By CASEY HARPER | THE CENTER SQUARE
The Republican primary’s Iowa caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 15, the first chance for voters to determine who they want to represent their party in November’s presidential election.
Iowa’s January caucuses are a regular tradition for a presidential primary season that – this time around – has been unusually enshrouded in indictments, impeachment inquiries and lawsuits heading into election year.
While the Iowa caucuses provide an opportunity for former President Donald Trump’s Republican challengers to fight for a surprise victory and start a fresh wave of momentum, it appears unlikely they’ll succeed.
According to polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight, Trump far outpaces his rivals with 50% support in Iowa as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trails in second with 18.4% support.
National polling, including in The Center Square Voters’ Voice poll, shows Trump has more support than all of his Republican challengers combined with somewhere in the neighborhood of 62% support.
Trump fares well against President Joe Biden as well. A Morning Consult poll conducted on behalf of Bloomberg News released earlier this month shows Trump leading Biden in seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The smallest of those leads is 3 points, with some leads reaching 5 and 6 percentage points, far more than the margin of error for most polls.
Front of mind for those voters is what has been an Achilles heel for Biden: the roughly 20% increase in the price of goods and services in the U.S. since he took office.
“Three in 5 swing-state voters said the cost of everyday goods is most important to their votes next year when specifically thinking about economic issues, higher than any other concern tested,” Morning Consult said. “Over the past three months, the shares of voters in each of the seven states who said they see prices as increasing has declined even as most still see inflation as rising.”
A poll from Monmouth University released earlier this month put Biden’s approval rating at 34%, the lowest figure from Monmouth since Biden took office.
The election, though, is 10 months away and has a slew of impeachment hearings for Biden and legal challenges for Trump.
Biden faces mounting evidence that his family members and their business associates engaged in more than $20 million in overseas business selling the “Biden brand” to entities in China, Ukraine, Russia and more. House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, who is helping lead the impeachment inquiry into the president, has released bank records and witness testimony as well as copies of checks made out to the president.
Comer also has issued a flurry of subpoenas that could turn up more evidence. Hunter Biden refused to appear for one of those subpoenas, and as a result Comer announced he would begin contempt of Congress proceedings against Hunter.
Trump has his own legal challenges, facing nearly 100 indictments across several states. He has nearly two dozen court dates scheduled for the first three months of 2024 alone. It remains unclear, though, if any significant rulings will come down before November or if Trump’s team can succeed in delaying the various proceedings past election day.
Meanwhile, Trump faces a legal effort to oust him from the ballot in multiple states by his political opponents, who argue his connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol is tantamount to inciting an insurrection and as a result, disqualifying. The ouster attempts cite a section of the Fourteenth Amendment written to block Confederate leaders from holding office after the U.S. Civil War without a supermajority in the U.S. House and Senate.
Colorado State Supreme Court heard that argument and ruled against Trump, but the Michigan State Supreme Court ruled in favor of Trump in the case. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has also now decided to boot Trump from the ballot, which has a good chance of receiving consideration before the U.S. Supreme Court along with the battles in other states.
Trump has blasted this effort, calling it election interference. He also touted his lead over Biden in the several swing states on Truth Social.
The Colorado Republican Party appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If that court rules in favor of Trump, it will likely put an end to the effort nationwide. However, if the justices rule against Trump, efforts in states around the country would likely arise to remove Trump from the ballot and throw both the primary and certainly the general election into chaos. In Colorado in particular, Trump will not appear on the ballot if the U.S. Supreme Court rules against him or refuses to hear the case. For now, Trump is set to appear on the March 5 Republican primary ballot unless the Supreme Court changes that with a decision before then.
There is much discussion the Trump support is soft. Many saying they support Trump, but hoping for a viable challenger.
I think there is truth in this, but enough to change the outcome of the race? Probably not. But the first three primaries will tell that tale.
I’m also afraid if Trump gets too hamstrung by all the lawfare, it will hurt him in the general. Hurting him in the general is the point of all this lawfare. Create reasons for right of center voters to justify sitting it out.
Regardless, it’s gonna be an interesting and historic race.
And let’s be clear here: ALL of this chaos is the direct result, and fault, of the Democrats’ attempts to lie, cheat, bend the rules, and engage in judicial activism in order to subvert the political rights and expressions of those with whom they intolerantly disagree.
