Across the nation, folks are watching as the Republican party determines who will be the nominee in the upcoming presidential election. The big kickoff was this past weekend in Iowa, with the first nominating convention for the party Jan. 15. While there are still three candidates left, one in particular is pulling far ahead, Donald Trump. Winning Iowa by about 30 points, Trump has created significant momentum going into the rest of the primaries.
The caucus that a group of Truman State University student journalists chose to observe had around two hundred participants. While there were supporters for every candidate present, not all thought the candidate they wanted to win the nomination actually would win the nomination.
A former Democratic voter, Emily Shetler, sat with her crochet while she waited for the caucus proceedings to begin. Since the Democrats are not caucusing this year, she told us how she decided to throw her support behind Nikki Haley in the primaries.
“I know that Trump is gonna win tonight. I think he certainly has the strongest odds and is definitely the favorite to win the nomination,” Shetler said
Shetler said she hoped Haley would pull ahead, but ultimately thought Trump would win.
Some were more enthusiastic in their opinions that Trump would win the nomination.
“He has been president, so he can kind of hit the ground running if he were to get in, he would be able to take it and run with it and do what we need to turn the country around,” Kimberly Kochel said.
While Trump did with the Iowa caucus, not all voters think it necessarily means he will win the nomination. One caucus-goer reminded us that Iowa is just the beginning.
“Well, I think if you were betting money, it’s Trump. But the interesting thing about Iowa is there are three seats out of Iowa, first class, coach and steerage. I do think New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina will have a say in this. I think it’ll be a race at the end of the day,” veteran caucus participant Jeff Russell said.