The GOP front-runner Donald Trump lost in the Iowa caucuses, placing second behind Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Trump lost despite polling nearly five points ahead of Cruz and the other GOP candidates. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won Monday night with 28 percent of the vote. Donald Trump came in second place with 24 percent, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio exceeded predictions by coming in a close third with 23 percent. 186,000 people caucused, setting a record for Republican turnout. However, the high turnout did not ultimately benefit political newcomer Trump as expected. Cruz secured a solid base of evangelical voters, who make up the majority of caucus voters.
Trump boasted on Sunday of a win in Iowa. "Unless I win, I would consider this a big, fat, beautiful – and, by the way, a very expensive – waste of time. … If I don't win, maybe bad things will happen."Trump said. The fact that Iowa voters turned Trump's five-point lead into a five-point loss is quite instructive.
In contrast, a noticeably subdued Trump whitewashed his loss when he took the stage after the caucus, simply encouraging supporters to look forward to the future. "New Hampshire – we love New Hampshire. We love South Carolina." Rather than castigating the people of Iowa, as many expected (and as he's done before), Trump spun the loss as beating expectations: "I absolutely love the people of Iowa. … I was told by everybody, 'Do not go to Iowa. You cannot finish even in the top 10.' "
Hillary wins in Iowa
Hillary Clinton could not land the decisive knockout punch against her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses Monday night as the margin of victory was a very close one. The results were the "closest in the history of the state Democratic caucuses. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton managed to defeat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders but only ever so slightly: The Des Moines Register showed Clinton squeezing past Sanders by just 0.3 percent in the end, with some contests decided by coin toss. "After thorough reporting – and analysis – of results, there is no uncertainty and Secretary Clinton has clearly won the most national and state delegates," campaign manager Matt Paul said in a statement. Sanders, for his part, gave no concession. He deemed the race "a virtual tie" and said the evening's results showed "the American people that this is a campaign that can win."
But John Cassidy at The New Yorker thinks Clinton is in for some trouble. "Bernie Sanders, promoting an American version of 'people power,' has confirmed his capture of the Party's under-forty wing," he writes. He nabbed 86 percent of Democratic voters aged 17 to 24, 81 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds and 65 percent of 30- to 39-year-olds. "Clinton, by contrast, was largely reliant on the middle-aged and the elderly," and that's a problem. "When you are so heavily reliant on support from creaky-kneed voters, it is tricky to project yourself as the voice of the future," he writes, especially when projecting yourself is tricky enough. "One of Hillary's problems is that her campaign is largely about herself – her experience, her electability, and her toughness," writes Cassidy, but "it is often easier to inspire people, particularly young people, with an uplifting theme than with a resume."
But John Cassidy at The New Yorker thinks Clinton is in for some trouble. "Bernie Sanders, promoting an American version of 'people power,' has confirmed his capture of the Party's under-forty wing," he writes. He nabbed 86 percent of Democratic voters aged 17 to 24, 81 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds and 65 percent of 30- to 39-year-olds. "Clinton, by contrast, was largely reliant on the middle-aged and the elderly," and that's a problem. "When you are so heavily reliant on support from creaky-kneed voters, it is tricky to project yourself as the voice of the future," he writes, especially when projecting yourself is tricky enough. "One of Hillary's problems is that her campaign is largely about herself – her experience, her electability, and her toughness," writes Cassidy, but "it is often easier to inspire people, particularly young people, with an uplifting theme than with a resume."
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