The main focus on Monday night was the Democratic caucuses in Iowa, but there were actually also Republican caucuses as well. And President Trump won big.
Trump won a whopping 97% of the vote, and his two challengers, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, got less than 1,000 votes combined (with 83% of precincts reporting at 10:50 p.m.). For those of us who are Trump-critical conservatives, this sad display just offers another reminder that Trump faces no actual serious primary challenge.
The Republican base is fully, completely in lockstep with Trump.
However, as frivolous such an uncompetitive primary race may seem, it’s still important that state parties allow the process to continue. The states such as South Carolina, Kansas, and Nevada, which have canceled their primaries to protect the president, are unfairly stripping Republican voters of their voice — and besides, it doesn’t really seem like Trump needs their protection. Just look at Iowa.
In a surprise to no one, @realDonaldTrump wins the @GOP caucuses in Iowa.
He defeated longshot candidates @GovBillWeld and @JoeWalsh.https://t.co/f7B0Kpj0lb
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 4, 2020
It’s not as if there’s no conservative case to be made against the president. He has, after all, completely failed to reign in the budget deficit — we’re now running a $1 trillion deficit in a boom economy — in addition to not yet following through on many of his foreign policy promises and behaving himself in his characteristic boorish manner.
But it really doesn’t seem Republican voters care. The economy is great, Trump has stacked the courts with strong conservative judges, passed landmark criminal justice reform, beat the Democrats’ impeachment charges, and seems to be soaring toward reelection in 2020.
