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They underperformed in 2022 mostly due to Trump picked candidates that were 2020 election deniers and celebrities. Republicans did great in Florida, which is Desantis country, and would have taken the senate if not for the Trump effect. Trump is electoral poison for republicans, their key to winning is to move past him.
Tim Scott doesn’t inoculate them against racism charges. See Larry Elder. >

He's very good at deflecting them though, not just blunting them but using them to hurt democrats. I could see DeSantis choosing him as veep and them together winning hispanics and rich suburbanites and badly beating Biden. On the flip side, I can also see Trump turning the whole thing into such a shit show that people are exhausted and divided and just elect Biden again. We'll see! >

I don’t think DeSantis can win in the suburbs. His biggest appeal is being Trump without Trump. The only difference in choice between a DeSantis voter and a Trump voter is a matter of personality. The policy is the same. 
And given that these suburban voters took a sharp leftward swing since 2016, running on the Trump brand isn’t going to win them back. The only way the suburbs return to republicans is with a Romney-style Republican, which isn’t going to happen. If DeSantis wants any chance of winning, he has to repeat the 2016 map with a strong Rust Belt performance with working class whites (and maybe expand upon Trump’s 2020 showing with Hispanics, which would probably give him Nevada). 
His whole schtick anyway is fighting these cultural battles- “Florida is where woke goes to die” or whatever. Its more of the same that plays well with the white working class, but is a huge turnoff for upper middle class suburbanites. That’s a big takeaway from 2022 as well- the cultural battles tanked candidates in places like Arizona and the Philly suburbs. >

I think you are misreading suburbanites turning leftward- it was more about being scared by instability than a political change of heart. Trump is an unhinged demagogue that spouts conspiracy theories and loves dictators. DeSantis has none of those scary qualities. In fact, by highlighting excesses of the left he could scare suburbanites right back into the republican camp. He’ll make the election about open borders and defund the police and woke classroom curriculum and socialism. That’s how you win suburban voters- make the other side scary. >

Republicans ran on that playbook across the country in 2022.