News : DeSantis reboots, with debate on the horizon

Monday, July 24, 2023

DeSantis reboots, with debate on the horizon

Jul 24, 2023

Hello and welcome to Monday.

Tick, tick, tick — The first Republican presidential debate is now less than a month away. And ahead of that pivotal moment, Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign is focused on trying to find a way to recalibrate amid troubling headlines, concerns about the campaign’s finances and now early state polls that have the potential to unsettle donors.

Mistakes were made — In an effort to assuage supporters over the weekend, DeSantis’ campaign manager Generra Peck appeared before around 70 of the campaign’s top contributors in Deer Valley, Utah, and told them they spent money on operations that had turned to be ineffective, reports POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt. Adding to this concession is a nugget found in a story from The New York Times: that the campaign did not hit its fundraising targets and spent a lot of money “caught the candidate and his wife by surprise.”

Going forward — Apparently, the reboot that is underway calls for a leaner, “insurgent” posture and a decision to “expose” voters to DeSantis more, according to Nick Iarossi, a Florida-based lobbyist and fundraiser who was at the event. “Let Ron be Ron,” Iarossi told Isenstadt.

No longer a solid No. 2 — They held the event as new Fox polls came out this weekend that must have landed with a thud in DeSantis world. Florida’s governor comes in third in a Fox Business poll among South Carolina voters: Trump remains a distant frontrunner, and, edging out DeSantis by 1 percentage point, is former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

And in the midwest — The Fox polling also revealed that Sen. Tim Scott's (R-S.C.) popularity has increased in Iowa, bringing him closer to DeSantis. “Scott’s best groups include college-educated women, voters ages 55-64, and women over 45, while DeSantis gets high support from men with a college degree, men under age 45, conservatives, and those who regularly attend worship services,” the poll found.

But, but, but — A lot could happen in the next few months, and the debate may give a chance for DeSantis to reassert himself as the prime alternative to Trump. Since he launched his campaign, DeSantis has also spent less time engaging in new battles back on his home turf — but last week’s decision to wade into the Bud Light controversy suggested that the governor could use his official operation to again to generate headlines that put him on the national radar.

— WHERE'S RON? — Nothing official announced for Gov. DeSantis.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch: kleonard@politico.com.

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CAMPAIGN MODE

CLIFFHANGER — It’s an open question whether Trump will appear for the Aug. 23 GOP debate, which will be hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee, Wis. The ex-president has plenty of time to keep everyone guessing, given that candidates don’t have to RSVP until 48 hours before the event.

Trump kept the suspense alive Sunday, saying on Truth Social that “so many people” have suggested he counter-program the GOP debate with a Tucker Carlson interview.

Despite campaign difficulties, DeSantis is still Trump’s No. 1 target. The former president took aim at DeSantis’ record as governor, dragging him on Truth Social this weekend over Florida’s sky-high property insurance prices.

“Come home, Ron, where you belong,” Trump taunted in a video. “Get those insurance rates way down, because what’s happening in Florida shouldn’t happen anywhere.’”

The situation is dire here, with insurers hiking their prices or leaving the state, making the cost of living unaffordable for many people. This continues despite reform measures DeSantis signed into law in December and May.

The situation will improve, but not for a couple of years, House Speaker Paul Renner told WJXT’s “This Week in Jacksonville.”

“Those premiums, I’m confident, will start to level off and hopefully come down but I think we’re going to have to get through this hurricane season, and then next year, hopefully, then we’ll see some positive news,” he said.

Is it time for another special session to deal with the problem? Renner said no.

— “Ron DeSantis super PAC will host bus tour through Iowa ahead of Lincoln Dinner,” by Des Moines Register’s Brianne Pfannenstiel

TEASER — DeSantis will soon present his economic and national security policy ideas, he said during a press conference this weekend in Utah.

WHAT SUNUNU WANTS — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who isn't running for reelection, urged GOP primary candidates to criticize Trump in their campaign messaging, given that most Granite State Republicans don’t support him for president, POLITICO’s Andrew Zhang reported. Sununu is a popular governor who won’t be supporting Trump in the nation’s first primary voting state, so rival candidates will definitely want his backing given that it’s expected to hold significant weight in the contest.

— “Democrats scramble to reach voters after Florida cancels mail-in ballot requests,” by NBC News’ Jane C. Timm

— Club for Growth readies $20m fund to boost Boebert, Gaetz and other McCarthy antagonists, by POLITICO’s Ally Mutnick

— An insider’s guide to who’s wired — and who’s not — in Iowa, by POLITICO’s Natalie Allison, Sally Goldenberg and Adam Wren

TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP

TRUMP ON TRIAL — News broke Friday that Trump’s Fort Pierce, Fla., trial in the classified documents case will start May 20. That’s 10 months away and potentially has huge implications for the general election, should Trump be the GOP nominee for president.

FLASHBACK TO 2016: Trump became the presumptive nominee by early May.

WHAT TO EXPECT: The special counsel and Trump lawyers are already exchanging evidence. In the coming weeks, they’ll be setting procedures for how to handle classified material and, by October, the two sides will jockey over which classified information can be withheld, according to POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein. Come November, Trump’s defense team will file motions to have parts or all of the case thrown out.

— “Meet the Tampa lawyer who just agreed to defend Trump,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Andrew Long

DESANTISLAND

RETORT — Christie says DeSantis has only himself to blame for Florida education controversy, by Politico’s Kelly Garrity: “‘I didn’t do it’ and ‘I’m not involved in it’ are not the words of leadership,” Christie told CBS’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday, referring to the governor’s response about the issue when he was asked about it recently.

