Denison Forum
Dr. Jim Denison
Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses last night, with Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley coming in second and third. Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the race and endorsed Mr. Trump.
However, it’s too soon to know what this means for the larger presidential campaign.
Iowa Republicans selected Mike Huckabee in 2008, Rick Santorum in 2012, and Ted Cruz in 2016—none of whom went on to win the presidential nomination. By contrast, Ronald Reagan lost Iowa in 1980 but won the election; George H. W. Bush did the same in 1988 and Donald Trump in 2016.
The larger state of US politics is in question as well. According to Pew Research Center:
- Just 4 percent of Americans say the political system is working extremely or very well.
- Just 16 percent say they trust the federal government always or most of the time.
- Sixty-five percent say they always or often feel “exhausted” when thinking about politics; just 10 percent say they always or often feel “hopeful.”
While Iowans were braving the cold, the 75th annual Emmy Awards aired last night as Succession and The Bear each took home six awards. At least, we think they did. Since we now know that ESPN employed a fraudulent scheme in recent years to acquire more than thirty Emmys for sportscasters who were ineligible to receive them, we’re left to wonder. More Here
