In a rural Iowa city, Ethan Masters requested Ron DeSantis probably the most urgent query of the first season: Why would he make a greater president than Donald Trump?
Standing subsequent to a yellow-and-green tractor at J&J Ag Solutions Machine Shop in Estherville, Iowa, Mr. Masters, a 21-year-old actual property agent, was a stand-in for a lot of Republican voters. He went for Mr. Trump in 2020, however he’s open to a different candidate. He plans to caucus however didn’t have time to observe the Republican major debate on Wednesday evening. He’s additionally not acquainted with the main points of Mr. Trump’s numerous felony circumstances.
Though Mr. Masters’s query on Friday was temporary and easy, the Florida governor spoke for almost three minutes, earlier than he was interrupted by one other voter, a rarity on Iowa’s usually staid political circuit.
A Question for Ron DeSantis
“You could probably consider me the average voter. I haven’t done a lot of research on you. I voted for Trump, and I didn’t mind what he did. So I wouldn’t mind either of you getting voted in. So what’s your biggest selling point when I’m in the voting stage and it’s between you and Trump?”
The Subtext
Mr. DeSantis virtually by no means criticizes Mr. Trump, who’s main him by double digits in Iowa and by almost 40 factors nationwide. He has the troublesome process of navigating the Trump Triangle, interesting to voters who like Mr. Trump’s insurance policies and brash method; those that are aligned along with his insurance policies, however are uninterested in his authorized troubles; and the Never Trump Republicans who need a return to the pre-Trump social gathering.
The query from Mr. Masters was a uncommon likelihood for the governor to make his single greatest argument in a single place.
DeSantis’s Answer
“Well, I think a few things. One is, I think I’m much more likely to actually get elected, which is very important. I could serve two terms. He’d be a lame duck on Day 1 even if he could get elected. I have a track record of appointing really good people to office. I think he appointed a lot of duds to office, and it really hurt his ability to get his agenda done. I also think I’m more likely to follow through on doing what I said I would do. You look in Florida, everything I promised, I did. I never made a promise that I didn’t follow through on, and that’s just how I am. I am not going to sit there and tell you something that you want to hear to try to get your vote, and then get in and just forget that it ever happened.”
The Subtext
That was solely the primary 45 seconds of Mr. DeSantis’s reply, by which he listed not simply one among his promoting factors however many, contrasting his file of success in Florida with Mr. Trump’s failure to construct the border wall or “drain the swamp.” But his argument felt extra like a collection of bullet factors than a complete political imaginative and prescient.
He went on for for much longer, mentioning Mr. Trump’s unrealized promise to “lock up” Hillary Clinton and accusing him of handing over his congressional agenda to Paul Ryan, the previous Republican speaker of the House who’s now seen by some within the G.O.P. as insufficiently conservative.
True to his debate efficiency and marketing campaign path occasions, Mr. DeSantis by no means delivered an actual punch.
Why It Matters
The governor’s path to victory relies on a slow-and-steady strategy. While Mr. DeSantis might not have had a breakout second on the debate on Wednesday, Republican voters thought he carried out better of all of the candidates, in line with a snap ballot by the Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight and Ipsos. And his marketing campaign mentioned he raised greater than $1 million the next day, probably the most its raised in 24 hours, aside from the day Mr. DeSantis introduced he was working.
“Ron DeSantis’s path to victory isn’t going to run through flashy, sugar-high moments that fade in and out of the national narrative,” Andrew Romeo, the marketing campaign’s communications director, mentioned in a press release. “We have challenged the opposition to try to keep up in terms of pace and organization.”
What the Voter Said
In a follow-up interview, Mr. Masters mentioned that he was impressed by Mr. DeSantis total however not blown away by his reply.
“I asked for his biggest selling point, and he gave me a list,” mentioned Mr. Masters. “But it was a pretty good list.”
“It was longer than I expected,” he continued. “I’m sure he talked to a lot of people today, and he had a very long day.”
Source: www.nytimes.com