlier this year…