despite the blizzard in Iowa, the Republican primary campaign is in full swing

This Monday, January 15, the Iowa caucus launches the race for the Republican Party nomination for the American presidential election in November 2024. If Donald Trump is the big favorite in the polls, followed by Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, a winter storm could well play spoilsport.

In Des Moines, the capital of Iowa, where the cold is getting worse by the hour, it’s the first step towards the American presidential election next November. This Monday, January 15, Iowa is holding its caucus. This Midwestern state opens the Republican Party primaries. Donald Trump is the big favorite but a historic winter storm has shaken up the campaign in recent days.

The icy wind that is blowing right now is not really “typical” of Iowa, as some residents say. According to authorities, we only see this once or twice a decade. The situation is described as “dangerous”. A snowstorm, blizzard that swept through Iowa for 48 hours. Whitewashed roads on which it is very difficult to travel. Temperatures are around -20 degrees and are expected to plunge further at the time voters travel to vote with gusty winds and a cold feeling of -30 or even -40 degrees at nightfall, according to the local weather agency .

“We can do it !”

This has not escaped candidates like Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, considered “ultra-conservative”, ranked third in the opinion polls, but he remains combative. “They can throw a blizzard at us but we’re going to fight! They can throw fake polls at us, but we’re going to fight!”he says.

There is also Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina, former United States ambassador to the UN, the only woman running in this primary, perceived as relatively more moderate, particularly on the issue of abortion. She solidified a second place in the polls for this Iowa caucus. And she beats the reminder on social networks, wading in the snow. “I know it’s cold, but we need you! Dress warmly, take your ID and come with your friends ! We can do it !”she says.

There is of course also Donald Trump who is hoping for a landslide victory. He arrived on Saturday evening, January 13, in Iowa. His first words: “I just got off the plane and it’s bad what’s going on outside.” But above all, he brushes aside the accusations again and again, he who has been criminally charged four times, threatened by trials in the spring, still convinced that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. “Electoral fraud has never happened, it could have happened in third world countries, banana republics, but never in this country”he assures.

Beyond the campaign arguments, each camp had to adapt its plans to the weather conditions. Meetings have been reduced to a minimum since Friday January 12, several meetings canceled, telephone meetings with voters or an online “telemeeting” for Donald Trump.

With this cold on the streets of Des Moines, the question of whether voters will travel to vote is crucial. Because this is the difficulty linked to the “caucus”, a form of direct democracy, it is impossible to vote by correspondence, you have to come forward in person, take part in assemblies between activists in schools or gymnasiums, in 1 700 precincts in Iowa. Of course some decline, it will be too cold, they will wait for the presidential election in November to vote and then there are the most determined who promise to make the trip.

“I definitely think we need someone new, no matter who it is.”

John, 36 years old

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In downtown Des Moines, delivered to the ballet of snow plows, a few courageous people are there to shovel, trying to clear the sidewalks. As John, 36, a parking attendant, has chosen his candidate, it will be Nikki Haley. “It is in relation to its positions taken against China, to ensure that China takes a back seat and puts the United States back at the top.” he explains. “And then I think that with Biden and Trump, all this back and forth, the accusations from both sides…there I really think we need someone new, no matter who it is ‘acts’, Judge John.

In a bar in Des Moines, Jamie, 47, will vote for Ron DeSantis: “I love what he did in Florida, and I love the way he governs there. Its economy is strong and then it is calm”, she believes. “But before his personality, it’s really about seeing how they approach the issues that are important to us. Me, I love my freedom. I don’t want a government to make decisions for me”says Jamie.

But in this bar, there is one name that keeps coming up: that of Donald Trump. “I just hope he can come back and make our country strong again.”explains for example Rose, 62 years old. “The economy is my number one concern. And immigration issues are also very important. I work in a school, we have an influx of immigrants in our sector and it is very difficult to make a place to their children. I deal with this every day.”she says.

Her husband, Stewart, intervenes. His priority is to oust the Democrats, and according to him Donald Trump is the man for the job and too bad if the billionaire gets into trouble with the law. “Everything is invented! The Democrats are behind these accusations. They don’t want Trump to win again. So they’re putting obstacles in his way.”he said.

“The caucus has been held for half a century and we have held it successfully whether it was raining, snowing or freezing temperatures.”

Kush Desai, spokesperson for the Iowa Republican Party

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The Iowa caucus will therefore take place at all costs according to Kush Desai, spokesperson for the Iowa Republican Party. “2024 will be no exception, Iowans are accustomed to winter conditions,” he assures. “Here everyone has parkas and boots and we’re making sure people don’t have to queue outside. We may not have a record level of participation, but it will be high “, predicts Kush Desai. In 2016, 186 000 people came to the Iowa caucus. But 2024 promises to be the coldest in the last fifty years.