TWO questions hang over this year’s mid-term elections: how will President Donald Trump affect Republican campaigns, and how should Democrats respond? For an answer to the first question, look at the Republican primary for governor of Florida. Late last year Ron DeSantis was considered a long shot. Staunchly conservative but little known outside his congressional district, he faced Adam Putnam, a fixture in Florida politics since his election to the state legislature in 1996. Then Mr Trump endorsed him. Now Mr DeSantis, who on July 30th released a television advertisement showing him building a wall with his children and reading from a book by Mr Trump, enjoys first place in the polls. At a rally on July 31st Mr Trump called him “a tough, brilliant cookie”.