— “DeSantis doubles down on claim that some Blacks benefited from slavery,” by The Washington Post’s Kevin Sullivan and Lori Rozsa

VAX NEWS — “The steep cost of Ron DeSantis’ vaccine turnabout,” by The New York Times’ Sharon LaFraniere, Patricia Mazzei and Albert Sun: “In Florida, unlike the nation as a whole — and states like New York and California that DeSantis likes to single out — most people who died from COVID died after vaccines became available to all adults, not before. As the governor’s political positions began to shift, so did his state’s death rate, for the worse.”

Former Florida surgeon general Scott Rivkees spoke out for the story, saying: “These were preventable deaths. It breaks my heart thinking that things could have turned out differently if people embraced vaccines instead of this anti-vax stuff.”

Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for the governor, accused NYT on Twitter of having “buried the lede” and quoted a portion of the story that concluded, “the state’s death rate during the pandemic, adjusted for age, ended up better than the national average.”

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Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during the Family Leadership Summit, July 14, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. | AP

JETSETTER — “Jets and other travel costs drain DeSantis campaign funds amid layoffs,” by Washington Post’s Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey: “The DeSantis campaign spent $1.5 million on travel over six weeks — about 20 percent of its total spending in the second quarter, and a higher amount than any other campaign except those of Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy during the quarter.”

ABOUT THAT VIDEO — Another item of interest in The New York Times’ deconstruction of the DeSantis campaign was this: It turns out that it was the campaign that produced the much-criticized video that went after Trump on LGBTQ issues. “But it turns out to be more of a self-inflicted wound than was previously known: A DeSantis campaign aide had originally produced the video internally, passing it off to an outside supporter to post it first and making it appear as if it was generated independently, according to a person with knowledge of the incident.”

— “Billionaire donors cool on Ron DeSantis over rightwing policies,” by the Financial Times’ Harriet Agnew and Ortenca Aliaj

— “DeSantis downplays Jan. 6, says it wasn’t an insurrection but a ‘protest’ that ended up devolving,” by Associated Press’ Michelle L. Price

— “Casey DeSantis says ‘America’s Karen’ and ‘Walmart Melania’ nicknames are ways to get her to ‘back down,’” by Florida Politics’ A.G. Gancarski

PENINSULA AND BEYOND

WHAT’S GOING ON? — “Tim Burke and lawyers deny hacking Fox News, demand return of devices,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Justin Garcia: “Tim Burke’s home office is gutted.

In May, FBI agents searched his house while looking for evidence related to leaked Fox News footage, including an anti-Semitic rant from Kanye West and behind-the-scenes footage of Tucker Carlson on his now-canceled show. Burke, 44, had his phone, computers, hard drives and other electronic devices confiscated, though he still hasn’t been charged with a crime. On Friday, his lawyers filed a motion to the U.S. Department of Justice demanding that Burke’s devices be returned.”

DEEP DIVE — “How a squad of MAGA warriors flush with cash turned on each other,” by Financial Times’ Joel Stein: “[Simone] Gold is staring out the living room windows of her home in Naples, Florida, to stop herself from crying. ‘For the rest of my life, there’s going to be a question of if I’m a thief,’ she says, focusing on the palm trees lining the $3.6mn house purchased for her by America’s Frontline Doctors, the non-profit she founded to fight Covid-related restrictions. ‘I’m Erin Brockovich. And now you’re telling the world that I stole from the people? My core understanding of who I am is: I do the right thing. So, it’s insanely painful.’”

NEXT STEPS — “Mosaic wants to test ‘radioactive road’ with 337 tons of phosphogypsum,” by Tampa Bay Times’ Max Chesnes: “Tampa fertilizer giant Mosaic is seeking federal approval to use an estimated 337 tons of phosphogypsum, a mildly radioactive byproduct from the company’s phosphate manufacturing process, as a test ingredient in road construction. Phosphogypsum is currently stored in about two dozen “stacks” across Florida, including one at Mosaic’s New Wales plant in Mulberry. Now, the Fortune 500 company wants to remove the byproduct from its gypstack and mix it into a 1,200-foot road at the plant, according to a petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency obtained by the Tampa Bay Times.”

ATTENTION SHOPPERS — Florida’s 6% sales tax holiday for back-to-school items begins today and extends through August 6. A handy list from the Miami Herald lists the items that qualify, from laptops to lunchboxes.

— “Fertilizer plants store some of Florida’s most toxic waste. Can they hold up to storms?” by Miami Herald’s Alan Halaly

— “Two years after environmental disaster, how close is Piney Point to closing for good,” by Bradenton Herald’s Ryan Callihan

— “FAMU bans football players from facility after release of rap video shot in team’s locker room,” by Associated Press

— “Amazon to set up $120 million Space Coast shop in competition with SpaceX’s Starlink,” by Orlando Sentinel’s Richard Tribou

ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN

MOVIE REVIEWS — Seems like every business imaginable was decked out in Barbie pink — which we prefer to call Miami sunset pink — this past weekend as the heavily marketed eponymous movie hit theaters. Even Rep. Matt Gaetz and his wife, Ginger, got decked out for a White House screening.

But “Barbie” left Ginger Gaetz unimpressed, though she gave props to star Margot Robbie as well as the movie’s music and costumes. The film, she wrote next to an Insta post in which she posed in a life-sized Barbie box, “neglects to address any notion of faith or family, and tries to normalize the idea that men and women can’t collaborate positively (yuck).”

BIRTHDAYS: Former Gov. Charlie Crist … Steve Birtman with Tallahassee Downtown Improvement Authority ... Margo Martin with the Trump campaign.