As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis flipped pork chops in front of the cameras at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, a plane appeared in the broiling blue sky.
It was a moment that epitomized the state of the 2024 Republican presidential nominating race: Trump is far ahead in national polling, eclipsing Florida’s governor and the rest of the field, who have so far been at a loss over how to narrow that gap.
But with Trump leading DeSantis by 34 percentage points among likely Republican primary voters in an Aug. 3 Reuters/Ipsos poll, and the rest of the field languishing in single digits, the fair this year had the air of a coronation rather than a beauty pageant.
A third said he was part of the “deep state,” a term often used by conspiracy theorists to refer to people in government they believe are working clandestinely to manipulate national policy.
There is a narrow path for somebody to beat the former president, “but they have to generate excitement and come first or second in Iowa to make it a two-person race and persuade people they are more electable,” she said.
At the state fair, that uphill struggle to catch up to Trump was on display amid the 90-degree Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) heat, pork chops on a stick, deep-fried, cream-filled Twinkies; foot-long corn dogs; and a staple of the event: a life-size cow sculpted out of butter.
They were greeted by about 200 people politely and warmly, although DeSantis had to speak over a half dozen women’s rights protesters blowing whistles and under a plane flying a banner that declared: “Be Likeable, Ron!”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
It was a moment that epitomized the state of the 2024 Republican presidential nominating race: Trump is far ahead in national polling, eclipsing Florida’s governor and the rest of the field, who have so far been at a loss over how to narrow that gap.
But with Trump leading DeSantis by 34 percentage points among likely Republican primary voters in an Aug. 3 Reuters/Ipsos poll, and the rest of the field languishing in single digits, the fair this year had the air of a coronation rather than a beauty pageant.
A third said he was part of the “deep state,” a term often used by conspiracy theorists to refer to people in government they believe are working clandestinely to manipulate national policy.
There is a narrow path for somebody to beat the former president, “but they have to generate excitement and come first or second in Iowa to make it a two-person race and persuade people they are more electable,” she said.
At the state fair, that uphill struggle to catch up to Trump was on display amid the 90-degree Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) heat, pork chops on a stick, deep-fried, cream-filled Twinkies; foot-long corn dogs; and a staple of the event: a life-size cow sculpted out of butter.
They were greeted by about 200 people politely and warmly, although DeSantis had to speak over a half dozen women’s rights protesters blowing whistles and under a plane flying a banner that declared: “Be Likeable, Ron!”
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