It is 60 days until the Iowa Caucus as of the writing of this piece. I haven’t blogged much in the past few years. I’ve been more contemplative in my approach to life. I’m still the firebrand activist when I need to be, but my heart has softened to the plight of the people the government treats as cogs in the system.
I chose to jump back into the political fight last year, before the Iowa legislative primaries. I was pleasantly surprised by our governor, Kim Reynolds, and her choice to get off the sidelines and support primaries against a number of bad Iowa Republicans. I was part of several of those primaries on the ground organizing front.
After that victory was won, I had thought the political process had started to find the N on the compass row. I was wrong. When Donald Trump chose to take swipes at the successful governor of Florida, I knew we were in for a mess. When the calendar turned to 2023, I chose to get back into the Iowa caucus organizing process. I met with and talked to several candidates. One stood out. That Florida governor…
In March, I went to the book tour event Ron DeSantis held in Davenport, IA. I listened. I digested what he was saying. It was policy rich and principled in a way that I hadn’t heard from anyone else even thinking about running. After the event, I greeted him and got a card from a staffer. I sent an email to that staffer that ended up being the start of a journey that has brought me to this point.
I had heard that Governor DeSantis and his people were hard to get ahold of. I didn’t really expect anything from the email I sent, to be honest. I was wrong. A member of this staff called me a week after I sent that email. We had a long phone conversation about Iowa and about the political climate here in the state. That person, I won’t call her name, is now a friend. She kept in touch with me. We still exchange text messages and emails and she knows she can always call or text me if she needs prayer.
Fast forward to the campaign season and I have, through a multitude of public and private meetings, been honored to get to know Ron and Casey DeSantis.
Ron DeSantis is focused, principled, and kind, but with a resolve I haven’t seen in any candidate for president. He conducts himself in a manner that places him above reproach, morally. He is a good husband to Casey. The way he talks about his wife and kids is the way any man should talk about his family. He deeply loves his wife and children. You can tell his little boy is the apple of his eye and his two daughters have their daddy wrapped around their little fingers. America needs more examples of a man doing great things while also being a good family man.
Casey…well…Casey DeSantis is a gem of a human. She’s a political activist at heart. She is truly her husband’s biggest supporter and his most important sounding board. For that, I am grateful. She’s a great wife and mother. She and Ron are meant for one another. I’m thankful that she’s someone I can call a friend. It would be the honor of a lifetime to be able to call her the First Lady of the United States.
One of the great honors of the whole campaign season was hosting the DeSantis family at my church in Washington, Iowa on October 8th, 2023. I was glad we were able to be a blessing to them that morning and I thank Ron and Casey for their outreach to my church.
There are many others in both the Never Back Down PAC supporting the governor and his campaign staff that I can now count as friends. As a volunteer county chair, I talk to someone in this fight most days of the week.
I’m not so sure that our country deserves a man like Ron DeSantis in the White House. We’ve overseen the murder of 65 million babies since 1973, an ongoing crime that continues apace, even since the Dobbs ruling of 2022. We’ve seen the rise of the gender identity cult, seeking to mutilate the minds and bodies of young people across the country. We’ve seen the degradation of the natural family. We’ve seen the destruction of all cultural institutions, including most local churches. Mass immigration of people not seeking to be citizens is a massive problem. Inflation, medical tyranny, a bureaucracy seeking to control our lives…I could go on and on.
One thing gives me hope. God says that as long as there is a remnant that haven’t bowed the knee to idols, He can work through those people. I believe we do have a remnant. That’s all it takes.
I want to ask everyone who reads this to pray for Ron, Casey, Madison, Mason, and Mamie DeSantis. They surely need the guidance and protection of God in this season. Also, pray for his staff and everyone across the country who has devoted themselves to working to see Ron become our next president. Pray for needed generational change. Pray for competent and principled leadership. Pray for our nation to turn away from vain pursuits.
My personal prayer is specifically for a space of grace from God whereby we might be able to see a revival in the civic realm of people taking their citizenship seriously and ultimately, a revival in local, New Testament churches across the nation where the Gospel will be preeminent once again.
Lastly, I ask and pray that anyone who reads this will join me in this effort. Find me on Twitter/X @bigredmatt1011
