Ron DeSantis pushes past embarrassing campaign start, outlines travel schedule
CTV
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday sought to push past an embarrassing beginning to his presidential campaign, outlining an aggressive travel schedule as his allies insisted they remain well funded and well positioned for a long Republican primary fight ahead.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday sought to push past an embarrassing beginning to his presidential campaign, outlining an aggressive travel schedule as his allies insisted they remain well funded and well positioned for a long Republican primary fight ahead.
While DeSantis supporters privately acknowledged the bungled announcement was an unwelcome distraction, there was a broad sense -- even among some Republican critics -- that it would likely have limited long-term political consequences, if any at all.
"Do they wish they could do it over again? Probably," said David Oman, who managed two top-tier presidential campaigns in Iowa. "Will we be talking about it in 10 days? Probably not."
DeSantis formally launched his campaign Wednesday night during an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. But the audio stream crashed repeatedly, making it difficult for most users to hear the announcement in real time.
On Thursday, the Republican governor announced plans for a three-state blitz next week featuring at least a dozen stops. He's scheduled to campaign Tuesday and Wednesday in Iowa before a trip to New Hampshire on Thursday and South Carolina on Friday.
"We are laser-focused on taking Gov. DeSantis' forward-thinking message for restoring America to every potential voter in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina," campaign manager Generra Peck said. "Our campaign is committed to putting in the time to win these early nominating states. No one will work harder than Gov. DeSantis to share his vision with the country -- he has only begun to fight."
DeSantis is casting himself as the only legitimate Republican rival in the GOP's crowded primary to former President Donald Trump, who holds a big lead in early polls along with a firm grip on a significant portion of the GOP's passionate base.
