Few would guess a "Florida man" could hack Trumpist populism to animate conservative idealism without excessive prostitution of principle. But that is what Ron DeSantis has done and that is why DeSantis won the Republican gubernatorial primary today.

DeSantis has been thumping state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam for so long that his current lead almost obscures his very real and impressive comeback. Until the president started tweeting, though, the race was billed as David and Goliath down in the Panhandle, a longshot swamp-fight between the Putnam-backing state establishment and a DeSantis-supporting insurgency.

When DeSantis accepts the nomination, then, he will have one man to thank in particular: Donald Trump.

Before the president waded into Florida politics officially, Putnam seemed ready to amble into the governor’s mansion. He had better name recognition than DeSantis after running for two state-wide offices. He had a five-to-one money advantage with $15.3 million cash on hand between his campaign and his political committee. Most importantly, he had the nod from established party brass in Tallahassee.

All of these factors combined would have led to what looked like a predictable result:

06/15-06/19 Fox News Poll: Putnam leads DeSantis +15

Live phone survey of 901 likely voters

Putnam: 32 points

32 points DeSantis: 17 points

All of those factors were mitigated three days later by a single tweet and the results were immediate:



Congressman Ron DeSantis, a top student at Yale and Harvard Law School, is running for Governor of the Great State of Florida. Ron is strong on Borders, tough on Crime & big on Cutting Taxes - Loves our Military & our Vets. He will be a Great Governor & has my full Endorsement! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2018



07/02-07/05 Remington Research Poll: DeSantis leads Putnam +17

Live phone survey of 2,826 likely voters

DeSantis: 43 points

43 points Putnam: 26 points

That 226-character presidential tweet catapulted DeSantis past Putnam and at no time afterwards did he fall behind. And this should not be surprising. Trump was crowned king by the tanned and elderly Florida electorate during the 2016 presidential primary. Snubbing their own Sen. Marco Rubio, they handed Trump Florida by a hefty 18 points.

The popularity hasn’t abated, and DeSantis has been more than willing to ride the wave. Trump has rallied for the congressman down in Tampa and twice dispatched his son, Donald Trump Jr., to do the same.

"Why am I here in 2,000 percent humidity? It's because Ron DeSantis was there from Day 1," Trump Jr. said on a steamy Florida summer day in July according to the Tampa Bay Times. "He was with us when it wasn't exactly cool to be with us … when we were at zero percent."

But it seems like the eldest Trump has the relationship the other way around. Trump was stumping for DeSantis when he was still teaching military law at Florida Coastal School of Law after a tour in Iraq attached to Seal Team One as a legal adviser and while he was still working as a U.S. prosecutor. It was Trump who spotted DeSantis all the way back in 2012.



Ron DeSantis, Iraq vet, Navy hero, bronze star, Yale, Harvard Law, running for Congress in Fla. Very impressive. http://t.co/kkPDZv7r — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2012



DeSantis also spotted Trump. Like everyone else later during the presidential primary, though, he also kept his distance. DeSantis didn’t endorse Trump until months after Rubio dropped out of the primary and even then, he did so somewhat tepidly.

“With Donald Trump’s victory last night, we have our presumptive nominee for president! America cannot afford a Hillary Clinton presidency — it’s time for us to unite and focus on beating her in November,” DeSantis wrote in a May 2016. “Electing Hillary Clinton will continue America’s journey down the wrong track.”

DeSantis took that call for unity seriously, not literally, though, and he certainly hasn’t rubber stamped this administration. While the congressman became a cable news darling for his defense of the president from the Russia investigation, DeSantis has differed with Trump notably on sugar subsidies and increased government funding.

Hardly an unthinking cheerleader, DeSantis was one of the Freedom Caucus members who rebelled against House leadership to sink the first, less conservative version of Obamacare repeal. It inspired these particularly vicious tweets from the presidential Twitter account:

The Republican House Freedom Caucus was able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After so many bad years they were ready for a win! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2017

Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Ocare! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 26, 2017



Those differences have not been fatal, though. A mix of flattery, political calculations, and hamfisted history have kept the two together. Over-the-top, slightly embarrassing overtures to Trump, DeSantis has proven, are good political fodder in red states:





Ultimately there is something about DeSantis that made Trump look past the occasional disloyalties. Maybe it is the fact that DeSantis comes out of the “central casting” Trump talks so often about. Barrel-chested with a deep voice, he just looks like a governor. Perhaps more probably it is the fact that DeSantis launched an outside bid against an entrenched establishment not unlike the one Trump challenged. Either way, DeSantis proves it is possible to preserve principle and remain politically relevant.