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Held at the Des Moines Convention Center, the day-long event is seen as a key insight into how potential candidates resonate among social conservatives, who dominate the Republican caucuses here. It featured appearances by former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.
True, Trump received a lot of praise, and more than a few attendees said they supported him as he continued to make baseless claims about the 2020 election.
But in interviews with 15 people at the conference, all of whom voted for Trump, none said they hoped the former president would run again.
“I’m interested in who comes next,” said Cheryl Prall, 58.
Trump himself has remained largely focused on fake audits in the states he lost to President Biden. Deprived of access to major social media platforms, he mostly issues press releases complaining about the election and those who he says offended him. On Friday alone, he issued at least four press releases on the subject through his political action committee.
But for Mary Bloom, a 55-year-old homeschooled mother who attended Friday’s event and who believes some of Trump’s claims about the 2020 election, “It is what it is and we all have to move on to the next election. “
Indeed, while Iowa has traditionally given the winners of the first nation’s contest a boost in the presidential race, in 2024 it could do something else: show the party moving forward. This subtext was apparent in Friday’s speeches.
Pence has spoken about “our administration” on several occasions with Trump and has said that being his vice president is “the greatest honor of my life.” Yet he also criticized the Biden administration, raising a possible battle cry in 2024.
“After 177 days of open borders, higher taxes, uncontrollable spending, police funding, abortion on demand, censorship of free speech, cancellation of our most freedoms. dear, I’ve had enough, ”Pence said to applause.
Pompeo spoke of what Trump called him in January after a mainstream outlet said he was the most loyal member of Trump’s Cabinet. But he mainly focused on his own history and his time as Secretary of State. Noem didn’t mention Trump at all and instead focused on his time as governor and his refusal to lock down his state during the pandemic.
“A lot of people I talk to are sort of realizing that 2020 is here and we need to focus on 2024 if we’re going to do anything, because worrying about the past isn’t going to help,” said Ronald Forsell. , Chairman of the Republican Party in Dallas County, a fast-growing suburban county.
Despite his popularity with evangelicals, Trump did not initially win the electoral bloc here in 2016. Instead, this network of home-schooled pastors and parents helped give the Senator’s Iowa caucus victories. from Texas Ted Cruz to Trump in 2016, and before that to the former Governor of Arkansas. Mike Huckabee in 2008 and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in 2012.
But Trump’s adulation here is beyond doubt. A Des Moines Register / Mediacom poll last month found that 84% of Republicans in Iowa said they would vote Trump again for president.
And when Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann was asked in an interview if Trump would win the next Iowa caucuses, he said, “I think he would, yes.”
Still, Republicans considering running for president are flocking to Iowa and New Hampshire, the two states set to once again host the first contests of the 2024 presidential race.
This was Pompeo’s second trip to Iowa this year. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley spoke at a major Iowa Republican Party fundraiser two weeks ago. Next month, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio will visit within days of each other. And on Saturday, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas is expected to attend events in New Hampshire.
At none of these stops does anyone say he is running for President. Indeed, they reject the question, partly because of the legal formalities required to be an official candidate and partly to avoid Trump’s wrath for as long as possible.
Kaufmann, the party chairman who spoke privately with many potential candidates, said none of them raised the possibility of Trump running again or even if they were waiting for him to take a decision.
David Kochel, a veteran Iowa Republicans consultant, said if Trump runs he will “definitely” win the Iowa caucuses. Still, he says there is “plenty of space” for other candidates to visit and quietly lay the groundwork for their own campaigns.
“The base also doesn’t know what Trump is going to do,” Kochel said. “Everyone’s in the same boat to see if he’s going to race. And who knows where we will all be in six months.
James Pindell can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @jamespindell.
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