RE: Trump In Iowa

The headline reads: "Trump Makes History With Largest Lead in Des Moines Register on the Eve of Iowa Caucus"

The poll suggested Trump is heading to make history, surpassing the current record for the most significant margin of victory by a Republican in the caucuses. Bob Dole’s 12-point win over Pat Robertson took the crown in 1988. 

It is said that what happens in Iowa is often a bellwether of what the rest of the country is thinking. 

Be informed, not misled.

Former President Trump made history on Saturday night with the final Iowa Caucus poll showing he has a massive, commanding lead over his GOP opponents. 

According to the final Des Moines Register/Mediacom/NBC News poll of likely Republican caucusgoers, Trump holds a 28 percent advantage over the nearest challenger.

The former president has a rating of 48 percent, compared to former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has 20 percent support. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sits at just 16 percent support. The two Republicans have fought neck and neck for second place since announcing their candidacy. 

Multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and first-time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy only garnered eight percent support.  

Voters will have to brave a nasty snowstorm and wicked cold temperatures tonight as the Iowa Caucus kicks off. 

It is said, "Hawkeye Cauci veterans around the state will be tested by the weather---but they're tough. After all, some of these folks have been showing up to this curious exhibition of representative democracy for more than 50 years, and they take their role as first-in-the-nation ambassadors of the presidential nomination process very seriously."

We’ll see how serious Iowa’s Republican voters are tonight when the high is expected to drop below zero. By 7 p.m. Iowa time, when this internationally watched political pageant gets underway, temperatures could plummet to as low as minus 15 degrees with a wind chill of Ouch! 

If we have paid attention, the 2024 presidential campaign and the past eight years have taught us anything; it’s that there are people in this deeply divided republic who would crawl through broken glass, barbed wire, and solid ice to vote for Trump.  

Still, Trump, rolling into the caucuses with a 50-point lead over his nearest challengers nationally and up by at least 35 points in Iowa, isn’t taking anything for granted. 

Donald Trump Jr. told a group of Trump supporters in Urbandale's Machine Shed restaurant, “That’s why this Monday is so critical. We’ve got to send a message.”

He said, “We’ve got to treat Monday as if we’re 10 points back,” explaining that "the left, establishment Republicans, and the Trump-hating corporate media are counting on caucus-goer apathy to diminish expected big numbers for the former president. A smaller margin of victory, perhaps driven by Trump supporters believing the win is in the bag, is a narrative Trump’s opponents would pounce on heading into next week’s New Hampshire Republican presidential primary" as the thinking goes. 

The media is, indeed, waiting for any slip in the Trump campaign.

 But much has changed in eight years, the Federalist explains. 

"Trump may be the same Trump in many ways, but he’s a much different candidate coming in. The Iowa surprise for Cruz ultimately meant little. Trump went on to claim the GOP nomination, win the presidency, and become the subject of the left’s unrelenting loathing. He’s battle-tested, with arguably more political scars than any presidential candidate in the republic’s history."

Moreover, the Trump ground game in Iowa is significantly improved, more nimble, and much better organized than it was during his first presidential run. It’s so good, in fact, Trump can’t even seem to believe it. 

Iowa State Senator Brad Zaun was the first state-elected official to endorse Trump in 2016 and again this year.

He says, “I was with the president all last week and he asked me that exact question [about whether the ground game has improved since 2016], and I told him it’s the difference between night and day.” 

The New York Post says, "The 77-year-old Trump has let prominent surrogates — such as his eldest son, Don Jr.; Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake; and former HUD Secretary Ben Carson — pick up the campaigning slack while he busies himself elsewhere, typically responding to the four pending criminal cases against him."

"But," the Post explains, "his supporters understand fully why it is away.

In fact, according to a tracker kept by the Des Moines Register, Trump has appeared at or scheduled just 25 events in Iowa between late March 2021 and Jan. 18.

By contrast, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has done 85 events, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has done 140, and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has done 315.

The New York Post says:

On Tuesday, Trump was in Washington at a federal appeals court hearing, where his lawyers presented arguments to toss out his indictment on charges of unlawfully plotting to remain in office following his 2020 election defeat by Joe Biden.

That evening, former first lady Melania Trump announced the death of her mother, Amalija Knavs, at age 78.

On Thursday, the former president was in New York to attend closing arguments in his civil fraud trial. Trump briefly addressed the judge, saying he had done “nothing wrong” and was being “persecuted.”

Trump was never one for traditional politicking and famously hopscotched around the country on his prized Boeing 757 to hold blockbuster rallies during his 2016 White House campaign.

“The politics of this current administration, the double forms of justice that are just so obvious, it just doesn’t seem like America,” said Suzanne Spooner of Granger, Iowa, when asked about her greatest concerns this election year. “I think our country is a mess. I think President Trump did a good job of getting us in a better space than we’ve ever been in before, and I support getting things back on track again.”

Don Jr. says, “We have an opportunity to do something, but we have to do it now, let’s get out there on Monday. Let’s make sure everyone shows up. Let’s decide this thing early. Let’s finish this thing strong.”

Dr. Ben Carson, who is campaigning for Trump, says, “It would be nice, obviously, if he could be on the campaign trail. And you know from 2016, he’s a tireless campaigner,” Carson added. “That’s why they’re interfering with him, they’re interfering with elections.”

Tonight is the beginning of the most important decision America will make since February 23, 1861.

The date Abraham Lincoln arrived by special train in Washington, D.C., in disguise because he was concerned with security issues leading up to his first inauguration. He had also left a draft of the address locked in the safe of the Illinois State Journal. 

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.