INDIANOLA, Iowa – So much for the cold keeping Iowans from caucuses.
Monday night’s chilly weather wasn’t going to stop 160 Republicans from cramming into Emerson Elementary School in this hog and corn country town, just 15 miles south of downtown Des Moines.
“I don’t think people understand Iowans,” said Chris Nelson, a 39-year-old marketing executive who supported former President Donald Trump because he trusted him to close the border.
“It’s just another day in January for us.”
Disabled Vietnam veteran James Spiker, 75, shuffled in with an oxygen tank and a walker, taking to heart Trump’s advice Sunday to voters to get off their sick beds if that’s what it takes to caucus for him.
“Nothing is going to stop me from coming here to vote for Trump,” Spiker said. “He may not be a perfect man, but he knows what he’s doing.”
Former president Donald Trump wrapped up a victory in Iowa Tuesday afternoon. AP
Along with Nelson and Spiker, every other caucus member who spoke to The Post said stopping the surge in migration across the southern border was their number one concern, followed by the economy.
Before each contestant writes the name of their preferred candidate on a piece of orange paper, they have one last chance to pitch their neighbor in hopes of winning a last-minute convert.
Five people spoke for Trump at Emerson Elemtary, led by 60-year-old Joani Estes, who wore the official white baseball cap that marked her as the Trump campaign’s “caucus captain.”
Estes read from a three-minute script provided by the Trump campaign that began: “I’m here on behalf of the greatest president of our lifetime and the only candidate who can defeat Joe Biden.”
Supporters react as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to address a rally at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024. AP
Then Estes added his own fervor at the end, to thunderous applause: “Who do I want as the leader of my country?… I want a bad ass.”
Three people endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, including Josh Simmerman, a 35-year-old building contractor with three children — ages 6, 4, and 18 months — who said he admires DeSantis for “standing up to Disney … when they try to get into kids’ minds -our child”.
Simmerman also said that he wants a young president after the 2024 election.
“All of us here are sick and tired of seeing Biden being taken off the stage and stumbling down the stairs,” he said. “Everyone knows when you get into your 80s, you can’t function anymore.
“It takes a really mature and great leader to say, ‘This is not my time to be in the spotlight anymore. I will support the next generation of leaders,’” Simmerman continued. “It takes an egocentric person to say ‘This is mine, only I can do it.'”
Two men made a case for Vivek Ramaswamy arguing that he would shut down federal agencies like the FBI.
Trump gestures after speaking at the caucus site at the Horizon Events Center, in Clive, Iowa, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. AP
No one is speaking for former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
Finally, it was time to vote, and as he did across the state, Trump won by 85 votes (53%, if you’re not doing the math).
DeSantis with 43 votes, then Ramaswamy (16 votes), then Haley (15 votes.)
Texas businessman, pastor and future trivia question answerer Ryan Binkley received a lone vote.
As Indianola Republicans head into the cold, 88-year-old Yvonne Budd is happy with the results.
“I think Trump is the only one who is strong enough, smart enough and has the business sense to get us out of this mess,” he said.
On Monday nights, at least, Yvonne had plenty of company.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
