Ron DeSantis went all in on Iowa to finish a distant second to Trump. What is he going to do next? - The Boston Globe

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

60% : "Trump got so much free publicity being controversial the first time around," and Trump was still dominating the coverage.
52% : She continued: "I was hoping Ron would do better, but he got second, so we're going to keep moving on and supporting him as we can."Still, the second-place finish felt a lot like victory to many of DeSantis's supporters, who recognize that the biggest forces in the Republican presidential primary are Trump and his unwavering base.
52% : He instead set the bar around how other candidates did, noting that expectations were high for Trump given his lead in polling and Haley for the recent momentum she's had, noting that it's "second place or bust for her.
49% : Patrick and Gail O'Connor, a Huxley couple who caucused for Trump on Monday night, said they extensively discussed who they would support -- perhaps more than any other election -- and considered other options.
48% : Other candidates called it quits, including Vivek Ramaswamy, who finished fourth and endorsed Trump.
38% : And the governor has a record that theoretically appeals to many Republican voters -- he used the COVID pandemic became a rallying cry against government overreach; he's passed a conservative agenda in Florida that includes legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community and restricting abortion rights; and he is not afraid to engage in the type of issues President Trump had built his presidency around.
37% : For any candidate to emerge as a viable alternative to Trump, that person must consolidate non-Trump votes, a competition which has narrowed down to DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who finished third in Iowa, just two percentage points behind DeSantis.
35% : "Ben Boxleiter, an Ames resident who attended a DeSantis event Thursday before the caucuses and planned to support him, said DeSantis is in a "big uphill battle against Trump."
27% : DeSantis lacks the crassness that many Republicans find off putting about Trump.
20% : "We were hoping that Iowans would come through and realize that Ron is the best candidate, Trump is a mess, [and] his legal issues are going to drag the Republican party into oblivion."

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