This past weekend, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida reminded voters and a skeptical press that spent an inordinate amount of time writing his political obituary before he even announced his candidacy that he not only has the necessary promise and agility to be a presidential candidate, but has also the personnel and contacts needed to make the right move and deal a blow to his rival, former President Donald Trump.
People underestimate DeSantis only at their peril.
Florida’s governor kicked off the weekend Friday in Illinois as the keynote speaker at the Lincoln Day dinner for Peoria and Tazewell counties. According to the Peoria Journal Star, it attracted more than 1,100 people to the Peoria Civic Center.
Early Saturday morning, DeSantis kicked off his first campaign event in Sioux Center, Iowa, as a guest at Republican Randy Feenstra’s annual Feenstra Family Picnic, greeted people at a classic car museum, stopped at Pizza Ranch and ended the day at an unscheduled event , standing on a table at Jethro’s BBQ with his wife.
All of DeSantis’ major events went off without a hitch. In this respect, they were very similar to the speeches I attended a few weeks ago that he gave at Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, and Akron, Ohio, where he was greeted with overwhelming support after delivering speeches that outlined his aspirations for the country, his accomplishments as governor and his promise to confront the cultural adversity in our country.
DeSantis and Trump were scheduled to be in Iowa on Saturday, the state that will host the nation’s first-ever competition in 2024, but Trump’s team canceled the event after the threat of a tornado warning. DeSantis took full advantage of his absence by impromptu in the same place where Trump was supposed to be, thus throwing shade at the former president, who had been maligning DeSantis’ character for months.
“My better half and I could have visited all of Iowa today, but before we went back to Florida, we wanted to stop by and say hello to the people of Des Moines,” DeSantis told a cheering and surprised crowd at the stadium barbecue while he and his wife Casey stood on a table picnic outdoors. “So thank you all for coming. It’s a beautiful night. It was a great day for us.”
DeSantis, to the frustration of a battle-hungry press, conspicuously did not respond to Trump’s attacks as an as-yet-undeclared candidate after the end of the Florida legislative session. That vacuum kept polls favoring Trump for months and caused impatient pundits to underestimate DeSantis’ abilities and instincts.
DeSantis’ unscheduled stop shows the scope of the organization he already has in Iowa and his competence. Several Iowa Republicans expressed surprise that when Trump decided to cancel the rally, he didn’t try to do something else, even if on a smaller scale.
In 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas won the Iowa caucus against Trump, largely because of his appeal to evangelical voters, who make up the majority of the Republican electorate in the Iowa caucus. However, Trump won the evangelical vote in the remaining contests and in the general election, defeating Hillary Clinton.
Evangelicals were the most rewarding voting bloc in Trump’s coalition during his presidency as he elected Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. If Trump fails to win over those same voters in Iowa, it could mean a game-changing break in his support.
Over the last few months, the media has been constantly writing DeSantis off. However, if there are two things I’ve learned from years of covering the presidential election, it’s one is to listen to what voters say they want, not what you think they need, and two: never, ever underestimate any candidate, especially when all others Yes.
