佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯周二举行“竞选启动”在爱荷华州的得梅因外，自宣布参选以来，这是第一次回到关键的提前提名州他正在竞选总统。
德桑蒂斯在爱荷华州的摇摆星期二和星期三从周二晚上在克莱夫永恒教堂的演讲开始。在此之前，他和妻子凯西会见了“15名当地牧师，他们将为这个家庭和州长候选人资格祈祷，”一名发言人说。
“我们伟大的美国复兴始于将(总统)乔·拜登送回他在特拉华州的地下室，”德桑蒂斯在与妻子走上舞台后，在讲话开始时宣布。他的竞选团队表示，有超过1000人出席，包括在一个溢出的空间。
德桑蒂斯接着批评了来自华盛顿的“失败的政策”——犯罪、南部边境、能源生产和经济状况，包括生活成本。
更广泛地说，他指向一些他熟悉的目标，攻击“精英”——他们“继续将这个国家推入深渊”——和“唤醒意识形态”，他说这不公平地挑出保守派进行不平等待遇。
“如果亨特是共和党人，他几年前就已经在监狱里了，”德桑蒂斯在人群的热烈掌声中说道，他指的是总统的小儿子，目前正在接受联邦调查。(亨特·拜登否认有不当行为。)
该州的竞选活动将于明年初举行首次共和党总统候选人提名竞争，长期以来，这意味着与选民进行近距离的个人互动，选民们喜欢他们评估白宫候选人的能力。
但是德桑蒂斯已经面临一些审查“尴尬”的标题-关于他如何处理零售政治，他不是很出名。
爱荷华州福音派领袖鲍勃·范德·普拉茨(Bob Vander Plaats)有着发放有影响力的初选支持的历史，他在德桑蒂斯演讲前接受美国广播公司采访时表示，他认为围绕德桑蒂斯竞选能力的一些讨论被夸大了。
“我和他相处过，我认为他和人们一对一相处得很好，”范德普拉茨坚持说。“但我认为他的信息是，他有很多结果要传达。”
周二的开球活动开始了德桑蒂斯为期四天的旅行，途经爱荷华州、新罕布什尔州和南卡罗来纳州的12个城市和城镇，他的竞选团队称之为“我们伟大的美国复出之旅”
这位州长首先在推特上宣布了他和埃隆·马斯克的总统竞选，尽管他们上周的活动是从被...掩盖技术问题。
“我们知道我们的国家正在走向错误的方向。我们用眼睛看到它，我们从骨子里感受到它，”德桑蒂斯当时说，呼应了他竞选公告视频中的一句话:“衰落是一种选择。成功是可以实现的。自由是值得为之奋斗的。”
虽然星期二是德桑蒂斯作为总统候选人第一次访问爱荷华州，但这是他自今年年初以来第三次访问该州。
前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)也将于本周返回该州，此前本月早些时候，由于他的竞选团队称龙卷风威胁，德梅因的一场集会被取消。
早期民调显示，德桑蒂斯将作为特朗普迄今为止对共和党总统候选人提名的最大威胁参加2024年的竞选。
值得注意的是，在特朗普取消他的得梅因集会的那一天，德桑蒂斯出人意料地出现在了这座城市——而且在周二晚上的演讲中，当他谈到那场即兴活动时，似乎是在戳特朗普，“天气如此之好，以至于我们觉得我们必须回来拜访每个人。”
2023年5月26日，前总统唐纳德·特朗普在弗吉尼亚州斯特林的特朗普国家高尔夫俱乐部观看第一轮LIV高尔夫锦标赛。
亚历克斯·布兰登/美联社
特朗普是支持德桑蒂斯第一次州长竞选的昔日盟友，几个月来一直批评德桑蒂斯，因为越来越明显的是，德桑蒂斯将在初选中与他竞选。
在其他问题中，特朗普针对德桑蒂斯的记录，因为佛罗里达州的新冠肺炎死亡率很高-而德桑蒂斯一直在吹捧他如何在政府限制上“逆潮流而动”-并在上周表示，德桑蒂斯“迫切需要人格移植”
最近几天，德桑蒂斯加大了对前总统的批评，援引了他在11月赢得的20个百分点的连任——在一个著名的摇摆州取得了巨大的胜利。
“他在中期选举前夕开始攻击我。我不知道他为什么这么做，”德桑蒂斯在一次电台采访中说。“然后，在我赢得一场大胜后，他对此并不满意。”
“我把自己视为实现我所代表的人民的愿望的工具，而不是关于我个人的，”他说。他还指责特朗普“向左跑”。
Vander Plaats预测，DeSantis在爱荷华州的旅行将使许多当地人有机会获得第一印象，并让DeSantis在他在佛罗里达州的所作所为和爱荷华州共和党州长Kim Reynolds类似的保守记录之间建立有说服力的联系。
Vander Plaats说:“我认为这是建立这种联系的一部分，因为你总是在寻找参加你活动的人的熟悉之处，我认为那会是熟悉的地方。”
Ron DeSantis makes presidential campaign debut in Iowa, calling for 'American comeback' from Biden
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday helda "campaign kickoff"outside Des Moines, Iowa, returning to a crucial early nominating state for the first time since announcinghe is running for president.
