Iowa GOP Chairman: Party Will Support Donald Trump ‘One Thousand Percent’ if He Wins Nomination

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

by MATTHEW BOYLE24 Jan 2016Muscatine, Iowa658

MUSCATINE, Iowa — 2016 GOP frontrunner Donald Trump received support from yet another major GOP player, state GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann, in the all-important first caucus state of Iowa.

Kaufmann, who wasn’t officially endorsing Trump for president but is appearing with him on stage and introducing him, said that if Iowans select Trump on Feb. 1, the party is fully committed to electing him president of the United States. Kaufmann has appeared with other GOP candidates at their events, including according to Iowa GOP spokesman Charlie Szold in a comment to the Des Moines Register: Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Santorum. Szold told Breitbart News this is a “courtesy we extend to all candidates.”

“This morning I woke up and the headlines were ‘There is a civil war in the Republican Party,’” Kaufmann said on the Trump stage. “Folks, we’re not having a civil war. We’re having a vigorous debate because the last eight years has made us mad.”

Kaufmann, who met with Trump before the rally in Iowa at Muscatine High School, said Trump is a “humble, a patriotic and a capable guy.”

“Most of our conversation was about how to get voices again for people that don’t believe they have a voice—I can’t think of anything more Republican than that,” Kaufmann said.

“As the Republican Party chairman, if you’re a Democrat and you’re going to join us on caucus night, I’ve got one word for you: Welcome,” Kaufmann added, an allusion to the fact Trump is likely to win many crossover voters.

“Donald Trump has brought some energy into this party, he has brought some energy into this country and I’ve lived in this particular county for seven generations,” Kaufmann said.

I’m here to tell you right now, on caucus night you’re going to hand somebody to me. And at the end of this process, the nominee is going to be handed to me. Let me be perfectly clear, I don’t want any ambiguity whatsoever. If you vote for him, Donald Trump, as the Republican nominee, the Republican Party of Iowa and this Republican chair will be behind him one thousand percent!

Kaufmann appearing on stage with Trump at this time comes after Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the longtime Iowa U.S. Senator, joined Trump on stage last week and said that he supports making America great again.

Grassley’s appearance was not an official endorsement, but an unofficial statement of support for Trump’s campaign.

Read More Stories About:

Big Government, 2016 Presidential Race,Donald Trump, Iowa, Chuck Grassley,Republican Party, Iowa GOP, Jeff Kaufmann

Fox News Poll: Donald Trump Takes Back Iowa with 11-Point Surge

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

by MIKE FLYNN24 Jan 20164361

A new Fox News poll of Iowa shows Donald Trump surging to a strong 11-point lead in the caucuses taking place next week. With just one week until the first votes of the 2016 primary are cast, Trump leads second-place Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 34-23 percent.

The last two Fox News polls of Iowa, conducted in early January and early December, has Ted Cruz with a slim lead over the GOP frontrunner. In the last two weeks, according to the poll, Trump has gained 11 points and Cruz has lost 4 points.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) remains in a distant third place with 12 percent, but he has lost 3 points since early January. No other candidate has support in the double digits.

The Fox poll has a fairly large 5-point margin of error, higher than its last two polls, but the underlying trend towards Trump is unmistakable. One major factor helping Trump is that Republican voters in general are warming to his candidacy.

In early January, almost one-third of Republicans, 31 percent, said they could not support Trump if he became the nominee. Today, that number is down to 20 percent.

This week, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassleyappeared at a campaign rally for Donald Trump. He made it clear he wasn’t endorsing Trump and is, in fact, scheduled to appear with Sen. Marco Rubio this weekend, but his appearance is an explicit un-endorsement of Ted Cruz. Grassley has recently criticized his colleague Cruz for his opposition to ethanol and wind power subsidies.

Also this week, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad publicly stated that he hoped Cruz would lose the Iowa caucus, also because of his opposition to ethanol and wind power. As the nation’s top corn producer, the state has a vested interest in maintaining the federal mandate to include ethanol-blended gasoline in motor fuel. The state has also become a leading provider of federally subsidized wind power.

In addition, Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump in Iowa early in the week. Her endorsement came just as the Fox poll was starting interviews in the Hawkeye State. The Palin endorsement boosted Trump considerably among voters who identify as “very conservative” and “tea party.”

Among both voters, Cruz had been leading Trump in the last Fox poll. Trump now leads among “tea party voters” and is essentially tied with Cruz among “very conservative” voters. Cruz had held a slim lead among more mainstream “Republican” voters, a group Trump now leads by 9 points.

Trump, it seems, is benefiting from a political perfect storm just before Iowa casts its votes. Palin’s embrace of Trump and the state’s Republican establishment’s united opposition to Cruz has pushed Trump into a strong lead.

This unique combination, if it holds, could allow Trump to run the tables in states voting through the Spring and lock-in the nomination sooner than most would have expected.

That said, a week is a lifetime in politics, and a tea party-establishment coalition likely is tenuous. There is also a final GOP debate on Thursday, just 4 days before the caucus. Still, Iowa seems to be moving towards Trump.

Read More Stories About:

Big Government, 2016 Presidential Race,Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Chuck Grassley,Republican Party, Sarah Palin, Terry Branstad, Iowa caucus