There are two ways to look at the Trump victory. On the one hand, he campaigned far less than his rivals, alienated all of the state’s power brokers, and still won by 30 points. On the other hand, Iowa is a perfect demographic mix for him, and he considers himself to be an incumbent, but he only got 51 percent of the vote. There are plenty of GOP voters out there who are ready to be consolidated if one of the two remaining candidates can find the key.
One conclusion shouldn’t be controversial: for Iowa to vote for the representative of a white Christian nationalist on MLK Day is brutally offensive to anyone who believes in American liberal democracy.