A veteran of numerous of Iowa Republican presidential campaigns declared that Gov. Ron DeSantis is a zombie candidate in the state.
The Dispatch reported:
The governor recently secured coveted endorsements from Gov. Kim Reynolds and leading evangelical activist Bob Vander Plaats—about as powerful of a political one-two punch as there is to score in Iowa. And the 21st century is littered with underdog candidates who came from behind, late, to win the Republican presidential nominating caucuses over presumably strong frontrunners. Still, neutral Republican operatives in Iowa are doubtful DeSantis can replicate the recent past.
“They were lucky to get Reynolds and [Vander Plaats] but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a bad candidate who has underperformed,” said Republican strategist David Kochel, a veteran of several Iowa caucus campaigns who is not supporting a candidate this time around. “I think he’s a zombie candidate at this point. … I just don’t see his path anymore.”
It was a sign of how dead in the water DeSantis is that he went on Fox News to debate Gov. Gavin Newsom with just weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Candidates who in the running to win a presidential nomination usually don’t waste time debating someone who isn’t running in the election.
The DeSantis campaign moved most of their staff to Iowa, but there is no evidence that the move has worked in any way. DeSantis now trails Nikki Haley for second place in the Republican primary field, and Haley or DeSantis are not within shouting distance of Trump.
Rarely has a presidential campaign with so many resources, so spectacularly failed, but that is exactly what Ron DeSantis has done.
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