The super PAC backing Ron DeSantis held an event in Iowa that attracted a very small crowd in a very small room.
The scene:
A DeSantis event in Iowa, organized by the super PAC, is starting in about 10 minutes and the (small) room is still pretty empty — about 25-30 voters here. pic.twitter.com/ORPzvNwPPK
— Nancy Cook (@nancook) July 27, 2023
It did get better, but the room was tiny and Ron DeSantis could fill it up:
Update: Room at DeSantis event in Iowa is filling up but still not packed, lots of empty room in the back 1/3 of the room, Iowans here want to hear him talk about Ukraine, education, immigration — pic.twitter.com/E2LuS6vCNr
— Nancy Cook (@nancook) July 27, 2023
DeSantis defenders are pointing out that the Florida governor was appearing in a small Iowa county, so the turnout wasn’t that bad. People will quibble over crowd-size stories at political events until the end of time. Instead of the number of heads in the room, one of the things that I have learned to look at is how full is the room. Campaigns do all sorts of things to make a room look more full. They may mess with the configuration of the event, or grab any staff/family/friends/guests they can find and stick them in the room to fill up empty space. There are all sorts of little tricks like when a venue is at less than capacity, attendees will put in the front and pictures and video are shot from the back of the room.
Ron DeSantis is supposed to be running a leaner and meaner campaign, but it is important to fill up the room that is booked. The reporter on the scene said that the room is small, so it is up to the field organization for the super PAC to make sure that the little room is full.
The DeSantis campaign might very well be dead already, and empty space is not a good way to reverse that perception.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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