DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowans Tuesday enjoyed a well-deserved break from political ads and the news media invasion, now that the presidential sweepstakes have moved beyond the Hawkeye State.
The major storylines from Monday night's Iowa Caucuses were low voter turnout and more evidence that former President Donald Trump still has a solid grip on Republican voters here.
There's no mail-in option for caucuses, so voters had to battle dangerous wind chills and snow-packed roads to take part in their presidential preference straw poll. Anyone who arrived after 7:00 p.m. was disqualified.
KARE monitored the action at Des Moines North High School where three precincts held their caucuses simultaneously. A total of just 74 votes were cast, less than half of the normal turnout. That general trend was reflected statewide.
"The cold weather plays a factor even more so in the rural areas where the roads are, it’s harder to get to those high schools and churches in those rural counties in Iowa," Mike Dorwart, a DeSantis supporter, told KARE.
Trump had a strong showing at those North High precincts, a feat he duplicated across the state, capturing more votes than all other candidates combined. He had led in the polls by 30 points heading into Monday.
And, at his victory rally, Trump called for unity in the party, suggesting that challengers had no path to victory.
"I want to congratulate Ron and Nikki for having a good time together. We’re all having a good time together!"
Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson suspended their campaigns. But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who finished second, and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, who finished second, both claimed their Iowa showings would create a springboard for them.
"In spite of all of that, all that they threw at us, everyone against us, we’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa!" DeSantis told supporters.
Haley said she expects to do much better in New Hampshire, where independent voters can participate in primaries. She's polling much closer to Trump in the Granite State.
"Iowa’s always been a pro-Trump state, and we knew that going in," she told reporters in New Hampshire Tuesday. "I was just thrilled the idea we were able to come out of there into this state was all we needed."
New Hampshire's Democratic Primary will also be the first test for Minnesota’s Dean Phillips in his intraparty challenge to President Biden. Phillips told reporters that he should have a decent showing for someone who's relatively unknown on the national scene.
"If I’m somewhere in the 20s I’ll be thrilled," he told reporters Monday. "We’re just beginning this campaign, we’re only 9 weeks in. I’m just starting."
The president did not register as a candidate in New Hampshire, out of respect for the DNC's decision to make South Carolina the first primary. But there's a strong write-in campaign that very likely will propel him to victory in a state where he's not campaigning.
Dean has complained that the Democratic Party and its media allies have intentionally blackballed him to harm his chances.
"I've not had one invitation from MSNBC since I declared my candidacy, despite being a member of Congress and being a ranking member of the Middle East Subcommittee on Foreign Affairs when there’s a war in the Middle East."
In New Hampshire, the quest for momentum will once again be about who can outperform expectations, and convince donors and primary voters that a Biden-Trump rematch isn’t a foregone conclusion.