PITTSBURGH — While it is always unsettling for a political movement when its party loses power, the reality is that the movement’s coalition doesn’t necessarily collapse or disappear. Sometimes, it even gets stronger. Coalitions last beyond a candidate’s or party’s loss because the coalition is always more about the people who are in it than about any single person.

20220819 DeSantis-Mastriano 06.JPGCoalitions are also often about a sense of place. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis understands this. His message in his visit to this Pennsylvania city, along with neighboring Youngstown, Ohio, shows he recognizes that attendees at his rallies are not just interested in him; they are interested in how well he “gets” this sense of place that is everything to conservative populists.