In Iowa, Ron DeSantis Shops Retail (for Votes) 

The typically standoffish GOP contender warms to personal politicking.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks with attendees during an Iowa GOP reception on May 13, 2023 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa—This time, Ron DeSantis stayed.

The Florida governor with a reputation for ducking in and out of political events and avoiding small talk and glad-handing stuck around Saturday after delivering a monochromatic, policy-focused, 35-minute keynote speech at Rep. Randy Feenstra’s annual grassroots fundraiser in northwest Iowa. Flanked by his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, the governor worked the room, posing for grip-and-grins, taking selfies, and kibitzing with voters likely to participate in the crucial 2024 nominating caucuses. 

“He was real,” Feenstra, neutral in the primary for now, told The Dispatch. “This is what retail politics is all about in Iowa.” 

Feenstra offered his thumbs-up review after DeSantis joined him and Gov. Kim Reynolds for some burger flipping at the picnic grill outside—an entirely manufactured photo-op—and visited the specialty deviled eggs stand to grab some gourmet fare for his wife as a throng of reporters snapped pictures and shouted questions. DeSantis wasn’t done yet. Next, he and the first lady headed down the road to the local Pizza Ranch, a buffet-style chain restaurant ubiquitous in Iowa and a popular stop for Republican presidential contenders.

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  1. Avatar photo
    BlackAndWhiteReruns

    Yes, he's not a self-absorbed quasi-senile old man with megalomaniac tendencies and a unique ability to attract the stupid and gullible, so he'll have to overcome that.

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    JohnD

    The Reps need to offer a competent alternative to Trump; as do the Dems to Biden. I wish the DeSantis campaign well, but taking on Disney and corporate wokeness doesn’t seem like a particularly good start!

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    J. Eric

    Keep them coming Mr. Drucker. Thanks

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  4. Rblik

    Starting to feel good about Iowa at least. Its very socially conservative and I just don't see them voting for a guy who says 6 week abortion bans are "harsh". DeSantis will blanket IA with ads on this. My guess is Trump will give up on the state eventually. I'd like to hear more about what Mike Pence is doing there.

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  5. Avatar photo
    Pbanuski

    One of my favorite memories about how shallow politicians are involved my former Congressman. I was at a nice hotel in the district for an event and happened to run into him coming out of the men's room. "Hello Congressman!" I said, friendly. He stopped and did a double-take.

    "Hi, how are you? How is your family?"
    "Good." We'd never met. He doesn't know my family...
    "How is Judy?" Who? Oh.... he thinks I'm someone else... Better just go along with it.
    "You know." Non-commital.
    "Still in Florida?" He asks.
    "Yup."
    "Well, next time you see her, please say hello."
    "Will do."

    We shake hands and he walks away. Very friendly, very personable, totally vacuous. These people don't know or care about you beyond how you can help them, and heaven pity the person who thinks otherwise.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Erik.Kravets

      It's nice that he made an effort. What do you realistically expect? Knowing even 100 people is hard work, on a personal level. The typical congressperson has several hundred thousand constituents.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Pbanuski

        Honestly? It’s just kind of a funny story of mistaken identity. Had he done the normal thing of just introducing himself it wouldn’t be much of anything (and perhaps it isn’t now). The point of the anecdote is that these people are not your friends. We have these bizarre parasocial relationships where we consider “likeability” when determining who we give power over policy to rather than “is this person honest and do I trust their judgment?”

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        1. Robert M Neil

          Blame the voters. If they did not demand baby kissing and glad handing, politicians wouldn't do it.

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          Erik.Kravets

          I use likeability as a criterion to decide who I hire in professional relationships, e.g., is this electrician an asshole? Why shouldn't I use it to decide whom I support politically? More often than not, someone who can't master basic civility is going to be a pain to work with and not helpful to the project. Of course, I also consider competency.

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            Pbanuski

            Here's a thought- maybe you shouldn't use the same criteria to hire an electrician as you do an elected official. Is that a controversial position I need to break down, or can we agree?

            What I think is beyond dispute is that identifying with a candidate primarily because they are "likeable" is the position of, at best, a benign idiot.

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    Mattjabour

    I figured people would stop falling for the "this politician shook my hand, he seems really nice!" thing after House of Cards showed its duplicity, but nope, guess not. Well, it's "good" to see DeSantis is just as flexible with his personality as he is with his stance on Ukraine.

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    1. SkyDoc

      I hate this sort of thing, but I can't blame him for doing the performative rituals necessary to secure votes.

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      Vlad.Nicolaescu

      Hey, I'll say this its good to see him at least somewhat trying to run seriously. I mean, he still has to be willing to lay into Trump and explain why voting for Trump is a bad idea. And I'm not sure he has the stones to do that. But given his place as "The Trump alternative" seeing some life out of his campaign is encouraging. But, my pessimism makes me believe in the end he will just fold like a cheap lawn chair as he feels unable to go at Trump directly, while the pack of Trump VP hopefuls will just pull him down as a way to demonstrate their loyalty to the Big Man.

