The audio of a campaign strategy session conducted by members of Ron DeSantis’ campaign with several donors has surfaced online.

The audio primarily featured a presentation by DeSantis pollster Ryan Tyson, who “assured donors gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami that DeSantis starts the race in good shape,” according to Florida Politics, which obtained the audio.

According to the report, the audio exposes the campaign’s excitement about the Florida governor’s growing national recognition and confidence that his standing, especially in comparison to former President Donald Trump, will continue to improve over time.

“He’s known by as many Primary voters as the President is, and he’s better liked,” Tyson said. “That’s the first problem that Donald Trump, I feel like, has in these Primaries. His negatives are too high. And I will also say this. The No. 1 most effective and efficient driver of Donald Trump’s negatives is Donald Trump.”

Despite external polling indicating a growing advantage for Trump over DeSantis in several early states, Tyson emphasized image polling for both prominent GOP candidates in his remarks to donors. Florida Politics reported that according to the data, DeSantis has superior favorability ratings among likely primary and caucus participants in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.

“The more that the Governor gets known to the few who don’t know who he is, we’re finding that the only voters who he is losing are left-of-center voters,” Tyson said, according to the report. “If those are voters in a Republican Primary, I’m more than happy to jettison them.”

The report continued:

Tyson’s polling reveals that voters believe DeSantis is more conservative than Trump, a crucial metric among Primary voters. In the early states, between 43 and 50 percent of respondents classify DeSantis as “extremely conservative.”

Unexpectedly, voters award DeSantis extremely high marks for his readiness to serve as president. 62% of Iowa voters surveyed believe he is now prepared.

DeSantis has higher net ratings for presidential fitness than Trump, despite the fact that Trump has already served as president.

Tyson admits that DeSantis confronts some structural obstacles. Approximately 35% of respondents said they would only contemplate voting for Trump. In addition, the “Never Trumpers,” who incline to the center-left within the Republican voter base, view DeSantis as too similar to Trump and are hesitant to support him.

The pollster went on to say that prior to DeSantis’ official campaign debut, he discovered that 25 percent of voters are committed to the governor. And he added that, despite the growing number of GOP candidates, none of them are garnering traction with the Republican electorate and will not during the upcoming primaries.

“I would offer to you after my field research that voters fundamentally do not buy what those candidates are selling today,” he said. “They just don’t. You can see that in their messaging that they just don’t talk to actual Republican Primary voters in the country today.”

More on this story via Conservative Brief:

Tyson went on to suggest that DeSantis winning the nomination would also be good for the Republican Party in general during the 2024 election cycle. CONTINUE READING…