We all know Trump and his followers have been going all-out attacking DeSantis this past week, and one of their battle cries is that DeSantis has supposedly "cratered in the polls". Not so:
The surveys, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies from March 21 to 23 for an outside client (not a candidate or super PAC) found DeSantis leading Trump by eight points (45%-37%) in a head-to-head matchup in Iowa and tied with Trump (39%-39%) in New Hampshire.
DeSantis' overall image is the strongest of all the prospective GOP candidates in both states. In Iowa, his favorability/unfavorability rating was a sterling 81%-11%. Trump's was 74%-24%. In New Hampshire, DeSantis' favorability rating was 77%-15%, while Trump's was 69%-29%.
In New Hampshire, 48% viewed DeSantis as the better candidate to defeat Biden, while 46% thought Trump was more electable. In Iowa, 54% viewed DeSantis as more electable, compared to 44% for Trump.
Trump's biggest weakness was on temperament: 68% of Iowa Republicans rated DeSantis as having a better temperament than Trump, while 71% said the same in New Hampshire.
Polls are just mind games to manipulate people into doing what the "surveyor" wants. They're useless unless the people running them have a solid history of being honest and correct.