Iowa Caucus Results Reinforce Need For Alternative Candidate in 2024

Donald Trump was declared winner of the 2024 Iowa caucuses by the Associated Press just 31 minutes after voting began, surprising some observers.

The AP defended its decision, saying it was "based on an analysis of early returns and voter survey data from eight counties," and it showed Trump had an "insurmountable lead" due to the similarity of those counties to the rest of the state, per Axios.

Politico called the Trump victory a win "by a historic margin," capturing more than half the vote and leading to Vivek Ramaswamy exiting the race and endorsing Trump, adding "it’s going to be hard for any of his rivals to catch him now."

An NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll of Iowa found that 61% of likely GOP caucus-goers said their support for Trump would not be affected if he was convicted of a crime before November's general election, per The Hill, reflecting the divided state of the country and his most loyal supporters.

While it is only the beginning of the 2024 Primary Elections, with New Hampshire next on Jan. 23, these results support the idea that Trump could be well on his way to the nomination. This dramatically increases the stakes and need for a bipartisan candidate that Americans can unite around. Republicans - at most - represent 36% of the electorate (based on 2020 exit poll data), and approximately half of that is 18%, Trump's hardcore base. Democrats are about 37% of the electorate, and Biden's hardcore base is small too, only about 14%. Examined further, the math calculates to about 58% of the current electorate is not sold on Trump or Biden, or wants an alternative.