Ron DeSantis is sitting in the ballroom of Pittsburgh’s Wyndham Hotel facing the famous confluence of three rivers. The waterways carry coal barges, kayaks, jet skis, and bass boats. It is a scene that reflects the area’s past and developing future. There is also an invisible wall here, and it's a big reason DeSantis has come. DeSantis's emergence as a front-runner is due, in part, to a favorable reevaluation of Florida's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Michael Swensen/ For the Washington Examiner) The Florida governor has emerged as an early favorite for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and candidates are already jockeying for position. If former President Donald Trump doesn’t run again, DeSantis is expected to mount a bid and to be formidable. In that way, his decision will be a clear indication of the future of the GOP. And if DeSantis's decision is to run, and if he is to win, he'll need to knock down the same “blue wall” Trump did in 2016. Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin are Democratic-leaning states. Trump won them in 2016 but lost them to Joe Biden in 2020. DeSantis's emergence as a front-runner is due, in part, to a favorable reevaluation of Florida's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The usual suspects in national media had originally compared him unfavorably to New York’s Andrew Cuomo, but they have changed their tune substantially as Florida emerged as a success story...