The first contest of the 2024 presidential race is finally here. Tonight, the Iowa caucus will give voters their first chance to weigh in on who the Republican presidential nominee should be. Former president Donald Trump — who on Sunday asked his supporters to risk death to caucus for him — is still expected to be the runaway victor. But who takes second place — the sinking Ron DeSantis or surging Nikki Haley — remains to be seen. Below are live updates on the final freezing-cold hours of the Iowa campaign and the caucus results as they happen.
It’s not surprising that it is cold in Iowa in mid-January, but it is surprising though that it is THIS COLD. The thermometer has been permanently stuck well-below freezing for days. That comes after the state experienced two consecutive snowstorms, the second of which blanketed the state with powdery snow that still flies up all over the road days after it fell.
Des Moines has been literally colder than Siberia. (Although it has warmed slightly, the forecast in Novosibirsk has a high of -3, whereas Des Moines is a relatively temperate -1 today).
The weather has forced the cancellation of a number of candidate events, not to mention prompted countless complaints from out-of-state visitors. It seems unlikely, however, that the deep freeze will cause much of an impact on turnout. Caucus-going Iowans who drive small less winter-friendly sedans live in urban areas where the roads are better. Those who live on gravel roads out in the country have pickup trucks.
A Monday afternoon event with Donald Trump Jr. was delayed for hours after the presidential scion had trouble getting back to the Hawkeye State. That left a cavernous event space in the Des Moines suburbs filled with bored reporters, bored political tourists, and even a stray bored Iowa caucusgoer or two. The New York Times had three different staffers at the event while various foreign media outlets interviewed Brick Suit, a MAGA personality who has gained attention for wearing a brick patterned suit and tie at Trump rallies. (The bricks of course are a tribute to the wall that the former president has pledged to build on the border with Mexico.)
Shawn McCreesh reports from the Des Moines hotel where media and MAGAworld got snowed in together over the weekend:
The few reporters who’d managed to get the last flights out of Washington and New York sat by the fake fireplace Friday afternoon losing their collective minds. Too early for bourbon. Too cold to smoke. And there was nowhere to go. It was far below freezing, and the Iowa Department of Transportation issued warnings about “treacherous” highway roads. Meanwhile, apparitions from the recent political past — Kari Lake, Donald Trump Jr., Jason Miller — wandered the hotel’s halls in high spirits. Trump’s victory here feels like a frostbitten fait accompli.
In 2016, he lost the Iowa caucuses by just 6,000 votes and one delegate (and promptly cried fraud). But that was when he was relying on a ragtag operation of political neophytes. “This time around, it’s different,” said Chris LaCivita, one of his top advisers now. “We have a team of professionals who’ve been doing this a while.” He was the strategist behind the Swift Boat ads that sunk John Kerry. Together with Republican operative Susie Wiles, a Florida power broker who turned against Ron DeSantis, they are ready to vanquish all Republican pretenders and prepare for the main event. “We’re enjoying it, we’re having fun, and, you know, the boss makes it fun,” said LaCivita.
Read the rest of Shawn’s dispatch here.
Intelligencer’s Ed Kilgore pens an explainer on how the caucus will work, and what to expect, including regarding the results:
Barring a seismic upset, Donald Trump is going to win the Iowa caucuses handily. He’s leading in the RealClearPolitics averages of Iowa polls by 33.8 points; he’s at 52.5 percent, followed by Nikki Haley at 18.7 percent and Ron DeSantis at 15.5 percent. By most accounts, Trump abundantly addressed the organizational deficiencies that led to his loss to Ted Cruz in the 2016 caucuses. The question most pundits are asking about Trump’s performance is whether he can actually win a majority of caucusgoers. But even if he doesn’t top 50 percent, his win will probably be historic: the largest margin of victory in any contested Iowa Republican caucuses was Bob Dole’s 12.8 percent in 1988.
Read the rest of Ed’s walkthrough here.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.
Who Will Win the Iowa Caucus? Live Updates
8
0
15.01.2024
The first contest of the 2024 presidential race is finally here. Tonight, the Iowa caucus will give voters their first chance to weigh in on who the Republican presidential nominee should be. Former president Donald Trump — who on Sunday asked his supporters to risk death to caucus for him — is still expected to be the runaway victor. But who takes second place — the sinking Ron DeSantis or surging Nikki Haley — remains to be seen. Below are live updates on the final freezing-cold hours of the Iowa campaign and the caucus results as they happen.
It’s not surprising that it is cold in Iowa in mid-January, but it is surprising though that it is THIS COLD. The thermometer has been permanently stuck well-below freezing for days. That comes after the state experienced two consecutive snowstorms, the second of which blanketed the state with powdery snow that still flies up all over the road days after it fell.
Des Moines has been literally colder than Siberia. (Although it has warmed slightly, the forecast in Novosibirsk has a high of -3, whereas Des Moines is a relatively temperate -1 today).
The weather has forced........
© Daily Intelligencer
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
