The Iowa Establishment’s Unprincipled Effort to Save its Precious Caucus From Ted Cruz

National Review ^ | January 25, 2016 | David French

[Isara]

Every morning the Washington Post sends out an email called the "Daily 202." It's generally excellent, and while I wouldn't turn to its writers for information on the Tea Party or news about the latest trends in conservative thought, they often have their finger on the pulse of the political establishment. This morning's headline got my attention - cementing a trend that I've been writing about for more than a week. The establishment is moving to Trump, and the Iowa GOP establishment is moving even faster. Why? I'll let the headline tell you: "Iowa leaders, worried about the credibility of the caucuses, tip the scale for Trump over Cruz."

Yes, now it's about saving the precious Iowa caucus - that quadrennial pander-fest where politicians go scampering to Iowa to pledge their allegiance to biofuels and make promises to homeschoolers that they never intend to keep. It's special interest politics at its worst, but - by golly - Terry Branstad and Chuck Grassley are going to use it help make America great again:

Key establishment figures appear to be subtly tipping the scales toward Trump, partly because they worry about the consequences of a Cruz victory for the Hawkeye State's legitimacy.

Chuck Grassley, the senior senator, spoke at Trump's rally in Pella on Saturday. Standing behind a "Trump" podium, he echoed the frontrunner's campaign slogan and spoke about "once again" making America great. "I want Mr. Trump to know that I appreciate his support for me and most importantly for Iowa being first in the nation, our all-important Iowa caucus," Grassley told the crowd of about 500.

Then Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann showed up at Trump's rally on Sunday in Muscatine, saying he will support The Donald "one thousand percent, period" if he wins the caucuses.

Gov. Terry Branstad, who said last week he wants Cruz to lose and whose son is running the anti-Cruz campaign funded by the agriculture industry, even went deer hunting with Trump's son, Donald Jr.

Wait just a minute. For years the line about Iowa has been that it serves as a natural corrective to elite preferences. Candidates have to go from town to town, talking to groups of voters as small as five or six, and make the case in humble settings that they deserve to lead the free world. In the 2012 cycle, Rick Santorum went from speaking to rooms full of empty chairs to toppling establishment favorite Mitt Romney in the caucuses and almost winning the whole darn primary.

But that's the old thinking. The new conventional wisdom is that Iowa fails unless it replicates the national polls - so long as the polling leader loves ethanol. The mask has dropped. The rest of the country now should understand what has long been true. The Iowa caucus exists not to give underdogs a shot and introduce humbling direct contact between candidates and voters but rather to preserve Iowa's outsized influence over public policy and public opinion.

I will say this for Branstad, Grassley, and Kaufmann - I think they're properly grasping the very high stakes next Monday night. If Trump wins, he will be extremely hard to stop. He'll go to New Hampshire (where he's enjoyed double-digit leads for months) with increased momentum, and it's hard to see that slowing down if goes to South Carolina with two big victories in his pocket. The Iowa caucuses are yuuuuuge this year, and Iowa leaders want them to stay huge. Conservatism be dammed.

[Hawthorn]

>> once the establishment is "defeated" they will consume Trump <<

I don't think they'll need to "consume" him, because Trump is already an establishment member in good standing, wherein he holds the position of Court Jester.

I mean, how can a thrice-married billionaire from Manhattan, who has an Ivy-league degree and who hob-nobs with the Clintons, claim to be an outsider? If you believe he is, then the joke's on you.

Anyway, I suspect that if he should be elected, Don's current "conservative" positions will be dismissed as quickly as somebody who gets fired on The Apprentice -- in which case the joke's on all of us.

[5thGenTexan]

Did I say local nonprofits? Did I say publicly traded corporations? No, I said politicians. And I said private parties.

Trump's companies are not running for President. And Trump's companies' nonprofit donations ar not being discussed or questions. The data being discussed are Donald Trump's personal political contributions, as defined by the FEC.

[5thGenTexan]

And Trump has made it very clear he is a Republican. So he falls into your all group.

[kevao]

Yes, but when Tom Sowell, Brent Bozell and Andy McCarthy do it, it's called "Trump bashing."

The problem is, these three, plus the other 19 from the NRO article, are extremely selective about whose past they'll delve into. Selective to the point of dereliction.

Where was such analysis of Romney in 2012 or McCain in 2008? Where were these guys you mentioned back then?

The NRO22, by "vetting" Trump in 2016 after not just ignoring, but inventing Romney's and McCain's conservative bona-fides, have revealed themselves as charlatans.

[Hawthorn]

>> Where was such analysis of Romney in 2012 or McCain in 2008? <<

Totally irrelevant. Two wrongs (or three wrongs) never make a right.

[kevao]

Totally irrelevant to you perhaps, but not to their credibility. Overlook their disingenuousness if you wish. But I’m not going to be told how to vote by a cabal of hypocrites who not long ago advocated for “conservatives” the likes of Romney and McCain.

[IC Ken]

Re>And Trump has made it very clear he is a Republican. So he falls into your all group

He has my vote that is for sure. I would vote for Cruz over Hillary or Sanders. If the bazaar happened I could vote for Jeb over Hillary but would need to be medicated first.

[jwalsh07]

I asked that same question here over the weekend and never got a reply. My reply is that they are equally culpable.

[entropy12]

Wrong conclusion. The GOP establishment sees the hand writing on the wall. (Trump+Cruz) > (all others combined).

So they are choosing what they think is lesser of the two evils, Trump & Cruz. They hate Cruz even more than Trump.

[x]

The complaint in the past was that Iowa winners didn't go anywhere nationally -- Huckabee, Santorum, etc -- so it wasn't a good barometer for the rest of the country.

Now that's supposed to have been a plus?

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Silly, DT has always floated with the wind. His only core principal is self promotion.

Has he held office though. Has he actively worked with Democrats on supporting leftist policies that are destroying this country now, as Republicans have done for the past 50+ years.

[i_robot73]

But, then how will the candidates be able to pander to each State as they seek election? /I 1/2 joke

Long as the primaries aren’t like the general and we get 7-day voting, 365 absentee voting, etc. Rife for fraud and nary a care in the world that is exists.