Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis hit the campaign trail in Iowa, after announcing his bid for the Republican nomination last week. His first speech was before hundreds of Republicans in an evangelical church in Des Moines and he also had an impromptu stop at Jethro’s BBQ Southside in the city. Team Desantis dubbed it “Our Great American Comeback Tour” with stops on Wednesday in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Pella, and Cedar Rapids.

During his speech in Cedar Rapids, DeSantis was dressed casually in jeans, and a blue collared shirt under a navy puffer vest (I think that’s the universal “governors uniform” these days) with embroidered campaign logo. DeSantis brought a message of ‘revival’ in an America in decline, calling it a “choice,” and saying:

Our great American Comeback will begin when we send Joe Biden back to his basement in Delaware.

Governor DeSantis Delivers Remarks Live from Cedar Rapids, Iowa https://t.co/opkAZYRR9s

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 1, 2023

DeSantis’ speech focused on his achievements in Florida, including its booming economy and responsible debt, an important point to make to the conservative audience amid the House voting on the debt ceiling bill.

The presidential hopeful warned against taking “ideological joy rides — we need to make sure that merit and achievement trump identity politics,” although many of his focuses highlighted in the speech are social policies or identity politics. DeSantis declared a “war on woke,” and spoke of the education system reforms that have brought power back to parents in the Sunshine State, saying:

One of the things I’m most proud of is that we’ve taken a very strong stand that schools are for the education of our kids, not the indoctrination of our kids. Parents’ rights matter.

The Florida governor went on to discuss how parents in his state can review school curriculums and take advantage of universal school choice, and that educators are not allowed, by statute, to impose transgender ideologies in the classroom, observing:

It is wrong for a teacher to tell a 2nd grader that they may have been born in the wrong body, or that gender is a choice. That is not allowed in classrooms in Florida.

Florida’s First Lady, Casey DeSantis, spoke as well, sharing snippets of life with three young children, saying, she was “very happy to talk to somebody older than the age of five,” and speaking of the coalition of mothers and grandmothers that helped her husband win his landslide re-election last year. The First Lady said DeSantis was the one to get the job done, saying too often when people run for federal office they “go rogue” and end up as “listless vessels, bending in the wind.” Mrs. DeSantis said of her husband:

When he says he’s going to do something, check the record: He gets it done. What a concept!

This, among other exported-from-Florida policies, made up the bulk of DeSantis’ speech, it’s almost a State of the State address, reviewing Florida’s COVID-response and education policies, voter ID, state gun laws, law enforcement recruiting bonuses, and battles with Disney. But DeSantis did address some national issues, starting with the military. He spoke of being called to serve after September 11, and although it was a pay cut for him, he said the satisfaction of serving next to fellow countrymen is priceless. On dwindling, military recruits he said:

Now, you have veterans that will come up to me and will question if their kids or grandkids will even join the military anymore. Woke ideology, gender pronouns… and really being detached from their core mission.

DeSantis continued:

The recruiting is abysmal because they want to be a part of something that is meaningful to them.

DeSantis promoted a policy of restoration, saying that he will:

Restore the military to its proper function, all this politics will be out on day one, when I get there.

Furthering his military messaging, DeSantis focus on China, warning against a growing threat and corrupted interests in Washington, saying:

When you look at threats on the horizon, we have to recognize our greatest threat is the CCP. We need a strong military to deter China. Elites in this country have sold out to China for many many decades. We cannot let the 21st century end up becoming the Chinese century, it must be the American century.

In Florida, the sale of land to foreign nationals is prohibited, and DeSantis purported that this policy protects against the Chinese communists, saying:

We banned land purchases by CCP in the state of Florida, no farmland, no land near military bases: nothing.

He promoted other messages on the national issues of “re-constitutionalizing the government” from what he called the “fourth branch” or administrative state, promising “swift and strong action” to bring it “to heel, once and for all.” DeSantis explained:

The ‘fourth branch’ is not gonna be solved overnight, it’s gonna require a president that is disciplined, that is focused day in and day out to unwind this behemoth.

He added:

With me, you get a new FBI director on day one, that will happen.

While speaking of challenges that lay ahead with dismantling an administrative state, he said:

If they’re not coming after ya, then you’re not getting the job done bc they come after the people they fear. Guys, it’s a swamp! You don’t want them to like you!

DeSantis also says that he will bring in outsiders to Washington, not relying on the usual suspects:

You can’t just recycle the same people who are in Washington DC and live in the Beltway…
I’m gonna call on people all around the country and say, ‘You know you may need to pick up your family for a few years and serve in this government.’

Other national issues touched on included “Bidenflation,” domestic energy production, accountability for “Faucisim,” and immigration.

In closing, DeSantis was explicit with the audience in saying that he was asking for their vote, for their support, saying, “You can’t do any of this stuff if you don’t win the election, there is no substitute for victory.” In a show of confidence, DeSantis implied that if he wins in Iowa, supporters can set their clocks for his inauguration ceremony at the White House:

If you support me in the Iowa caucus and help me earn the Republican nomination, you can set your clocks for January to high noon on the west side of the Capitol with my right hand on the Bible.

DeSantis made another reference to the Bible, and a veiled comparison to his opponent former President Trump, in front of the heavily evangelical Iowan audience, saying:

The Bible tells us that God prefers the humble to the proud and you have to have humility when you’re in an executive position, particularly the President of the United States.

DeSantis parroted his wife’s “get it done” message saying:

If I tell you I’m gonna do something, I’m not just saying that because I think it’s something you want to hear. I don’t make idle promises. When I tell you I’m gonna do something you can take it to the bank, and we’re gonna get it done.

He closed by saying, “No excuses, I will get the job done.”

Former President Trump has Iowa events planned, commencing as DeSantis finishes his tour, to celebrate “250 Years of American Independence.” Next week, former Vice President Mike Pence will be announcing his candidacy for the White House in Des Moines.

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