DeSantis' swing through Iowaon Tuesday and Wednesdaybegan Tuesday night with a speech in Clive at the Eternity Church. Before that, he and wife Casey met with "15 local pastors who will be praying over the family and the Governor's candidacy," a spokesperson said.
"Our great American comeback starts by sending [President] Joe Biden back to his basement in Delaware," DeSantis declared at the start of his remarks, after walking onstage with his wife. His campaign said more than 1,000 people were in attendance, including in an overflow space.
DeSantis went on to criticize the "failed policies" flowing out of Washington -- on crime, on the southern border, on energy production and on the state of the economy, including the cost of living.
More broadly, pointing to some of his familiar targets, he attacked "elites" -- who had "continued to plunge this nation into the abyss" -- and "woke ideology," which he said unfairly singled out conservatives for unequal treatment.
"if Hunter were a Republican, he would have been in jail years ago," DeSantis said to loud applause from the crowd, referring to the president's younger son, who is currently under federal investigation. (Hunter Biden denies wrongdoing.)
Campaigning in the state, which is set to hold the first Republican presidential nominating contest early next year, has long meant up-close-and-personal interactions with voters, who relish their ability to size up White House hopefuls.
But DeSantis has already faced some scrutiny -- and"awkward" headlines-- about how he handles retail politics, something he is not well known for.
Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, who has a history of doling out influential primary endorsements, told ABC News in an interview before DeSantis' speech that he believes some of the discussion around DeSantis' ability to campaign is exaggerated.
"I've been around him and I think he connects very well with people one-on-one," Vander Plaats insisted. "But I think his message is [that] he's got a lot of results to communicate."
Tuesday's kickoff event begins a four-day trip for DeSantis through 12 cities and towns in the early nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, which his campaign has billed as "Our Great American Comeback Tour."
The governor first announced his presidential run on Twitter along with Elon Musk, though the start of their event last week wasovershadowed bytech issues.
"We know our country's going in the wrong direction. We see it with our eyes and we feel it in our bones," DeSantis said then, echoing a line from his campaign announcement video: "Decline is a choice. Success is attainable. And freedom is worth fighting for."
Although Tuesday marked the first day DeSantis visited Iowa as a presidential candidate, it was the third time he has been to the state since the beginning of the year.
Former President Donald Trump is set to return to the state this week, too, following the cancellation of a rally in Des Moines earlier this month due to what his campaign said were tornado threats.
DeSantis enters the 2024 race as Trump's biggest threat so far for the Republican presidential nomination, early polls show.
Notably, on the day that Trump canceled his Des Moines rally, DeSantis made a surprise appearance in the city instead -- and seemed to jab at Trump during his speech Tuesday night when he said of that impromptu event, "The weather was so nice that we felt we just had to come back and pay everyone a bit of a visit."
An erstwhile ally who backed DeSantis' first gubernatorial campaign, Trump has been criticizing DeSantis for months, as it became more and more clear DeSantis would run against him in the primary.
Among other issues, Trump targeted DeSantis' record given high COVID-19 deaths in Florida – while DeSantis has touted how he "cut against the grain" on government restrictions -- and said last week that DeSantis "desperately needs a personality transplant."
In recent days, DeSantis has ramped up his own criticism of the former president, invoking his 20-point reelection win in November -- an enormous margin of victory in a famous swing state.
"He started attacking me leading into the midterm election. I don't know why he did it," DeSantis said in one radio interview. "Then, after I won a big victory, he wasn't happy with that."
"I view myself as a vehicle to bring about the aspirations of the people I represent, not about me personally," he said. He also accused Trump of "running to the left."
Vander Plaats predicted that DeSantis' travels throughout Iowa will give many locals a chance at a first impression and allow DeSantis to draw a persuasive link between what he's done in Florida and Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds' similarly conservative record.
"I think [it's] part of drawing that connection, because you're always looking for a familiar ground with the people attending your events, and I think that'd be familiar ground," Vander Plaats said.