When radical leftists bleat about “our democracy”, what they are really talking about, and trying to protect, is THEIR ‘democracy’, meaning their continued one-party rule.
Jack asses bray, not bleat – the idiots who believe them bleat.
Interesting how “saving democracy” to the left means the installation of one party rule, with the state dictating who may “run” for office.
Wanna know what the left is really up to? Look at what they accuse others of doing.
Yes, and since the whole thing is being rigged by the leftist/Soros crowd, I recommend you not even bother to vote. Why waste your time only to have your vote stolen and degraded by the communists? Best just to stay home.
Many potential voters will undoubtedly feel that way, cman —- and they wouldn’t be wrong for feeling so.
Yes, please tell all of your fellow Koch Brother-funded paranoids in the swing states to not vote as well. Thanks.
Do you think that the strategy is not EXACTLY what you just described?
The day of reckoning is coming sooner than we think.
Just look at the world and the messes going on right now. All brought to you by a few hundred politicians.
People are waking up and resisting this new whole order crap and it’s only gonna get worse. Like I said the day of reckoning is coming.
Chaos is a playbook stratagem of leftists. The Democrat city anarchism of the year 2020 is strongly indicative of leftism, but there is a purpose to sanctioned chaos, which is to push a society to its tipping point. External conflicts and economic collapse are very helpful forms of chaos. Once there, elections can be more readily subverted and uniparty rule established. Political power may then be employed to subvert justice, to eradicate individual rights, to suppress religious liberties, and to impose a perpetual leftist hegemony. Need examples? Let’s start with the Russian Revolution of 1917, and then the Nazi (national socialism is leftism with a twist) takeover of Germany, followed by Red China, Cuba, and… well, here we are today as witnesses to the leftist pathologies and horrors of Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and California. It is very easy to imagine a chaotic 2024 national election.
Russian collusion = Democrat’s wet dream.
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Chinese collusion = Democrat’s nightmare.
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Buy lots of ammo. Early in 2024.
“……..Buy lots of ammo. Early in 2024.”
The wise have been stocking up for. while now, especially hunters/reloaders who like premium components. Most of those components still aren’t available in Alaska or anywhere else. Try finding new 300 or 338 WinMag brass or primers.
In 2019, prior to the scamdemic, our country was doing great, the economy was doing great, nobody was messing with us, Trump was attemtping to get congress to stop prinitng money. We were on track to maybe slow the roll to the cliff. Then the scamdemic hit, congress fired up the printing presses, Pelosi arranged for the Trump rally in Washington to become an epic feces storm, and Biden was instated as puppet in front. The brakes were removed from the bus and pointed toward the cliff. We have already gone over, we just haven’t hit bottom. Buckle up, not everyone will survive. By 2028, the commercial real estate problem is going to go international, of which a substantial portion is already causing significant strain.
Who’s the artist that made that blue jackass look like a horse?
“… artist WHO made …”
Using “that” in reference to people objectifies and dehumanizes them.
Was that your intent?
No, but after being corrected, I’m amused with the result. It’s apparently a bad habit that I might have difficulty correcting.
Sadly, Reggie, it has become a rampant bad habit among many in recent years, both in print and in speech. Every time I hear or read a person, any person, referred to using the word “that”, I cringe — it is the equivalent of labeling that person merely a thing. I won’t go that far even when referring to radical leftists extremists, who are still people, no matter how misguided and/or evil.
Blackmailing family values Republicans was like taking candy from a baby. All of those heroes that you honored were blackmailed and sold you out. The country has been completely destroyed and only someone with down syndrome would keep talking about elections and voting. I would bet my dog that everyone commenting on this website still pays taxes to these pedophiles. You can’t go to heaven if you pay tax money to pedophiles. You could blackmail a family values Republican by threatening to show the world that they smoked a cigarette!!! Hey idiots, your party is run by girls. Girls don’t fight remember? The men on this website are pussies. The people that make this website are pussies. Your kids are pussies. Everything about you is just bitch. You deserve what’s coming because we told you what was going to happen for years and you laughed.. you pussies ain’t laughing now. I could have saved your bitch ass. Look at Dan Fagan in the hospital. Look at Tom Anderson in a hospital. Look at Amy demboski scared every day she’s going to fall out from the vaccine. I tried to tell you idiots. All I can say is kiss my ass and have a good death you dumbass losers
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