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  7. Bkamena

    Reporting from Sioux Center and discussion of Orange City on Dispatch Live. I think you have NW Iowa pretty well sorted, David.

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  8. Avatar photo
    Taylor L

    Good to know. I hope he can get his sea legs under him and show the party what a useless idiot Trump has been for advancing their priorities.

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  9. Avatar photo
    Dusty

    The likability factor always seemed a bit overblown to me. It seemed like something people would always mention without any real examples or first-hand accounts. And then their parroted account got parroted and it just kinda compounded from there.

    With that said, I’m a bit disappointed there wasn’t more detailed coverage of the gourmet deviled egg stand. I’m intrigued.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Aylene Wright

      Unfortunately even some TD writers seem to have bought into the idea that politicians are celebrities,
      and that therefore "charisma" or "charm" is something that is required to succeed. Or at least, in order to beat Trump.

      Sometimes I even get a feeling some anti-Trump people (not necessarily at TD) really DO want a guy who's just as brash and shameless as Trump to jump in the race, and attack him as nastily as Trump himself attacks his perceived enemies. They don't just want to beat Trump, they want to humiliate and "own" him.

      And yet, this sentiment strikes me as quite similar to why Trump's fans still like him, despite it all. And I admit I just can't wrap my brain around it.

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      1. Russell J

        I think social awkwardness is easy to report. I’m more interested in if someone treats others rudely, especially subordinates, and that isn’t the same. The most alarming character trait reported on DeSantis is that he tends not to rely on the expertise of others. Maybe thinks he is smarter than everyone.

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      2. Avatar photo
        Vlad.Nicolaescu

        Well speaking as a committed Never Trumper who is in the burn the GOP to the ground to get rid of him camp of Never Trumpers. I would say my frustration with DeSantis and other would be Kings is that they seem to think that there is some way to skirt around Trump, when I think their only hope is to try to go through him. I don't know if they can do that, but I a certain there is no clever way around him. Liz Cheney has it right, and she went at Trump head on. This methods while also being gratifying to watch I think is actually the only way to beat Trump.

        This primary is a fist fight, so if you aren't willing to go in and punch and get bloody, why even bother being in it?

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      3. Avatar photo
        TheMatMan

        During my lifetime, we had Reagan, clear charisma winner.

        Bush Sr. over Mike D. Probably close, but that tank bit wasn't charm.

        Billy, one of the smoothest talkers ever.

        Bush Jr. over Gore. No shock as Gore is stilted like Price, and then over Kerry. Kerry never struck my as someone anyone wanted to have a beer with.

        Obama, another generational talker.

        Trump over Hillary. She is the least likable candidate in my lifetime? Followed by Trump...

        A wet sick over Trump, which also seems right.

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      Mary

      I hate the whole likeability thing. And I am so intensely frustrated to see the left making the memes about robot DeSantis and going all in on him pretending to be human. It’s infuriating that we can’t have the adult conversations about policy, ability, whatever. Why do both sides have to meme it all to death!

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        Vlad.Nicolaescu

        And whose fault is this?

        The politicians go for memes because the citizenry likes memes. If we want a better class of politicians we should strive to get a better class of citizens first. Our politics is a reflection of the common man, and the common man is poorly educated, self absorbed, and has ADD.

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        1. SkyDoc

          I hate how right you are.

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      Chris L

      Gourmet deviled eggs for the attendees yes please, but not for the speaker. Eew.

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      Kmregan7

      Likeability is so subjective. I lived in Iowa and the State Fair always had plenty of politicians during election years. I liked plenty (I tend to like people though, even if they're snakes) of politicians......but my vote was never, ever based on that. I have a photo from when my now-husband met Richardson (that's how long ago this was!) and he was great. Wouldn't have voted for him though (although I now really miss him/his type. And I mourn for McCain who I also "liked" but wouldn't vote for).....And yes, I want to know more about this gourmet deviled egg stand please. Where are THOSE details - much more important.

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      1. Avatar photo
        BlackAndWhiteReruns

        If it's the same thing as was at the Iowa State Fair this year, think hard boiled eggs, cut in half, lightly battered, deep fried, seasoned, and served with the filling turned into a dipping sauce. Surprisingly good.

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          Kmregan7

          You can really deep fry almost anything..... :-)

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        Dusty

        Richardson the Democrat from New Mexico? I forget his first name. But I liked him too (though I never met him). He just seemed like a reasonable dude.

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    5. Owenoofta

      ‘Deviled Egg Intrigues’ by R. DeSantis. I can’t wait for the paperback…
      🤓

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