Local vs. National Politics in the Iowa Caucuses | City Journal
This year, many of Donald Trump s challengers have gone the retail-politics route. Perhaps most prominently, Florida governor Ron DeSantis has focused his campaign on Iowa, completing the full Grassley (named after the state s senior Republican senator) by holding an event in every county in the state. He has rallied the traditional kingmakers of Iowa politics, securing endorsements from many state legislators as well as prominent evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, who has backed every Iowa winner since 2008. DeSantis has also won the coveted endorsement of the popular Republican governor, Kim Reynolds.
Conversely, Trump has spurned retail politics in Iowa and other states. He has often been absent from the campaign trail and has refused to participate in primary debates. The former president is instead betting on a national strategy. Though he often positions himself against the swamp, Trump enjoys the overwhelming support of Republicans elected to serve in Washington, D.C., including more than 100 Republican House members, and many senators, too. (DeSantis boasts a handful of endorsements in the House and none in the Senate; Nikki Haley has just one House endorsement.)
This asymmetry in endorsements highlights a difference in the temperament of state Republican politics compared with that of the national GOP. The national media s incentives for florid drama count for less in many state and local races. In state capitols, Republican legislators and governors have compiled robust governing records, and they know that voters will punish them for paralysis. In Iowa, Reynolds signed ambitious bills expanding school choice, cutting taxes, and restricting abortion. In Florida, DeSantis has been the architect of transformative efforts on education, the environment, gun rights, taxes, and workforce development.
Fred Bauer.