Keller @ Large: What Donald Trump's win in Iowa means for the presidential race
BOSTON - What should we take away from the Iowa caucus results?
First and foremost, the reiteration of an important lesson - the Republican Party of 2024 is a wholly owned subsidiary of Donald J. Trump MAGA Enterprises, Inc.
When Trump famously said as he ran in 2016 that "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters," he knew what he was talking about. The hardcore Trump base - an apparent majority of the GOP caucus voters in Iowa Monday - isn't going to be swayed by conservative challenger critiques, criminal trials, or incitement of mob attacks on the Capitol. They've found their man, and they're sticking with him no matter what.
Yes, Trump struggles to top 50% support in many state polls, fueling the old saw that if the assorted non-Trump candidates would just consolidate behind one challenger, the former president might be in trouble. Perhaps that's how it'll wind up working in New Hampshire next week, with Nikki Haley emerging as the likely beneficiary of Chris Christie's beaching. (Disclosure: a close family member of mine works for the Haley campaign.)
After a disappointing finish in Iowa, Vivek Ramaswamy ended his presidential bid late Monday night, according to his spokesperson. Those votes aren't going to Haley; didn't she call their man "scum"? And what if Ron DeSantis, the man voters seem to like less and less the more they get to know him, packs it in? Hard to believe there's a ton of opportunity for Haley there either.
And what about the notion that New Hampshire voters will relish the opportunity to negate the Iowa result? Maybe they will. Or maybe Trump's Iowa triumph will persuade wavering Republicans that it's OK to vote for him again after all. Consider how much of the anti-Trump argument within the party has been based on the notion that, after losing the White House to Methuselah and presiding over spectacular failures in recent Congressional elections, Trump himself is a wicked loser. Huh. The loser just won big in Iowa. How's that square up?
Speaking of President Biden, we hear Queen of Alternative Facts Kellyanne Conway opined on cable TV that he was the big loser of the Iowa outcome. Is that laughing I hear coming from Biden HQ? Recall the historic amount of votes the lackluster Biden campaign racked up four years ago and check out the polls that repeatedly show his running stronger against Trump than either DeSantis or Haley.
I'd guess Biden was perfectly happy with the Iowa outcome. Trump is what he needs to reanimate the Democratic base and swing voters so fed up with Trump's antics they rallied behind a candidate who didn't exactly thrill them. As Politico reported, Trump told a roomful of Iowans the other day "these caucuses are your personal chance to score the ultimate victory over all of the liars, cheaters, thugs, perverts, frauds, crooks, freaks, creeps and other quite nice people."
That's you, America's non-MAGA citizens. It's enough to make you forget what a colossal gaffe Hillary Clinton's infamous line about all the "deplorables" backing Trump was.