US voters deserve a fresh choice

Embarrassing technical glitches during what was to be Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s “Twitter Space” launch of his campaign to win the White House were unfortunate. But they detract from neither the importance of his long-anticipated entry into the race, nor hopes that Mr DeSantis doing so will help break the logjam and concentrate minds in both the Republican and Democrat parties about the need to find better candidates for 2024 than Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

A rerun of the 2020 election, which Mr Biden, 80, won and Mr Trump, 76, lost, is not what either the US or the free world that looks to it for leadership needs in challenging times. Yet polls on Wednesday showed Mr Trump is well ahead in the race for the nomination among Republican voters, leading Mr DeSantis 53-26 per cent, while Mr Biden appears assured of the Democrats’ candidacy, despite most saying they would prefer a different, younger nominee. Mr DeSantis has lost much of the momentum he had for a presidential tilt after winning re-election in Tallahassee in 2020. But at 44 and with a solid record of achievement as Florida’s two-term Governor, he remains the strongest potential alternative to Mr Trump, who he has derided as the one Republican Mr Biden, even in his dotage, can be assured of beating.

Mr Trump has lost no time in doubling down with his usual boorish invective directed against his former ally, terming him “Ron DeSanctimonious”, labelling him “disloyal” and declaring he “desperately needs a personality transplant”. That is despite Mr DeSantis’s impressive resume as the son of middle-class parents, Yale’s baseball captain, graduation from Harvard Law School, service as a US Navy veteran, including duty in Iraq, and three terms as a member of the US congress.

Republicans, as they prepare for next year’s primaries, would do well to ignore Mr Trump’s irrational rhetoric and personal attacks. Mr DeSantis is one of 14 seeking or thinking about running for the nomination. They include former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, former vice-president Mike Pence and South Carolina senator Tim Scott. It is imperative that Mr Trump is not allowed a rails run back to a second term in the Oval Office. Democrats must also think seriously about the dangers that lie in Mr Biden getting a second term.

America and the free world need better than a rerun of the choice between Mr Trump’s mania and Mr Biden’s senility.