‘Underdog’ Ron DeSantis likens Iowa caucuses to race against Andrew Gillum

Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum.

Florida’s Governor is finding inspiration in 2018 for the next few days on which his 2024 hopes hinge.

Ron DeSantis told reporters in Iowa that CNN hosting a debate between Nikki Haley and him was “funny” because back when he ran against Andrew Gillum, the network also “did a debate between me and my Democrat opponent and this was probably a week or two before the election.”

“They had me down 10, 15 points in the polls. I didn’t think that’s where the race was but it created a lot of bad juju, you people putting that out there. But of course, we ended up winning the election,” DeSantis said.

Indeed, polls had Gillum leading in nearly every survey for more than a month, according to RealClearPolitics at the time. But the spread was single digits then, as opposed to the 40-plus-point lead Donald Trump enjoys among Hawkeye State GOP caucus participants.

The Governor told reporters in Iowa he “would rather be the underdog.”

“I understand that there’s a lot of folks that have wanted to create that narrative, really from the beginning of the election. I’d rather be in that position. I think if you’re somebody that they’re expecting, you know, to run away with it, then, you know, I don’t know that I run as well there.”

DeSantis has recently embraced the argument that he’s been “underestimated” as a candidate and is now the “underdog,” such as during an interview with Anderson Cooper after that CNN debate.

“I do better when I’m underestimated. I like being the underdog. And so, I’m not a prognosticator. I think if you look at what we’ve done here, the organization that we built, the tens of thousands of Iowans that have already committed to caucus, everything, we’ve done it the right way. We’ve gone to all 99 counties. And I think you’re seeing that,” the Governor said.

“You’re going to start to see that more and more even through the weekend. … My people are going to come out in negative 20 (degrees). They’re going to come out and do it. But at the same time, you know, I’d rather be underestimated, so I hope everyone says all that and then on caucus night, you know, we’re going to do well.”