Thread by @dougblandry

Welcome to the first real Ron DeSantis campaign day, where they've chosen a small church venue in W. Des Moines for a "kickoff" event - that ostensibly will send him straight to the WH.

I've QT'd yesterday's thread on this choice also but I have some NEW THOUGHTS TO SHARE

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DeSantis has already had to quietly switch venues for this first in-person event - which is a mess because it's a HUGE moment in the history of any campaign.

The "first event" on camera is so important for setting the tone.

Here's Biden's in 2016 in PGH on his way out to IA

the Pittsburgh stop drove a day of coverage while we were in IA setting up - we had laid out a ambitious schedule of 2 days/4 stops, with speeches at each. All were large + centrally located venues.

I don't think that DeSantis' team exactly went out and found the "A" venues:

Just look at the photo galleries from these first four events we did for Biden in Iowa across 2 days - tiny advance teams, not much $$$, just a lot of effort and good planning:

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At least some of DeSantis routing/scheduling makes some sense, especially if you fly from Des Moines up to Sioux City (airport code: SUX) to start the 2nd day.

But it's a lot of driving on the 2nd day - can't be late in Iowa, caucusgoers lose their minds over late candidates

[For Hillary in 2016, technically the first event was when she stopped at a Chipotle in like Ohio as the Secret Service drove her over in her Scooby Van and was recognized, but that didn't count...]

Her real first event as a Presidential Candidate was an adorable drop by at a local coffee shop on the east side of Iowa, in LeClaire -The Jones Street Java House. It was lovely. She got behind the counter for a bit and generally had a casual start with a small number of folks.

I solemnly swore the coffee owner to secrecy the night before and I think I said something so over the top like "This will be...the first event...that starts a campaign...that ends with...Hillary Clinton...in the White House" Anyway, they're closed now and I should try the decaf.

[One day I'm going to do like a 250 tweet thread about the rest of Hillary's first trip to Iowa, but for now, suffice to say it all went beyond our wildest expectations..some of these 900 photos have to be worth sharing, too]

but anyway...back to Rob Meatball's big day today...

The problem is - he's moved on short notice from a giant rec center complex to a smaller megachurch. Why'd he move? Crowd wasn't big enough? Rec center didn't want the political hassle? Miscommunication among the local party?

Who knows. Doesn't matter, but something is amiss.

And obviously, maybe some of the 50 reporters assigned 100% of the time to the DeSantis beat just stretching their legs after the three day wkd can start asking Pastor @jessethenewman of Eternity Church these questions:

1) when did the RDS campaign approach? Why the move?

2) Given your 501(c)(3) tax exemption, why did you say yes to hosting a very prominent partisan political event at your premises?

3) Will you invite Biden?

4) Have you used any personnel, resources, or social media to support Ron DeSantis/this event?

5) Are you charging a rental fee to the DeSantis campaign? Is it the same you might charge a similar activity, or way less? or way more?

6) wouldn't your time be better spent saving souls than harassing drag hour at the library?

7) Do you regret being an Extremely Online Reply Guy Pastor™, especially when it might land you in hot water with the IRS and others?

Anyway - in summary, hosting your super prominent kickoff event under dubious legal circumstances - your first in-person activity after your twitter debacle - at some mediumchurch in a DSM suburb does not scream "we have our shit together" to me anymore than the twitter idea did.

Maybe I'll be proven wrong - but probably not

I will provide the FULL COVERAGE of #DeSantisAdvance's journey today that you have come to expect, dear reader - prob will start a new thread at some point.

Make sure to like, follow, mash that subscribe button, etc etc etc

This must be what Woodward and Bernstein felt the first time they met up in the parking garage with deep throat

Anyway, seems like people should do some digging into Ron DeSantis’ host today

Pastor Jesse struggling with the difference between "hosting a political event at my church complete with literal campaign signs on the doors" and "political candidates speaking at a church service"

like nobody's gonna do anything about it, but this isn't even a little bit legal