![]() ![]() He’ll cover a lot of ground in Iowa both ideologically and with different demographics available to him.” “He’s going to draw a lot of media attention. “If you were trying to succeed in Iowa, this is the trip you put together,” said David Kochel, an Iowa-based Republican strategist who was an adviser to Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. He has pitched himself as an energetic executive and the multiple stops appear designed as a demonstration of it. “I can tell you, if I’m president, this will finally be the time where we bring this issue to a conclusion.”ĭeSantis’ speech introduction was particularly policy heavy, railing against President Biden’s handling of the border, fentanyl, the economy, the national debt, energy, China, vaccines and more, lambasting an “unaccountable, weaponized administrative state.”ĭespite making a handful of veiled attacks of Trump throughout his address at Eternity Church outside Des Moines, DeSantis also echoed some of the core themes of Trump’s movement, criticizing the “elites” who are “imposing their agenda on us.”ĭeSantis’ aggressive schedule in the Hawkeye State illustrates the intensity with which he intends to brawl with Trump here. “I’ve been listening to these politicians talk about securing the border for years and years and years,” DeSantis said, in one of many subtle jabs against Trump. Few candidates have arrived in the first-in-the-nation caucus state freighted with such high expectations and viewed by many of his supporters as the only viable alternative to Trump.ĭeSantis’ event Tuesday night and four-stop blitz across the state on Wednesday will offer the first test of his ability to build a coalition of voters who can beat the former president. ![]() But with Trump still far ahead in public polling - and returning here himself on Wednesday - the stakes this week are especially high for DeSantis. The stop Tuesday followed a trip DeSantis had made to Iowa earlier this month that was, by most accounts, a success. ![]() As for that press conference, he only called on reporters pre-selected by his campaign, using the opportunity to - once more - needle Trump for suggesting Florida had taken the wrong approach to Covid. DeSantis stayed largely on script during his speech, airing a list of policy achievements and painting a dystopian picture of Democratic governance to sell himself to voters. DeSantis’ return to Iowa marked a new chapter in his political arc and a slightly new approach to boot, with the mainstream press-averse governor taking questions afterward from an assembled press corps.īut the changes weren’t overwhelming. ![]()
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