By James Oliphant
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Ron DeSantis’ path to the Republican presidential nomination appears to be narrowing, the Florida governor has decided to go all-in on perhaps his most divisive and potentially toxic policy stance: support of a six-week abortion ban.
A hardline position on abortion is fraught with political risk. Polls show that a majority of Americans favor making the procedure available early in the pregnancy, and some major donors are worried that DeSantis' viewpoint will sink his chances with moderate voters next year.
But it appears DeSantis sees the issue as perhaps his best hope for scoring an upset victory in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest of the 2024 race in January. The DeSantis campaign believes a win in Iowa might push other candidates from the field, leaving him as voters' primary alternative to former President Donald Trump, the current favorite.
In recent days, DeSantis’ campaign has highlighted the six-week abortion bans passed this year in Florida and Iowa, while attempting to draw a contrast with Trump, who called DeSantis' decision to sign such a restrictive measure "a terrible thing and a terrible mistake" in an interview with NBC News.
Trump also has been warning abortion opponents in the Republican Party that pushing the issue too far would have political consequences next year and suggested as president he would try to find some common ground with the abortion-rights movement.
His comments outraged some evangelical leaders and handed DeSantis an opening he and his campaign quickly moved to exploit, as they argued Trump could not be trusted to stay the conservative course on the issue.
“If (Trump's) going into this saying he’s going to make the Democrats happy with respect to right-to-life, I think all pro-lifers should know that he’s preparing to sell you out," DeSantis said in a radio interview in Iowa this week.
The DeSantis War Room account on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, replayed the NBC Trump interview and featured Iowa pastors criticizing Trump.
Never Back Down, a super PAC backing DeSantis, bought a video ad on Facebook (NASDAQ:META) citing Trump’s “betrayal” of the anti-abortion movement targeted at regions in Iowa that Trump visited this week.
The new push on abortion comes as DeSantis lags behind Trump in the race to take on Democratic President Joe Biden in November 2024, with the most recent Reuters/Ipsos national poll showing DeSantis trailing by 37 percentage points.
A DeSantis campaign adviser, who asked to remain anonymous to discuss strategy, said the governor was intent on replicating the tactics used by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz when he won Iowa over Trump in 2016, particularly by concentrating on rural counties with evangelical voters.
Evangelicals are a potent political force in the state. DeSantis' campaign last week announced a "Faith and Family" coalition backed by 70 Iowa pastors and faith leaders.
David Kochel, a veteran Republican operative in Iowa, said the abortion issue may cut against Republicans in a presidential election, but "as a primary issue, it is pretty salient."
“DeSantis is smart to lean in on it,” said Kochel, as he noted Trump appears to be “changing his messaging for a general-election audience.”
Trump has argued his anti-abortion bona fides are unassailable. In Iowa on Wednesday, he claimed credit for nominating three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the seminal decision that granted constitutional protection to abortion.
His campaign did not respond to questions about whether the ex-president was creating an opening for DeSantis with evangelicals.
POLITICAL PERIL
DeSantis signed the Florida bill in April with little fanfare and rarely mentioned it early in his presidential campaign.
Abortion has become a political minefield for Republicans since Roe's overturn last year. While some anti-abortion advocates slammed Trump for his remarks his week, others have also been critical of DeSantis for not making clear whether he supports a sweeping federal ban on abortions or leaving the matter to states to regulate.
Democrats have emphasized the issue as a means to drive women and independent voters to the ballot box.
DeSantis' recent focus on his state's six-week ban could create problems for him in states later in the primary calendar such as New Hampshire and Michigan, which have historically been less receptive to a hard-right candidate.
But Mark Doland, an evangelical pastor in Iowa, cited DeSantis' position on abortion as one reason he was backing him after supporting Trump in the last two elections.
Trump’s view of abortion “seems to me more of a position than a conviction, and I support candidates with conviction,” Doland said.
He said he would network with other pastors to urge them to support DeSantis.
“They have to make a decision: Trump versus the creator,” he said. “That’s where the rubber meets the road.”
(This story has been corrected to fix Mark Doland’s last name in paragraphs 21 and 22)