Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) speaking with reporters at a town hall event in Ankeny, Iowa on Thursday, July 27, 2023. The worst news for fellow Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) this past week was new polls out of Iowa, showing Scott creeping up on him, with around 10 percent support, to the governor’s roughly 15 percent, Ross Douthat writes. (Jordan Gale/The New York Times)