The legacy press is all but dead in its effectiveness at making or breaking sentiment concerning a candidate. Despite their rabid coverage of former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and other Republicans and conservatives they simply cannot stand, the support for these electeds and former electeds only grows. It's like they are pissing in the wind, and you can smell it on them. So, lawfare has taken over as the primary tool for eroding candidate support. A so-called "watchdog group" has decided that the DeSantis campaign must be corrupt — because reasons — so they have decided to lodge FEC complaints until those reasons are found.

A watchdog group that has already filed several complaints against Gov. Ron DeSantis is now alleging that the Florida Republican and a super PAC aiding his presidential bid violated federal campaign finance laws.

DeSantis’ reliance on Never Back Down, which was set up with an infusion of more than $80 million transferred from a committee that once was raising money for the governor’s 2022 reelection campaign, has already generated a lot of questions and scrutiny.

Never Back Down has used its resources to pay for a ground operation in the crucial state of Iowa and has routinely hosted events with DeSantis — a move that some suggested tested the legal limits.

Now, Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center wants federal election regulators to look at whether Never Back Down, which has been in turmoil lately amid a rash of firings and departures of top staff, including top strategist Jeff Roe, worked hand-in-hand with the DeSantis campaign despite federal laws that prohibit coordination between the two.

Campaign Legal Center (CLC)'s tagline is "Advancing Democracy Through Law," which points to their sole purpose: to sue anyone they feel is not advancing "democracy," whatever that means at the moment. The fact that this continues to be a Democrat point of argument in a country designed to be a representative republic boggles. CLC boasts a phalanx of scrub-faced younger Millennial and Gen Z activists, with a few Gen X and Boomer staffers thrown in the mix. However, the organization has only ONE Advisor: Donald Ayer, former Deputy Attorney General, U.S. Attorney, self-proclaimed DOJ whistleblower, and current Atlantic writer and political pundit. In case you didn't know, Ayer is a raving Never Trumper. 

"We're on the way to something far worse than Watergate," former Deputy Attorney General Donald Ayer tells the House Judiciary Committee, speaking about the politicization of the DOJ under Trump/Bill Barr. pic.twitter.com/x9ZFNNqA69

— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) June 24, 2020

With that testimony and writings like "The Trump Prosecutions Are Cause to Celebrate the Rule of Law," we're talking about David French-level TDS. From the fact that this is not the first FEC complaint CLC has lodged against the DeSantis campaign, it seems it has been decided that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now a threat to democracy and must be targeted. The last complaint filed was in March, where CLC claimed the DeSantis campaign transferred over $80 million from the Friends of Ron DeSantis—a state PAC, to Never Back Down. So, in terms of dinging DeSantis, whether to taint him or prevent him from further pursuing higher office, Ayer and CLC are the ones who seem to never back down.

The legacy press is strongly intimating that the Never Back Down PAC's current woes portend the demise of the DeSantis' presidential campaign. The fact that several other PACs have formed in the wake of the second debate would seem to counter that assessment. Fight Like Right formed at the end of November and has raised $1,360,000 since its last filing. Renewing Our Nation registered with the FEC around the same time, and has raised $283,275 for a direct mail campaign supporting Ron DeSantis in Iowa.

Renewing Our Nation, a new SuperPAC that registered with the FEC on November 20th, discloses its first spending, deploying $283,275 on voter contact direct mail in Iowa to support Ron DeSantis.https://t.co/9k40hA7uk1 https://t.co/wOgNTW711l pic.twitter.com/cM9MxjhTeV

— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) December 18, 2023

At a Monday campaign event, DeSantis was asked about the resignation of chief strategist Jeff Roe from Never Back Down, positing the question as if the governor were intimately acquainted with the inner workings of the PAC. 

DeSantis on Jeff Roe resignation at Never Back Down

“I’m not involved in any of that..it's a separate entity..this just happens and it's not in my purview”

“It’s not a distraction for me .. I know media may want to do it, but at the end of the day, I’m focused on the mission.” pic.twitter.com/kAgrKD8j2X

— Kit Maher (@KitMaherCNN) December 18, 2023

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis appeared to brush off concerns over the recent resignation of a top strategist for a super PAC backing his White House bid.

Asked for his thoughts about the resignation of Jeff Roe from Never Back Down over the weekend, DeSantis told reporters, “I’m not involved in any of that.”

“As you guys know, it’s a separate entity and so it’s just … this stuff just happens, and it’s not in my purview of what’s out there,” DeSantis continued. He later added, “It’s not a distraction for me … I know media may want to do it but at the end of the day, I’m focused on the mission.”

As we get closer to 2024, it becomes clearer that the frontrunners will be former president Donald J. Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, because this is where all the fire from the usual suspects is being deployed. As our Deputy Managing Editor Susie Moore wrote:

But there is something interesting to note about voters' second choice, as revealed by the survey. While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley have remained within a couple of percentage points of one another overall, DeSantis is the second choice of Trump supporters by an overwhelming margin, with tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy a distant second and Haley in third. 

When asked their second choice, the top picks among Trump supporters are DeSantis 50%, Ramaswamy 20%, and Haley 14%.    

Given, that may not matter ultimately, as it doesn't appear that Donald Trump is going anywhere (but up), despite every shred of lawfare his detractors can dredge up — and the kitchen sink — being thrown at him. But given the rough and tumble nature of the primary thus far, and the not-so-friendly rivalry between those in the Trump camp and those in the DeSantis camp, it is rather interesting to note that 50 percent of Trump's supporters nevertheless prefer DeSantis as their second choice. 

The indictments and the lawfare aside, there is little that CLC or the Never Trump contingent can do to quell this groundswell — or to move supporters from either of the candidate's camps.

With all these shenanigans, New Hampshire and Iowa in 2024 may actually turn out to be exciting.