Iowans at Republican presidential debate in Des Moines: We’re still deciding

DES MOINES — On her way into the presidential debate, just five days out from the 2024 Iowa Republican caucuses, Mary Ann Wallace, of Des Moines, said she needs to start paying attention so she knows who to support.

“I guess I haven’t really been paying a lot of attention to any of this,” she said as she headed into the debate, which featured Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. “So I’m going to have to listen to both and see what they say.”

Mary Ann’s husband, Jim, also remains undecided. Although he has been tuned into the Republican presidential primary, he said.

“There’s three good choices left,” he said.

The Wallaces’ unmade minds are an example of why DeSantis and Haley were debating Wednesday night in Iowa, on the Drake University campus and broadcast by CNN. And it’s why their respective campaigns are still working to secure support despite polls consistently showing a wide gap between them and former President Donald Trump.

Across town at the same time Wednesday night, Trump was interviewed for a town hall broadcast by Fox News.

It was the third such town hall the network has held with the leading GOP presidential candidates.

The overlapping media events, including a podcast appearance for Ohio biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, signal a tight competition for media attention in the last days before the caucuses.

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Voters and supporters were lined up to hear Trump an hour before he took the stage at the Iowa Events Center. The town hall, similar to events Fox News hosted with Haley and DeSantis this week, featured several questions submitted by the audience.

Chris Perdue, a farmer from Pottawattamie County, said he was looking forward to hearing Trump talk about agriculture at the event.

He said he will likely support Trump in the caucuses, largely due to the performance of agriculture while Trump was president.

“It took him a while, but he got the ag economy going, and we were doing well. Now we’re not,” Perdue said. “...Inflation’s killing us, interest rates are hard on us, because we have to borrow for our operating expenses.”

Perdue said what separates Trump’s agriculture policies from those of his Republican opponents is that he has proved his effectiveness, while president, in enacting policies that are good for farmers.

“He has a record, and he passed the USMCA, which is good for trade,” he said. “And China deals, trade with China. So we know what he’s capable of.”

Tim Krachenfels, 45, of West Des Moines, said he wants to hear Trump talk about the economy and how he would lower costs for people and small business owners. Krachenfels said he is planning to caucus for Trump on Monday.

Krachenfels said he thinks Trump winning the primary is “inevitable.”

“The lead is so high, and once reality kicks in for Nikki and for Ron, then I think it’s a no-brainer,” Krachenfels said. “He might have a little bit of trouble in New Hampshire, but South Carolina, it’d be great to see him win that. I think if he does that, he’s a shoo-in for the entire ticket.”

Back on the Drake campus, Jim Wallace said he was impressed by Haley at a recent campaign event he attended.

“I tell you, Iowa retail caucus politics really works. I went to a Haley event. Hard not to like her,” Wallace said.

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Ramaswamy

Vivek Ramaswamy said he believes CNN intentionally set the eligibility criteria for Wednesday’s debate to disqualify him from the stage. He has polled a little over 5 percent in recent Iowa polls and under 5 percent in national polls. The criteria required a candidate to receive 10 percent in at least three national and/or Iowa polls.

“The good news is we’re not playing that game,” he told reporters at the Iowa State Capitol on Wednesday. “It seems like a pretty useless and boring event anyway. We’re going to do it our way, we’re reaching the people directly.”

Ramaswamy participated in a town hall hosted by podcaster Tim Pool at the same time as the debate and the Trump town hall.

Undecided voters

Brent Bartz, 67, of Cedar Rapids, crammed into a diner Saturday with about 200 people to hear from DeSantis.

Bartz said he’s undecided who he will support in the caucuses. Saturday was his first time hearing from a 2024 presidential candidate.

He said he was registered as a Republican, “but after the debacle of choosing a House Speaker, when I saw the GOP couldn't get out of their way from tripping over each other,” he registered as an independent, but plans to re-register as a Republican to participate in the Jan. 15 Iowa GOP caucuses.

Bartz said he hopes the GOP nomination doesn’t come down to Trump. But, if it does, said he will “hold my nose and vote for him if that's what it takes, because I won't vote for Biden again.”

“But I'm hoping somewhere in here that somebody raises up and gives him (Trump) a challenge,” Bartz said.

He said he wants to see DeSantis “get tough on Trump.”

“I think they've got a good story to tell,” he said of the GOP and Trump’s primary rivals, “but they're too busy beating up on each other, and they're not focusing enough on the failures of the current administration. And they're not talking about the baggage that Trump carries with him. … I love (Trump’s) policies. I just don't care for the man.”

The stakes are high in Iowa for DeSantis, who needs to pull significantly closer to Trump and away from Haley.

“If he comes in third, I think that’s the end,” said Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition President Steve Scheffler, who also serves as the state’s Republican National Committeeman. “If he comes in second and he’s close to Trump, then I think he can go on to fight another day.”

Haley, he said, has a wider path, holding a clear second place in her home state and in New Hampshire, which holds a primary following the Iowa caucuses.

“Nikki’s got more potential in New Hampshire, but again, I don’t think she can afford to be crushed (in Iowa),” Scheffler said. “If she doesn’t come in second, she’ll have to come in relatively close behind DeSantis.”

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