Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis once looked like the Republican Party’s future. Now, a national career that conjured White House dreams is in danger of fizzling before it really began.
His plight is not just about a rising Republican star’s struggle to adapt to the biggest stage with political skills that initially were not ready for prime time. It’s a revealing story about the GOP itself, its fixation with former President Donald Trump and whether grassroots Republicans really want the efficient, conservative government DeSantis promises or prefer the ex-president’s furious brew of grievance and spectacle.
The Florida governor is spending Sunday braving the icy roads of Iowa in a last-ditch fight to claim the strong second-place finish in Monday’s caucuses he probably needs to stay in the Republican nominating race. In December, he predicted he’d win the first-in-the-nation contest. But a Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom poll released Saturday night brought him bad news.
His campaign is arguing that his slip into a numerical third place, albeit within the margin of error, behind former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and far behind the runaway front-runner Trump won’t actually predict caucus results. He is relying on Iowa’s long history of late twists and a ground operation his super PAC spent months building to drive out voters in the extreme weather forecasted for Monday.
“They can throw a blizzard at us, and we are going to fight. They can throw windchill at us and we are going to fight. They can throw media narratives at us, and we are going to fight. They can throw fake polls at us, and we are going to fight,” DeSantis roared on Saturday, inciting defiance and belief among his supporters for a last drive to the finish.
But on the eve of the caucuses, DeSantis is on the brink in a state where he’s banked his entire campaign….
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