Getting Crowded Around Here
Saturday is going to be a big day for political junkies in Iowa…and Republicans are likely going to have to make a choice; actually, I think that’s the point.
Florida governor and presumptive presidential candidate Ron DeSantis will be in Iowa for at least two events…the first is over the noon hour in Sioux Center, for Congressman Randy Feenstra’s annual “Feenstra Family Picnic” event. This is the third annual Feenstra picnic; guest speaker at the first one was former vice president Mike Pence, while last year Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina governor, spoke.
Then in the evening, DeSantis attends a dinner-time reception sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa…this is one of a series of events where Iowa GOP chair Jeff Kaufmann leads an on-stage interview-style discussion. That event is at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center in Cedar Rapids.
Not to be outdone, former President Donald Trump makes his way in between…a rally in Des Moines with speakers beginning at 4 p.m. and Trump himself taking the stage around 7 p.m. The event will be at an amphitheater at Water Works Park…so weather will play a factor.
The two DeSantis events were scheduled first; then came the Trump event. While it may be a coincidence, I’d sooner think that Trump’s people had a plan to negate any impact of a DeSantis visit by coming to the state the same day, and holding an event later in the day to dominate the news cycle.
Not that #45 has much to worry about at this point in Iowa; polls show him outpacing DeSantis handily, as well as current President Joe Biden in a later general election. But that’s how to keep your lead, and arguably snuff out competition…by aggressively controlling the news cycle in the way you want.
Get used to this pace, of course…no doubt weekend events will be full of candidates from now through the summer. No danger with “first in the nation” on the GOP side, quite evidently.
