As Ron DeSantis braved icy roads and subzero temperatures in Iowa to meet with supporters in a small community hall, he faced a difficult encounter.
A comedian carrying a gold trophy interrupted to walk up and thank the Republican presidential candidate for his "participation" in the 2024 race.
"Governor DeSantis, I want to present you with this participation trophy," he told him.
"Now, [you're] You're probably not going to win the election, right? But we're proud of you for trying," the man added. "He's special, he's unique, and he's our little snowflake."
Mr. DeSantis did not accept the gift. It was the latest humiliation for the 45-year-old Florida governor in his painful quest to reach the White House.
Once seen as the candidate who could finally loosen Donald Trump's grip on the Republican Party, DeSantis' support has been waning amid months of wooden campaigning and personnel issues.
But he still believes he can surprise the critics and the pollsters. "I will face whatever comes my way," he said. "Nothing is handed to you in life."
He faces his first electoral test on Monday, when Republicans across Iowa will venture into blizzard-like conditions to cast their ballots and the battle to crown the party's 2024 nominee will begin.
But if the campaign's latest poll in Iowa, which is highly respected among experts, is to be believed, DeSantis could be in for a humiliating evening.
The Des Moines Register poll showed DeSantis taking a big leap ahead of Nikki Haley, who rose to 20 percent while falling three points to 16 percent. Trump continues to dominate with 48 percent.
The poll is particularly tantalizing because DeSantis has gambled everything on a strong performance in Iowa, hoping it would give him the momentum to catapult through the other early states and shatter Trump's aura of invincibility.
Since his landslide re-election as Florida governor in 2022, DeSantis, a Navy veteran with a telegenic family and an Ivy League education, has been celebrated as a potential future Republican president.
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The 2022 election was disastrous for the Republican Party, whose predicted "red wave" in the US Congress did not materialize.
Defy the odds
DeSantis was one of the few Republicans to defy the odds - not only winning reelection, but also taking districts that Democrats had held for years.
The result saw him achieve the once unthinkable: overtaking the 77-year-old former president in the polls.
His presidential bid has since followed a proven formula for success. He toured all 99 counties in Iowa, a state larger than England.
He has courted the state's large and influential evangelical base with his promotion of a six-week abortion ban and attacks on transgender rights, winning support from key figures among the Christian right.
Kim Reynolds, the popular Republican governor of Iowa, even risked Trump's ire by endorsing DeSantis.
But the convention-defying Trump has broken the Iowa formula and gained a commanding lead in the state despite campaigning largely from his home in Florida.
Mr. DeSantis knows the humiliation in Iowa will prematurely derail his 2024 bid and could even jeopardize a second attempt in 2028.
Some experts speculate he could immediately exit the race if he finishes third in the Hawkeye State.
David Polyansky, the campaign's deputy manager, emphasized that this would not be the case.
He told The Telegraph: "He keeps improving and improving and if we get a shot at Donald Trump, what we will do when Nikki Haley leaves South Carolina - and she will - then we will see."
To signal their intent, Mr. DeSantis will go directly from Iowa to South Carolina, the fourth state to vote in the election, and Ms. Haley's home.
'Set on fire'
"We're not stopping. We are finally excited about this opportunity," Mr. DeSantis told a group of reporters, including The Telegraph, at an event at Jethro's BBQ restaurant in Ames, central Iowa.
He had just completed a question-and-answer session with voters, in which he answered questions about Joe Biden's attacks on Houthi rebels, how he would negotiate with Congress and education policy.
The event in the back room of the BBQ restaurant was interrupted three times by climate protesters, but those who endured the bitter winds to come hear Mr. DeSantis were not disappointed.
Mike Powers, a 65-year-old business owner, said Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Trump "are not that far apart" on the most important issues.
He believes the governor has been "much more successful in making the changes that need to happen" than the former president and would bring "much less chaos" to the White House.
Retiree Kent Haten, on the other hand, was not convinced. He has never held a meeting before, but at the age of 74 decided to go out on Monday evening to cast his vote - probably for Mr Trump.
'Disturbing times'
"I really liked DeSantis," he said, but noted that Trump has four years of Oval Office experience, a comfort in these troubling times.
The Iowa caucuses, Mr. Haten jokes, are on his "bucket list." This quirk of the American election system has determined the pace of the presidential race since 1972.
Unlike states that hold primaries, Iowa requires voters to convene: meet in person to hear speeches from a representative of each candidate, and then vote for whoever convinces them.
The nature of the system means that the power of a candidate's grassroots organizing - recruiting volunteers to ensure voters show up and stand up for them that night - is critical.
Allies of Mr. DeSantis believe he has the upper hand here. They have at least one "precinct captain" to mobilize voters in each of Iowa's more than 1,600 precincts.
"We're still aiming for first or a close second," a source in DeSantis' orbit told The Telegraph.
Whether that is a delusion remains to be seen. Regardless of what happens Monday, those who know Mr. DeSantis believe he will remain in the race until early March.
One source said they would be "stunned" if Mr. DeSantis were to drop out soon, even if he were ranked fifth in Iowa. "He's stubborn as hell," the source said.
"I don't see him doing anything else until after South Carolina," they said.
