One diner stop at a time: DeSantis tests revamped 2024 strategy to beat Trump

FILE PHOTO: Florida Governor and Republican U.S. presidential candidate Ron DeSantis attends a barbecue hosted by former diplomat Scott Brown, as part of his "No B.S. Backyard BBQ" series, in Rye, New Hampshire, U.S. July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Reba Saldanha/File Photo

RYE, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Sunday afternoon for Ron DeSantis began at a restaurant. The Florida governor sidled into a booth to chat up a pair of newlyweds. Next he took questions at a barbecue outside a small red barn where onlookers munched on hot dogs.

His day of campaigning for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination ended at a lobster restaurant overlooking a marsh where onlookers snapped photos of him holding one of the excitable crustaceans in his hand.