By this point, two things are more or less universally understood about Ron DeSantis among observers of current US politics.
- He's planning on running for President in the 2024 elections.
- He's the only candidate with a realistic chance to beat Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
Everyone knows he's going to run for President. He certainly knows it; he's been spending a fair amount of time outside of Florida recently, making speeches and taking other actions that, if his campaign were officially underway, would be clearly understood as campaigning, out on the campaign trail. But he doesn't actually have a campaign underway. As of right now, he has not yet officially announced that he is running for President, even though Donald Trump has, as well as a few other people who are unlikely to come anywhere close to the nomination.
There are obvious downsides to this. Most notably, he can't fundraise for his campaign with no campaign to raise funds for. So there has to be some significant upside to balance that out.
What benefit does Governor DeSantis gain from putting off officially running for President for so long?