The Washington Post reports today that only in 27 of Iowa’s 99 counties did Trump get a higher level of support last night than he did in the 2020 general election.
While his caucus victory may have set a record, partly this is no doubt due to an “incumbency” effect — i.e., his edge in already having been the President once before, and the MAGA base he cultivated then and since.
Still, it seems pretty obvious that not all of those in the GOP who voted for him in the 2020 general election supported him yesterday.
Will they come back to him in the general election, if he is the GOP nominee? Some will, and some won’t.
I realize his caucus performance set a record, but with his prior incumbency advantage and his dug in MAGA base, it hardly seems it was a fair contest.
Others seem to feel last night shows his strength. But the fact remains, even within an all-GOP caucus and the fervent support of his MAGA base, he managed barely more than 50%.
Considering his built-in advantage, that’s a surprisingly weak showing.