"Iowa, home of the first presidential nominating contest every four years, is more than rolling cornfields.
And for right now, wherever you go, it is all about Donald Trump. The brash businessman might seem an odd fit for the staid, pastoral Iowa that people see in their mind’s eye. But people across the state say his supporters here don’t seem dissuaded by his squabbling with much of the rest of the Republican field.
To get a better understanding of the state, the Wall Street Journal and NBC News are working with the American Communities Project to monitor these four distinctly different counties through the election, which the ACP is visiting this week:
–Johnson County, the home of the University of Iowa in the state’s southeast is overwhelmingly Democratic in the general election and tends to favor the GOP establishment candidate in the
Republican caucus. It favored Mitt Romney in 2012.
–Benton County, the rural, small-town county just northwest of Johnson, is switches parties from election to election and tends to favor conservative Republicans in the caucus – Rick Santorum in 2012.
–Sac County, an agricultural county in the northwest, is strongly Republican in the general election and also tends to favor conservative Republicans in the caucus – Mr. Santorum in 2012.
–Polk County, home of the capital Des Moines, is reliably Democratic in the general elections and tends to favor the establishment Republican candidate in the caucuses – Mr. Romney in 2012.
It’s early and polls at this stage of the race don’t mean that much. But, Mr. Trump is certainly generating interest in all four counties despite – and perhaps in part because of – his comments about other Republicans like Sen. John McCain. Mr. Trump derided the Arizona senator this past weekend for his Vietnam War record.
In Johnson County, Janelle Smithson, president of the University of Iowa College Republicans, said Mr. Trump has support, not among the college students there, most of whom are away for the summer, but among others in the area.
“I’m hearing a lot of the small-business community here supporting Trump,” she said, “and the comments on McCain this weekend didn’t change their minds.” Their support largely hinges on Mr. Trump’s business background and his desire to say things others won’t, she said.
About 60 miles north, in Benton County, the talk was similar, said Rev. Mark Urlaub, pastor of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Mr. Urlaub said Mr. Trump’s supporters weren’t pleased with what the candidate said about Mr. McCain but liked that it showed he plays by his own rules. What Mr. Trump said didn’t “disqualify him or overshadow the other things his supporters feel are important,” Mr. Urlaub said.
Johnson and Benton are very close to each other geographically, but worlds apart in other ways. Johnson County is home to 142,000 people and 51% have at least a bachelor’s degree. Only about 26,000 live in Benton, and about 18% have at least a bachelor’s.
Similar comments in support of Mr. Trump have been echoed by people across the state including the small farming community of Sac City, where people say “at least you know where he stands.”
Apart from the views, though, the numbers in Iowa may be the most telling. Poll numbers suggest Mr. Trump’s strength lies with older white voters who don’t have a college education. Iowa is 88% non-Hispanic white and the percentage of people with at least a bachelor’s degree is 26%, under the national average. Its 65-and-older population, at 16%, is above the national average.
In other words, wipe those images of pastoral cornfields and stereotypes about the people living in them out of your mind. It may be that Iowa is a particularly good environment for Mr. Trump’s brand of brassy, populist showmanship." WallStreetJournal
It’s a complicated mix of rural agriculture (the western half of the state),
small-town union country (in the east),
college towns (Iowa City and Ames)
and a metropolitan center (Des Moines).
And for right now, wherever you go, it is all about Donald Trump. The brash businessman might seem an odd fit for the staid, pastoral Iowa that people see in their mind’s eye. But people across the state say his supporters here don’t seem dissuaded by his squabbling with much of the rest of the Republican field.
To get a better understanding of the state, the Wall Street Journal and NBC News are working with the American Communities Project to monitor these four distinctly different counties through the election, which the ACP is visiting this week:
–Johnson County, the home of the University of Iowa in the state’s southeast is overwhelmingly Democratic in the general election and tends to favor the GOP establishment candidate in the
–Benton County, the rural, small-town county just northwest of Johnson, is switches parties from election to election and tends to favor conservative Republicans in the caucus – Rick Santorum in 2012.
–Sac County, an agricultural county in the northwest, is strongly Republican in the general election and also tends to favor conservative Republicans in the caucus – Mr. Santorum in 2012.
–Polk County, home of the capital Des Moines, is reliably Democratic in the general elections and tends to favor the establishment Republican candidate in the caucuses – Mr. Romney in 2012.
It’s early and polls at this stage of the race don’t mean that much. But, Mr. Trump is certainly generating interest in all four counties despite – and perhaps in part because of – his comments about other Republicans like Sen. John McCain. Mr. Trump derided the Arizona senator this past weekend for his Vietnam War record.
In Johnson County, Janelle Smithson, president of the University of Iowa College Republicans, said Mr. Trump has support, not among the college students there, most of whom are away for the summer, but among others in the area.
“I’m hearing a lot of the small-business community here supporting Trump,” she said, “and the comments on McCain this weekend didn’t change their minds.” Their support largely hinges on Mr. Trump’s business background and his desire to say things others won’t, she said.
About 60 miles north, in Benton County, the talk was similar, said Rev. Mark Urlaub, pastor of the Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Mr. Urlaub said Mr. Trump’s supporters weren’t pleased with what the candidate said about Mr. McCain but liked that it showed he plays by his own rules. What Mr. Trump said didn’t “disqualify him or overshadow the other things his supporters feel are important,” Mr. Urlaub said.
Johnson and Benton are very close to each other geographically, but worlds apart in other ways. Johnson County is home to 142,000 people and 51% have at least a bachelor’s degree. Only about 26,000 live in Benton, and about 18% have at least a bachelor’s.
Similar comments in support of Mr. Trump have been echoed by people across the state including the small farming community of Sac City, where people say “at least you know where he stands.”
Apart from the views, though, the numbers in Iowa may be the most telling. Poll numbers suggest Mr. Trump’s strength lies with older white voters who don’t have a college education. Iowa is 88% non-Hispanic white and the percentage of people with at least a bachelor’s degree is 26%, under the national average. Its 65-and-older population, at 16%, is above the national average.
In other words, wipe those images of pastoral cornfields and stereotypes about the people living in them out of your mind. It may be that Iowa is a particularly good environment for Mr. Trump’s brand of brassy, populist showmanship." WallStreetJournal
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