A ‘Leaner-Meaner’ DeSantis Campaign Faces a Reboot and a Reckoning

Throughout the spring, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and his advisers waved off his sagging poll numbers with the simple fact that he wasn’t yet an actual candidate for president.

Two months in, however, his sputtering presidential campaign is still struggling to gain traction.

Allies are complaining about a lack of a coherent message about why Republican voters should choose Mr. DeSantis over former President Donald J. Trump. Early strategic fissures have emerged between his own political team and the enormous super PAC that will spend tens of millions of...