Branstad: GOP could have up to five tickets out of Iowa

DES MOINES - Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday he believes Iowa's Feb. 1 precinct caucuses will winnow the 2016 GOP presidential field, but it's possible that up to five candidates could manage to stay viable after the quick succession of early-state voting compared to other presidential election years.

This year's political race has confounded the experts at times and defied conventional political thinking, with self-funded GOP front-runner Donald Trump showing unexpected staying power while other seasoned veterans, such as Govs. Rick Perry of Texas, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana have dropped out.

The latest casualty of the 2016 race was South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who bowed out Monday by suspending his campaign - a development that Branstad called 'a loss” given his 'voice of reason,” his foreign policy expertise and his knowledge of Iraq and Afghanistan.

'I enjoyed very much the interaction I had with him,” Branstad told his weekly news conference. 'I remember he called me and said he learned two things about Iowa: You need to love Jesus and ethanol, so that just kind of shows you something about Lindsey Graham.”

Branstad said every political race is different and this one has seen the rise of 'super-PAC” money that has assisted in indirect ways to help keep candidates going, when in previous years they would have dropped out due to a lack of funds to build their name recognition or spread their message.

Even with that financial influence, Branstad said he expects early results in Iowa will narrow the 2016 race and propel candidates who win or do better than expected on Feb. 1.

'I still think Iowa will winnow the field, and maybe it won't be just three tickets out of here, but maybe four or five,” he told reporters. 'I think if you're not in the top four or five in Iowa, it's going to be difficult going forward.

'I think Iowa still has a very important role here,” he added, 'and I would encourage the candidates to come here and spend a lot of time and really try to peak on election night so they can maximize the bounce that they can get out of doing well in Iowa.”

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