While deciding whether or not to run for president in 2024, Ron DeSantis stopped by Iowa to give a speech. The Florida governor was invited to open the Feenstra Family Picnic in Sioux Center, where he spoke to more than 500 people about his vision for the current Republican Party. Specifically, he called for the GOP to move away from the "culture of defeat" heading into the next election, because otherwise "the Democrats are going to beat us again."
DeSantis has not yet clarified his plans for 2024. He has been touring the country to present his autobiography,
The Courage to Be Free
and even met world leaders during his recent international tour.
international tour
. All this in the context of his flirtation with entering the Republican primary for president.
While he defeated Andrew Gillum by a 0.4 percentage point margin in 2018, he stretched the gap to nearly 20 points in his 2022 re-election bid, quickly boosting his national profile heading into the next presidential election. DeSantis set May 2023 for a final decision, so news is expected in the next fortnight.
For the time being, he appeared in Iowa where he made his case in front of more than 500 people. Still on the outside looking in, he analyzed possible scenarios for 2024. "If we turn the 2024 election into a referendum on Joe Biden and his failuresIf we offer a positive alternative for the future of this country, then we will be able to offer a positive alternative for the future of this country.eputies will win across the board", started.
According to the Sunshine State governor, Republicans"must reject the culture of losing that has plagued our party in recent years.""The time for excuses is over. We have to show the courage to lead and the strength to win," he added.
As reported by NBC News, DeSantis also participated Saturday night in a fundraiser organized by the state Republican Party in Cedar Falls.
Ron DeSantis in Iowa: "At the end of the day, governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling.
"It's ultimately about winning and about producing results," pic.twitter.com/GdXgTYzrrl
— Never Back Down (@NvrBackDown24) May 13, 2023
DeSantis' entourage is enthusiastic for 2024
In an interview with POLITICO, the governor's inner circle was hopeful about his chances of winning the Republican primary. While acknowledging that polls have swung in Donald Trump's favor of late, they indicated that "everyone knows that the majority of the Republican Party wants to move forward."
As for the fundraising potential, they envisioned that it will be huge when the Republican enters the race, although he already has an interesting amount of money left over from his 2022 campaign. After defeating Charlie Crist, he still had $90 million left in the bank.
90 million dollars left in the bank
.
On the other hand, Texas fundraiser Roy Bailey participated in some of the dinners organized by DeSantis in Tallahassee, where potential donors and curious Republicans were also present. "I know from all my conversations around the country in the last six months: the major donor network has moved away [de Trump], they're looking for new leadership, and 85 percent of them are waiting for DeSantis," Bailey confessed to the aforementioned media outlet.
"As he enters the race in the next few weeks, he will effectively have six months to forge a disparate coalition of GOP voters, push his non-Trump rivals out of the race, convince them to rally to his sideor at least resist dealings with the former president, and then run the hand-to-hand campaign he needs to seize the nomination from a wild political fighter who craves winning like oxygen," concluded POLITICO's Jonathan Martin, following his conversation with key people on the team of the potential new entrant to the Republican primary.
