Trump won Iowa, So What?
2024 Election politics are underway.
The Iowa Caucuses are history, and by some miracle, they were able to count the votes accurately and reveal the results by the end of the night.
Even left-wing media called the election for Trump about 15 seconds after the caucuses began, which did not sit well with DeSantis and Haley.
If you believe the media, this was a historic victory.
This was the first time anyone had won over 50 percent of the vote in any Iowa election: Ninety-eight out of 99 counties, all won by former president Donald J Trump.
Trump comes in thirty points more than his nearest competitor, which says a lot about Iowa voters — or does it?
You would think that four pending court cases, a conserted effort to keep the former president off the ballot in two states, and a somewhat biased January 6th committee results would have put Trump at the bottom of the results — not at the top.
The question remains: what really happened in Iowa?
In the Iowa caucuses, approximately 40 percent of participants considered immigration the most crucial issue, with 59 percent supporting Trump.
These caucusgoers largely agreed with his strict approach to reducing immigration.
Around 90 percent favored constructing a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, a concept Trump popularized in his 2016 campaign, with 70 percent strongly endorsing it.
(Full transparency for liberals: Trump built 50 miles of new walls and replaced 500 miles of dilapidated walls. Which is why we have crossings where they are. No walls there.)
Three-quarters believed that immigrants are more harmful than beneficial to the U.S., suggesting a preference for lower immigration levels.
Remember that Iowa is way down the list as a desirable destination for immigrant flights or bus trips from Texas.
Economic concerns were the primary focus for about one-third of the participants. Among them, 53 percent backed Trump when considering the economy as their top issue. DeSantis secured a second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses primarily due to support from conservative voters, who preferred him over Haley, although Trump remained their top choice.
Around 70 percent of the Iowa caucus participants identified themselves as conservatives. Among these, about two-thirds were in favor of a six-week abortion ban, and DeSantis garnered slightly more support from this group compared to Haley.
Haley closely followed DeSantis in the results.
She was the preferred candidate among the most anti-Trump Republicans in Iowa, particularly those who believed Trump committed illegal acts in his ongoing criminal cases.
Additionally, she was the favored choice among Republicans who voted for Biden in 2020, with two-thirds backing her.
However, her campaign faced challenges in a state that predominantly aligned with Trump and his policies.
Trump voters braved below-zero temperatures in rural areas to ensure their voices were heard. They could just as easily have stayed home with the cows and watched Haley or DeSantis carry the day. Why didn’t they?
What do voters in Iowa know that the rest of the U.S. is missing? Iowans surely know about Trump’s four pending court cases. They must have heard of Stormy Daniels. What about the E. Jean Carrol case?
Do they think he’ll beat all of them or emerge with a slap on the wrist fines he can easily pay?
Coming up will be New Hampshire, where, according to reports, there are only four resident Republicans in the state — the rest are all Democrats.
Haley is expected to do better in New Hampshire. Ramaswamy has dropped out of the race for the presidency.
Voters aren’t stupid regardless of the media’s opinion of them.
One charge or event can bring a politician crashing down. Gary Hart, Joe Biden’s plagiarism in past elections, Bill Clinton’s Oval Office hummers with Monica, but four charges and 90-plus indictments make Trump a victim in the eyes of many voters.
A sizable portion of the population has already mentally tried and convicted Trump in absentia.
Some Final Thoughts
Was Iowa a fluke? Will Trump crash and burn in New Hampshire and South Carolina?
The evening of February 3rd will answer a lot of these questions.
Stay Tuned.
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