Sometimes we get to witness history and not even know it. The 2024 Presidential Election Season kicked off this week with the Iowa Caucuses. This is a one-day event where everyone running for president tries to impress the Iowans with how much corn they can eat. The Iowans then award a prize to the candidate who demonstrates the best down home manners. Or something like that.
Except that this year, the Iowa Caucus system didn’t work as expected. Ron Desantis visited all 99 counties in Iowa, proving that even Floridians can handle cold weather and corn. Vivek Ramaswamy visited all 99 counties at least three times each, or so it seemed. Vivek was trying to appeal to the tornado loving Iowans because he was a whirlwind of activity. He didn’t even have to pretend. Nikki Haley traveled to most of the counties and exchanged recipes while telling everyone that she was the only serious candidate in the race. Trouble is, she kept getting corn confused with succotash, which made a hash of her grits and her appeal.
Then there was Donald Trump. He went to Iowa but didn’t need to visit each county because everyone came to see him. He also didn’t need to eat the corn to prove he was one of them; they already knew that. It was just like heaven, er, Field of Dreams: if you build it, they will come. And so they did.
So here’s the historical part. 51% of the participating Iowans selected Donald J. Trump as their preferred presidential candidate. You know The Donald. He’s the guy who the Democrats have been attacking and smearing since 2016. He’s the guy who spent his entire term in office dealing with phony accusations from the corrupt Left. He’s the guy who San Fran Nan impeached for not replacing the cap on a Sharpie after signing a bill, not once but twice! He’s the guy that two Democrat Poster Children for the “rule of law” are throwing the entire fiction sections of the New York and Atlanta public libraries at; in between vacays with their tax-payer funded boytoys.
The smartest guy in the race, Vivek Ramaswamy, saw the handwriting on the side of the red barn, suspended his campaign, and threw himself on the Trump train, even though he seriously outperformed the fat, er, size-challenged guy from New Jersey. Ron Desantis, who is a fantastic governor, and came in second place with over 20%, hasn’t yet got the message that this isn’t his time to shine.
Then there is Nikki. She should have won. She is everything to everyone. The mainstream media loves her. The republican establishment loves her. The Bush family loves her. The Wall Street Journal loves her. And the Democrats love her. Taking a play from the Book of Liz, Nikki successfully encouraged many Democrats to Crossover to vote for her. Just like Wyoming. She got so much Democrat, er, republican, support that she came in third with 19% of the vote! In fact, in a replay of 2020, Johnson County, Iowa was shown as a Trump win until, just before the caucus closed, a Democrat showed up, registered as a republican, and gave the win to Nikki! Whew. This kept that tyrannical dictator-to-be, The Donald, from winning all 99 counties. No word if this heroic voter will get a medal or the VP of DEI position at Iowa State University.
We have Caucuses in Wyoming, but they aren’t nearly as exciting, probably because we don’t have corn-eating contests or even corn hole games. We also don’t hold them on a single day with wall-to-wall media coverage. In Wyoming, each County (all 23 of them) must hold a Caucus a minimum of 20 days before their County Convention. Sheridan’s Caucus is February 3rd. Our Convention is March 2nd. Both will be held at the Shriners Hall on Loucks Street.
What do we do at our Caucus? Well, we primarily get things set up for the County Convention. We need people to volunteer to be delegates to the convention and to participate on committees for the Platform, Resolutions, and Bylaws. If you want to be involved, and if you’ve read this far, you probably should be, then attend the Sheridan County Caucus on February 3rd.
What don’t we do at our Caucus? Well, we don’t vote for presidential candidates. If you show up thinking that this is your opportunity to encourage Wyoming to back a Nikki Haley / Chris Christie ticket, well, you’re going to be mighty disappointed. No, we only select delegates for our County Convention in March.
We’re not corny. But you knew that.
Terrific and entertaining article! Reliance on law fare and Nikki did not pan out in Iowa. Let's see what they manage to pull off in New Hampshire where there is open (cross over voting,) as well......and where Massachusetts is right next door. I'm glad Gov. DeSantis threw in the towel and that his nickname has been officially retired.