Iowa Results: Trump for real, establishment in trouble
Two big stories out of tonight’s results. Trump is for real and the establishment is in deep do-do as Rand Paul outperforms Jeb Bush. Here are the results so far with 99% reporting:
Cruz (43,550) 28%
Trump (38,358) 24%
Rubio (36,065) 23%
Carson (14,609) 9%
Paul (7,103) 4%
Bush (4,409) 3%
Kasich (2,970) 2%
Find updates on votes here: http://www.cnn.com/election/primaries/states/ia
Why do I say, “Trump is for real?” Because there was very real skepticism that his supporters would actually bother to go vote. In Iowa this is much more complicated. It’s more of a neighborhood meeting with speeches given by local supporters…
And, by the way, Hillary is in trouble too:
#IowaCaucus @BernieSanders is cutting into @HillaryClinton Lead. super close pic.twitter.com/KRA88NW6lU
— #TheBronxisBerning (@BronxIsBerning) February 2, 2016
The only hope I see here for the establishment is for Rubio to hold on through a long drawn-out primary season. There’s just nothing like having a presidential election choice between Hillary’s foreign policy + progressive platitudes and…Hillary’s foreign policy + shallow conservative platitudes, you know, Rubio…
The nonintervention faction of the Republican party (those opposed to unconstitutional and/or stupid wars) should take heart that the top two candidates tonight are both on record as clearly opposing the Iraq War, albeit after the invasion. Trump and Cruz also share a strong skepticism of the establishment’s arming of so-called “moderate rebels” in Syria.
While I support Rand Paul, it’s encouraging to remember Ted Cruz has also been rightly accusing Rubio of having the same foreign policy as Hillary Clinton:
Now, he didn’t do it repeatedly and as awesomely as Rand Paul did:
Somehow, I think a certain older Dr. Paul’s ideas might still be gaining momentum?
It’s going to be a long, long primary season and it may all come down to the convention. Hold on…
JUST IN: Iowa GOP says they have officially broken turnout records – @shushwalshe #IACaucus
— ABC News Radio (@ABCNewsRadio) February 2, 2016
Another big takeaway tonight is that the pro-stupid war hawks (the establishment of both parties) are in total disarray. Top 2 Rs, Cruz and Trump, are both on record as consistently opposing the Iraq War – while Hillary voted for it. Cruz and Trump also have actively opposed Hillary/Obama’s (and Rubio’s) active support of arming allies of Al Qaeda in a bizarro machiavellian strategy to simultaneously have regime change in Syria while hoping ‘moderate’ rebel groups will also take out ISIS. The results have been to make ISIS stronger – and to nearly completely destroy the Christian populations of Iraq, Libya and Syria.