Ron DeSantis fundraises in Iowa

Ron DeSantis, Florida's Republican governor, visited Iowa Saturday to help raise money for Rep. Randy Feenstra. While there, Gov. DeSantis took time to make a comment or 2. At one point, Gov. DeSantis said "Both Florida and Iowa show strong leadership and a bold agenda can defeat the left in this country. But there’s no substitute for victory. We must reject the culture of losing that’s infected our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over. We’ve got to demonstrate the courage to lead and the strength to win." That's definitely a criticism of Trump, who, as the Des Moines Register pointed out, "appears to lead the current 2024 presidential field as a front-runner — even after losing the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden and promoting candidates who lost their 2022 midterm battles."

At this point, polls offer little more than a leader board based on name recognition. While Trump and Gov. DeSantis have both been campaigning a little, with Trump campaigning a little harder than Gov. DeSantis, the campaign is just getting started. In this segment of The Big Saturday Show, Johnny "Joey" Jones noted an Iowa activist:

Jones said one of the activists had said Gov. DeSantis is "a lot like Trump but maybe a little more palatable." I don't know who the GOP nominee will but I'm betting that GOP activists are tired of falling short of expectations like Republicans did in 2018, 2020 and 2022. If Republicans don't run as the 'Party of Prosperity and Positivity', then 2024 threatens to be another cycle when Republicans underperform again. If, however, Republicans run like tax-cutting Jack Kemp cheerful warriors, Republicans will win by a decisive margin.

In 2016, Trump caught lightning-in-a-bottle by promising to remember the 'Forgotten Man'. In 2020, Biden won by pretending to be competent and normal. Biden was neither. In 2024, I suspect that voters are looking for someone who's proven that he's competent, he won't shove his foot down his throat 3 times a day and who won't make voters worry what'll come out of his mouth next. The guy at center stage in this video looks very competent:

Trump is undoubtedly leading in the polls right now but that's based partly on his 100% name ID, partly on his accomplishments and partly because this cycle's campaign is just getting started.

Will DeSantis be able to outperform Trump in the Philadelphia 'Collar Counties'? Will Gov. DeSantis be able to flip Arizona and Georgia from unexpectedly blue in 2020 to red in 2024? Trump leads on paper but that isn't where this race will be won. Who'll win? At this point, only God knows that.

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