Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis has restructured his campaign amid a sluggish start in the polls and his backers are seeing a renewed vigor this weekend.
"The overwhelming standing ovation showed Iowans the man that will rise to the top," Iowa State Sen. Jeff Reichman, an early DeSantis endorser, said after Iowa GOP's Lincoln Dinner on Friday night.
The top GOP primary candidates all spoke Friday night in Des Moines and Iowa State Rep. Bill Gustoff said it showed a contrast between the Republican Party and the Biden administration.
"The Lincoln Dinner showed that Republicans have a deep bench of great candidates for president in 2024 compared to the train wreck offered by Democrats," Gustoff said. "Iowans will have a difficult choice for caucusing, but Gov. DeSantis knocked it out of the park in his short speech packed with a long list of plans to put the country back on track, complete with a record of accomplishment to show why he's the one to get the job done."
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, one of DeSantis' staunchest supporters in Congress, who helped propel Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to an Iowa caucus victory in 2015, said "it's time for Americans to win again."
"DeSantis took the time to talk to every single person in the room after his speech at the Iowa GOP Dinner, far more than any other candidate I saw," Iowa State Rep. Dan Gehlbach noted.
DeSantis' campaign has boasted a strong grassroots ground game in Iowa, using the Roy model by garnering 39 Iowa State legislator endorsements to help plant seeds before the caucus next January.
"We're doing all 99 counties in Iowa because this caucus demands that you earn it," DeSantis said in his 10-minute Lincoln Dinner speech Friday night.
Notably, DeSantis spoke to his supporting crowd after former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was cut short on his 10-minute time, with his mic going out while he was speaking and the music coming on as he finished in silence.
"This is our chance in 2024 to send the Biden-Harris administration into the dustbin of history, where it belongs," DeSantis concluded on time. "We have to rise to the occasion. We have to fight the good fight. We have to finish the race, and we have to keep the faith.
"The time for excuses is over. We must get the job done. I will get the job done."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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