Love him or loathe him, voters agree: Trump looms large in Iowa
By Tim Reid and Nathan Layne
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) — Inside a packed cafe in Iowa's capital Des Moines, Dave Brommel says he has been thinking about Monday night's Iowa caucuses ever since Democratic President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Brommel, a retired U.S. Air Force veteran, blames Biden for the high costs of food and gasoline. He thinks Republicans do a better job of taking care of military veterans.
When he takes part in the first-in-the-nation nominating contest, Brommel, 69, said he will do everything he can to persuade fellow voters that former President Donald Trump is the strongest Republican contender to take on Biden in the November U.S. election.
«I will tell them to ignore the mean tweets and focus on Trump's record,» Brommel said before ordering biscuits and gravy at the Waveland Cafe on Saturday morning. «The country needs a businessman back in charge.»
Two dozen Republicans interviewed across snowbound Iowa in recent days mostly agreed on one thing: Like him or loathe him, the frontrunner Trump looms large over Monday's vote and his two main rivals, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
So, too, do concerns about the economy, foreign affairs, security along the U.S.-Mexico border and the overall direction of the country, the voters said. Several said they wanted a candidate who could unite the country at a time of acrimonious splits over social and political issues.
Retired school teacher Kathy Conquest, 78, braved the cold last week to watch Haley make one of her final pitches to a group of Iowa voters in Ankeny. Afterward, Conquest said she was still undecided, torn between Haley and DeSantis.
What about Trump, for whom she voted in 2016?
«Trump? God
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