Haley and DeSantis Hunt for ‘Big Mo’
Ankeny, Iowa Ron DeSantis is nearing the end of his third pep rally of the day, surrounded by roughly 150 fans in a dimly lit baseball-themed sports bar (try the Ty Cobb Salad), when he tells the story that sums up his presidential appeal. “We had a Category 5 hurricane hit in Southwest Florida," he says. It washed out a bridge and a causeway, stranding thousands of islanders from their homes.
The estimate to rebuild? Six months. “Now, these are not state bridges. I had no control over them," Mr.
DeSantis says. But his help was sought, and the governor demanded no bureaucracy and no red tape. “The first bridge, to Pine Island," he recounts, “we were able to reopen it in three days." In the pub, the Iowans cheer.
“A lot of these politicians," he adds, picking up force, “they’re lily-livered. They don’t want to ever do anything where they take a risk, because they don’t want to get blamed." Then he slides into home plate. “Those islands probably would have died if they had to wait six months, so we got it done," he says.
“You can expect nothing less from me as president." That last line would have sounded more like a promise, and less like bravado, when Mr. DeSantis entered the 2024 race last year as a favorite. But on Monday the Iowa caucuses will officially begin the GOP’s nominating process, and all the surveys are predicting a big-league win for Donald Trump.
The former president leads the RealClearPolitics polling average with 52% support, as Mr. DeSantis vies for a distant second, all but tied near 17% with Nikki Haley. Mr.
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