DES MOINES, Iowa — In many ways, the start of the 2024 presidential election year began Saturday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines — with Iowa U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s annual Roast and Ride.

Eight Republican presidential hopefuls assembled all under one roof, making their case to some 750 Iowans on why they’re best suited to lead the most powerful nation in the world.

“Well all know the road to 2024, it runs through Iowa. And, folks, it runs through the Roast and Ride right here today, the biggest event we’ve had yet,” Ernst said of her annual fundraiser for veterans and, in the party nomination chase, a mixer for average Iowans and GOP candidates.

All kinds of candidates, from long shots — former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Michigan businessman Perry Johnson, and conservative talk radio host Larry Elder — to rising GOP stars — Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and fellow South Carolinian U.S. Senator Tim Scott — to the known commodities and power players — former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — showed up.

The frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, was the only leading Republican Party nomination contender who didn’t make the trip, but his presence was felt even if his rivals never mentioned his name. Trump was in town Thursday for a full slate of campaign events, including a town hall from suburban Des Moines hosted by Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Iowans at the “cattle call” of candidates, feasting on barbecue pork sandwiches, baked beans, chips, and chocolate chip cookies in fairgrounds exhibition hall air-conditioned comfort, got quite a show following a warm morning’s motorcycle ride through the sprawling Des Moines Metropolitan area.

“It is great to be back on the Roast and Ride. I rode and I roasted on the ride,” said Pence, the only candidate to mount a motorcycle, as he did in Ernst’s 2017 iteration of the event.

Pence, who is expected to formally announce his campaign next week in the Hawkeye State, was, understandably, the only candidate who didn’t talk about what he would do as president. Yet. But Trump’s former No. 2 said he would be back soon to officially announce his run for the White House.

“I’m going to do it here in Iowa,” he said.

Taking on Trump

Each candidate was warmly welcomed. It is “Iowa Nice” for a reason. Most trained their fire on the Democrat they would most likely face in November 2024, President Joe Biden. But some fired a few shots at Trump, even if they dared not mention the name of the former president who leads closest competitor DeSantis by 30-plus percentage points in the polls.

Haley told voters in the first-in-the-nation caucus state that this election must be about the future, not the past.

“It’s time for a new generation of leaders. We’ve got to leave the baggage and the negativity behind. We’ve got a country to save,” said Haley, who served as Trump’s secretary to the United Nations. Haley admonished the fairgrounds crowd not to complain about who they get in the general election “if they don’t play in this caucus.”

Since announcing her campaign in early February, Haley said she’s done 25 events in Iowa.

“I’m going to keep coming. I’m not going to do a rally and leave you,” she said, perhaps another veiled knock on Trump, who is the master of the big campaign rally. “I’m going to answer every question, I’m going to shake every hand. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win your support.”

Ramaswamy might just be the face of the next generation of GOP politics. The 37-year-old entrepreneur and anti-woke crusader is by far the youngest candidate in the race. He’s the first millennial Republican to run for president.

Ramaswamy pounded his message that America is suffering through a profound identity crisis, thanks to the left’s identity politics. He’s been preaching a revival of American exceptionalism, and Saturday was no exception to his New American Dream gospel.

If the United States can get back to founding principles, he said, “Nobody in the world, not a nation, not a corporation, not a virus is going to defeat us.”

“That is what America exceptionalism is all about, and I promise you that is what we together will provide to save this great nation,” he said to a roar of applause.

DeSantis, one of the heavy hitters of the young presidential campaign season, closed Saturday’s show. He was back in Iowa just days after officially launching his campaign in the Hawkeye State on Tuesday and after a whirlwind couple of days campaigning in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The popular Florida governor seemed tired between smiles for the camera, but he wowed the crowd once he took the stage. DeSantis, as he did earlier in the week, rushed through much of his speech, blasting through some key applause points. He sounded like a man on a mission. He says he is.

“I think American decline is a choice, and I think if we choose another path we can restore American greatness,” he said.

