DeSantis is trying to connect with voters
SALIX, Iowa — Ron DeSantis was making a four-stop blitz through Iowa during his first full day of presidential campaigning on Wednesday, aiming for a personal connection with voters while intensifying his criticism of former President Donald Trump.
The Florida governor’s first appearance was the floor of Port Neal Welding in Salix, a rural town near Sioux City, in the heart of the most Republican-heavy part of the state. Lining the highway outside the welding shop were metal structures including a towering Jesus, a version of the Statue of Liberty and the Minions.
DeSantis talked up his efforts to push his state farther to the right. But he often barreled through his 30-minute speech, leaving few pauses for applause from the audience of a bit more than 100 people, some wearing caps bearing seed company logos.
The governor is opening his campaign trailing Trump in the polls. He’s also for months been dogged by criticism that, while he’s comfortable on stage and in official settings, he can seem halting and awkward when interacting with regular voters.
Displaying a personal touch that resonates with voters is vital in states like Iowa. That’s a departure from Florida and its large, expensive media markets, where television advertising is often more important than on-the-ground campaigning.
Trying to position himself as the most formidable alternative to Trump in the crowded-but-still-forming Republican White House primary field, DeSantis didn’t mention the former president by name in Salix. But he said the Bible emphasized the importance of being humble.
“The tired dogmas of the past are inadequate for a vibrant future. We have to look forward,” DeSantis said. “We can’t look backwards. We must have the courage to lead and we must have the strength to win.”
He later sat with his wife, Casey, among hydraulic lifts and long welding tables arrayed with metal engine parts. The pair offered stories of their favorite drivethru chicken restaurant and their kids — including an incident involving permanent marker drawings on the bathroom walls of the governor’s mansion.
“They just seem very down to earth,” said Bev Lessman, a 70-year-old retired teacher from Sioux City. After speaking, DeSantis walked through the audience and Lessman wrapped her arms around
DeSantis’ neck and told the governor she could feel what seemed to her to be the governor’s Christian devotion.
“I told him we can’t make others live it, but I appreciated how he expressed his faith,” she said later. He replied, “But we can model it,” she said.
“There was a connection,” Lessman added.
At his second stop, about 80 miles to the south and inside a Council Bluffs events center, DeSantis told a crowd of several hundred — many standing throughout his remarks: “We have to dispense with the culture of losing that we’ve seen throughout the Republican Party.”
In a further indirect swipe at Trump’s continued influence over the national GOP, DeSantis said in reference to the bipartisan deal to raise the nation’s borrowing limit, “We should have 55 Republican senators right now, if we had played our cards right over the last few years, so we can’t make excuses.”
Afterward, he worked the crowd, chatting individually with attendees and shaking hands.
Geno Foral, 29, of Council Bluffs said he felt like most of DeSantis’ speech was prepared in advance to appeal to Iowa voters with emphasis on his family. But he said the governor has also delivered for Florida.