Here we go, folks, the 2024 campaigning will soon begin in earnest.
While it’s true Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t made it official, he’s making all the right moves when it comes to a future GOP presidential candidate.
According to various reports, former President Trump, and Gov. DeSantis, will be making visits to Iowa this month.
DeSantis will be making the trek as part of his book tour with two events scheduled in the state on March 10:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will make his eagerly anticipated Iowa debut next week with stops in Davenport and Des Moines as he flirts with an expected presidential run later this year.
An official familiar with the governor’s planning confirmed the stops to the Des Moines Register, saying DeSantis will appear with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at both events March 10. DeSantis has been traveling the country discussing his “Florida blueprint” and promoting his new book, which was released earlier this week.
As for Trump’s visit, the timeframe is somewhere around the middle of the month:
Donald Trump is planning to visit Iowa in mid-March, a first foray to the leadoff caucus state since announcing his 2024 White House campaign.
The former president hinted at an Iowa trip “very soon” in a radio interview with Des Moines talk show host Simon Conway on Tuesday. A Trump aide confirmed Wednesday that plans were underway for an upcoming appearance, but declined to provide details about the location or date, beyond the middle of this month.
The aide spoken on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been publicly announced.
This weekend, Trump will be speaking at CPAC 2023 in Washington, DC, an event that DeSantis passed on though organizers confirm he was invited to speak.
DeSantis is taking some heat for the decision to skip the conference since addressing the CPAC crowd is typically part of the process for up-and-coming presidential candidates. To the contrary, Desantis spoke this week at a Club for Growth meeting, a group often associated with “establishment” GOP names like Jeb Bush and Paul Ryan:
I find it interesting Gov. DeSantis is speaking at the Club for Growth while President Trump is speaking at CPAC.
I think it's going to get very interesting leading up to the primary.
Do you agree?
— Brian Davis (@BrianDavisOH) March 3, 2023
Will it matter down the stretch? Probably not, but it might.
Trump will get some free time on Saturday afternoon with his headline CPAC speech which will be watched by many grassroots activists and volunteers.
DeSantis would likely argue that his record speaks for itself and he addressed the conference last year when it was held in his home state.
Furthermore, there’s also immense controversy surrounding Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, the organization which hosts CPAC every year. Schlapp is being accused by a Herschel Walker campaign staffer of groping his groin while Schlapp was in Georgia campaigning for Walker last fall. According to some news reports, the accusations against Schlapp have been a reason for some candidates and elected officials to stay away from the conference this year. There’s no indication that this issue is related to DeSantis skipping the conference, but it’s a possibility.
Despite the fact that CPAC is a pretty Trump-friendly crowd, two other declared candidates decided to speak and make their case, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.
As the tweet above notes, it’s going to be an interesting Republican primary.