He took a few subtle shots at Trump as the war of words between the two frontrunners continued to escalate. DeSantis again asserted that the GOP needs to “dispense with the culture of losing.” The Florida governor and his campaign have attempted to drive the message that he, not Trump, is better positioned to beat Biden.

DeSantis gave a brief synopsis of his policy successes in Florida — from keeping the Sunshine State open during the sweeping lockdowns of COVID to taking on the far left’s woke machine, including his culture war battles with Disney. He said Disney didn’t like his approach, an understatement to say the least.

“I stand up for the people I represent. I don’t subcontract out my leadership to a woke corporation …,” DeSantis said to ringing applause. “We stand for the protection of our children. We seek to do battle against anybody who would rob them of their innocence, and those principles I will not compromise. Here I stand.”

Opportunity Platform

Elder, who ran a spirited but ultimately unsuccessful campaign for California governor in 2021, spoke of his life as a black man in America, a nation he asserts is not driven by the Left’s notion of “privilege,” but by the hard work of the average American.

“Stop the nonsense about America being systemically racist,” Elder said, noting the Democrat-controlled cities where the worst poverty, crime rates and hopelessness reside. “The real disparity in America is the epidemic of fatherlessness [black, Hispanic, and white].

Scott, who launched his campaign last month, delivered a similar message of America as the land of opportunity, not oppression. The only black Republican member of the U.S. Senate said he is a walking example of the American Dream, coming from a poor single-family home to success in business and politics.

Perhaps Scott’s biggest applause line was for his take on how the U.S. should handle communist China.

“As president, I would take China at their word. They have become an economic adversary to the United States of America,” the senator said. “It is time for us to uncouple our economy [with China] by growing jobs at home, by building things here at home, and employing Americans at home.

Retail politics is all about shaking hands, snapping photos, and a healthy dose of political pandering. Case in point, praise and talk of protection by some of the candidates for Iowa’s big cash industry. Hutchinson, for instance, noted the importance of American energy independence, “including the energy that is so important here in Iowa, biofuels, ethanol.”

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s most recent report claims the industry contributed $7.2 billion to the state’s gross domestic product last year. Dennis Friest, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, and his team were on hand to make sure the presidential hopefuls understand the importance of King Corn.

Johnson seemed to have a date with an espresso machine before taking the stage. The businessman with the 2-cent plan could not be matched for flailing arms and raised voice. The crowd seemed to love the show. He definitely gave them what they wanted to hear.

“How many here are in favor of Washington spending less money?” Johnson said of his quest to balance the budget.

Saturday’s “cattle call” is just the beginning of a year-long slog of campaign speeches, town halls, small venue meet and greets and the retail politics that have made Iowa the testing ground for presidential hopefuls for more than 50 years.

While some of Saturday’s attendees had their candidates lined up for next February’s caucuses, many remain proudly undecided. A DeSantis volunteer approached a voter in the sun late morning, as Des Moines temperatures already were approaching the low 80s.

“Ma’am would you like a fan? It’s going to be hot today,” the young man said.

The woman, a senior citizen, demurred. “I haven’t decided yet, I’d better not.” She meant she had not decided on a candidate.

“Okay, we have ice cream, too,” the volunteer said seductively as the Village People’s “Macho Man” blared from a speaker near the DeSantis camp.

Paul Zinnel, of Altoona, a suburb of about 45,000 people northeast of Des Moines and home to amusement park Adventureland, said he’s a Trump guy. But he likes DeSantis, too.

“Of those two, it’s mix and match, and the rest of them I’m here to see,” he said.

Ernst noted the Democratic National Committee turned its back on Iowa Democrats earlier this year when it pushed the Iowa caucuses out of the front of the nominating line.

“Republicans are keeping the caucuses here in Iowa,” Ernst said to applause. “What did the Democrats do? The Democrats ditched Iowa They have given middle America the middle finger. I’m tired of it.”

“Iowa has a voice. We have a great voice and we’re going to project it to the rest of the United States.”

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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.