DeSantis’ campaign ‘reset,’ sounds like familiar pitch at high-profile Iowa GOP dinner

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stuck to familiar talking points during a speech to a prominent gathering of Iowa Republicans on Friday, even as his presidential campaign embarks on a widely touted reboot intended to reverse the governor’s flagging prospects in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination.

Speaking at the Iowa GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, DeSantis painted a picture of a country in decline before turning to his record as Florida governor. He was quick to remind a generally friendly audience that he signed a six-week abortion ban in his home state, “protected Second Amendment rights” and eliminated so-called “critical race theory” — an advanced legal concept — from the curriculum in Florida public schools, where it wasn’t being taught.

He also reiterated his pledge to hold federal health officials, like Anthony Fauci, the former White House public health adviser, “accountable” — a promise that has become a staple of DeSantis’ stump speeches on the campaign trail.

“We will usher in a reckoning for those like Dr. Fauci, who perpetrated COVID-19 mandate and lockdown policies,” DeSantis said. “You don’t coddle bureaucrats like Dr. Fauci. You bring them in and you say, ‘You are fired,’ and we’re going to hold them accountable for what they did.”

There were at least a couple new features to DeSantis’ talking points. He spoke briefly about his upbringing as a “blue-collar kid” who made the decision to join the Navy in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He was also quick to note that he is the only 2024 presidential candidate who is a veteran of a war. DeSantis served in the Navy as a lawyer advising a SEAL team and deployed to Iraq in 2007.

DeSantis also laid into Vice President Kamala Harris — a figure he’s brought up with increasing frequency in recent days — accusing her of spreading a “phony narrative” about the state’s new curriculum for Black history. Harris delivered a speech in Jacksonville last week, where she lambasted the new standards, which require students to be taught that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

“I’m not budging an inch,” he said. “We are going to fight back against these people, and we are not going to let them take over our schools any longer.”

He also mocked the Biden White House, joking shortly after taking the stage that, when he becomes president, “there will be no cocaine in the White House.” Cocaine was found in a heavily trafficked part of the White House earlier this month, though the Secret Service has said that it does not know who it belonged to.

The Iowa Republican Party’s Lincoln Dinner is a major affair for anyone seeking the GOP’s presidential nomination, and DeSantis was only one of more than a dozen hopefuls — including the primary’s frontrunner former President Donald Trump — pitching themselves to party officials and activists on Friday evening.

Yet the speech largely echoed the same themes that DeSantis has stuck to almost daily since launching his presidential campaign in May. It also raises questions about what exactly DeSantis plans to change about his strategy amid mounting political troubles.

DeSantis began the year as the subject of intense speculation that he was the Republican best equipped to beat Trump in the contest for the 2024 GOP nomination. Early polls showed him only narrowly trailing — and in some cases leading — Trump, who is running to reclaim the White House after losing reelection in 2020.

Since launching his campaign just over two months ago, however, DeSantis has shown signs of real problems. His support in both state and national polls has sagged, and his campaign has burned through money at an alarming rate. While he raised over $20 million in the first six weeks of his presidential bid, he spent roughly $8 million of it.

The financial challenges — driven by a bloated campaign team, events at ritzy venues and frequent private jet travel — forced the campaign to begin cutting staff earlier this month. This month alone, the campaign laid off 38 staffers, accounting for about 40% of his team.

The idea, DeSantis’ allies and advisers say, is to create a leaner operation that will allow the governor’s record and personality to shine through.

But aside from holding events at some smaller venues, it’s unclear how much DeSantis’ strategy and messaging has changed.

There are signs that he is willing to engage more with the kind of mainstream and legacy news outlets that he once shunned, and he’s begun highlighting his military service a little bit more. During a swing through Iowa this week, he spoke with reporters from outlets such as CBS and ABC News, and took questions from the press multiple times on Thursday.

Yet his talking points and general demeanor as a conservative culture warrior appear to have stayed the same. On Friday, he spoke repeatedly about parental rights in education, his response to the COVID-19 pandemic and wanting to rid the U.S. military of what he sees as a “woke agenda.”

Central to his pitch: that he is the only Republican capable of beating Biden in 2024.

“We’re not getting a mulligan on 2024,” DeSantis said. “We either win this election and make good on all the promises that we’re making or the Democrats are going to throw this country into a hole that will take a decade to come out of.”