[tomder55]

And the (biased) Fox?

Now you sound like Trump

[tomder55]

DeSantis has a good message if he would use it. He started off touting his accomplishments in Florida and how to exand it nationally. That is a winning message.

Lately he has been lured into a pi$$ing match with Trump .That is exactly the playing field Trump wants the race to be in.It is the same strategy that allowed Trump to pick off one primary opponent after another in 2016.

He also has decided that the culture wars is the hill to defend. But as Bubba used to say; 'it's the economy stupid' . His great success was to defy the idea of perpetual covid lockdowns and to open the state for business. His was a conservative free market message That is where his success in Florida came from.

I'm not saying he's wrong about the cultural issues. Just that those battles will only take him so far.

He has allowed Vivek Ramaswamy to seize the optimistic conservative message . He needs to reclaim it. Ramaswamy has the message . But he can't win. DeSantis can back up the message with proven results. That is how he should restructure his campaign.....by returning to the things he was successful about as Guv.

[jlisenbe]

Lately he has been lured into a pi$$ing match with Trump .That is exactly the playing field Trump wants the race to be in.It is the same strategy that allowed Trump to pick off one primary opponent after another in 2016.

He also has decided that the culture wars is the hill to defend. But as Bubba used to say; 'it's the economy stupid' . His great success was to defy the idea of perpetual covid lockdowns and to open the state for business. His was a conservative free market message That is where his success in Florida came from.

I'm not saying he's wrong about the cultural issues. Just that those battles will only take him so far.

Really good post. You can't out-shout Trump. DeSantis needs to go back and study Reagan's 80 campaign.

[tomder55]

If the Iowa State fair is any indication ;the race is over. DeSantis is well funded but his major donors are looking for a shift in his campaign (as I suggested above ) ;and his campaign is bleeding funds with travel expenses.

DeSantis’s biggest donor cuts off funds, demands moderate shift | The Hill

Ron DeSantis’ campaign finances have some flashing warning signs (nbcnews.com)


He is making no headway .Trump's crowds were amazing .

Trump seizes the spotlight at Iowa State Fair | CNN Politics

Trump's Iowa state fair spectacle clouds DeSantis as former president is joined by Florida officials | AP News

As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis flipped pork chops in front of the cameras at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, a plane appeared in the broiling blue sky.
It was Donald Trump's Boeing 757 private jet. It circled the fairgrounds, and thousands in the crowd looked up and went wild, cheering for the Republican former president.
Analysis-Trump heading for Republican 'coronation' as 2024 rivals struggle to stop him (msn.com)


The polls bear this out .
FiveThirtyEight has Trump at 53.4% while DeSantis dropped from 21.5% to 14.3% in a month .

National : President: Republican primary : 2024 Polls | FiveThirtyEight

The rest of the pack is catching up to DeSantis .

Here is the results of the State Fair informal straw poll

sos.iowa.gov/elections/statefair/strawpoll/statefairresults.aspx

[tomder55]

The highlight of the fair was Ramaswamy performing Eminiem's 'Lose Yourself ' .

Vivek Ramaswamy Raps to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" | C-SPAN.org

[jlisenbe]

Perhaps Scott and VR can make some headway. DeSantis seems to be a major disappointment.

[tomder55]

DeSantis is the Scott Walker of this campaign season.

Both successful Guvs who were reelected in their state and appeared to destroy one opponent after another .
Then they forgot what got them there . Whereas they both have/had solid records to campaign on ;they went to Iowa and started to try to appease the right base of the party

Scott Walker’s Hard Right Turn in Iowa May Hurt Him Elsewhere - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

DeSantis Is Trying to Out-Trump Trump. It’s Not Working. (nymag.com)

In both races there is/was a crowded field that Trump dominated .

Both DeSantis and Walker lack the charisma .

The 1st GOP debate ,Walker was mediocre at best . By the 2nd debate he was invisible and crowded out . The moderator pretty much ignored him.

DeSantis has shaken up his campaign a couple times and has had layoffs. This upcoming debate could be his swan song.

[tomder55]

So how did he fare at the fair ? DeSantis owned the crowd up to the minute that Trump did a flyby .At that point DeSantis lost the crowd. He got heckled by Trump supporters .

Tim Scott owned his time there. He was on message and genuine. When he groomed cattle it looked like he had done it before. (same with flipping pork chops which apparently is a prerequisite to everyone except Trump) He got a personal tour from Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Zach Nunn . His campaign PAC has flooded the Iowa airwaves .By now everyone in the state knows him. .His optimism and “grounding in Judeo-Christian principles” was a big plus. Is that enough ?

Vivek is a dynamic and charismatic campaigner. He broke into an Eminem song during a sit-down with Guv Kim Reynolds and appeared to want to dive into the crowd that had come to the stage. He went to 'happy hour ' at “Jalapeño Pete’s” and connected with those gathered . He was quick on his feet. When asked by the press who would be the likely Dem if Clueless Joe dropped out ;he quickly replied "another puppet " He held an impromptu town forum answering questions with confidence.
Instead of bashing Trump (which would've been a losing strategy ; he praised Trump while saying he’d “go further” than Trump in fighting “the Swamp.”

Trump was the big winner with his flyby and quick appearance .He drew the largest crowds .
None of the other candidates are worth discussing .

[tomder55]

The 1st debate is Wednesday. Trump will not attend ( a not so bold prediction since Trump has already pretty much confirmed it ) . This will set the stage for a gang pile on of DeSantis. DeSantis has everything to lose. He is the top dog among challengers to Trump .Trump knows he is the biggest threat to his nomination. Just like in 2016 ;he will pick them off one at a time and the lesser candidates will get an assist.

DeSantis has already shaken up his campaign a couple of times . His latest new campaign manager ,James Uthmeier, sent out the memo that this is a 2 man race.Viewers at home will see the fighter who volunteered to serve our country and deployed to Iraq after 9/11, the father who wants to restore America's promise to future generations for his children and theirs, and the champion of freedom who stood up time and again as governor to defeat the left,"
DeSantis campaign lays out debate strategy to donors and supporters | CNN Politics

In other words he plans to ignore the spitballs from the cheap seats . He wants to appear to be above the fray......... a good strategy if it works ;but he should keep one eye on Vivek .

[jlisenbe]

I don't know that Trump has a good option. If he does the debate, he's a terrible debater and can't expect much positive from being in it, but by missing it he makes it possible for a Scott or a VR to look like a winner in his absence. DeSantis has the hard job. I would hope he would listen to Uthmeier's comments above and emphasize his many accomplishments rather than pot-shotting Trump and the others. He should make every effort to look presidential. It might very well be that the country is weary of the constant sniping of the current political scene and would find the presentation of a positive, realistic vision (think Reagan in 80) to be refreshing.

[tomder55]

Put a fork in the DeSantis campaign

EXCLUSIVE: Ron DeSantis $50 million super PAC CLOSES after donors were spooked by 'rookie s*** mistakes' | Daily Mail Online

[jlisenbe]

Not so fast. "But the DeSantis team has said for almost a year that Thomas' PAC was using his name and likeness without his permission and could be considered a 'scam.'"