Hello, and welcome back to Simplifying the State. I’m Adam, and on today’s episode, we will be covering the recent results of the Iowa caucus primaries and what they mean for the New Hampshire primaries. The recent attacks on Iran by Pakistan and vice versa, how the US Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown temporarily, and the suspension of the presidential campaign of Ron DeSantis. The Iowa caucus, known for being the first major contest in the US presidential nominating process, always sets the tone for the primary season, though months out polls having Donald Trump in a more than 30-point lead over candidates like Ron DeSantis, Vivec Ramaswamy and Nikki Nikki Haley, all competing for what many political in analysts called second place.
As of now, the election results are in, and Trump has won the Iowa primary, securing 51% of the vote and wheeling all but one of the state’s 99 counties with Nikki Haley the only other candidate to win a county in Iowa that being Johnson County being a more predominantly college-educated and suburban county. Many political analysts look to this county as to who will win in the New Hampshire primaries, being that this county better reflects the majority of voters in New Hampshire, with Nikki Haley winning the county. It is estimated by political analysts that she will go on to do much better in the New Hampshire primaries than she did in the Iowa primaries.
We also don’t have to assume that just because he won the Iowa primary, Trump will be the nominee for the Republican Party. Although it seems increasingly more likely. Candidates who have won the Iowa primaries have not historically gone on to be the nominee in 2016. Ted Cruz won Iowa; however, it was Trump who went on to win the nomination. As to the specific results of the Iowa primary, Trump won 51% 20 delegates during the status 120 1% Nine delegates, Nikki Haley won 19% Eight delegates, and Vivec Ramaswamy won 7% three delegates shortly after the Iowa caucus. Vivec Ramaswamy suspended his presidential campaign and gave his endorsement to Donald Trump proving once again that Iowa can either breathe life into a campaign, or end it.
And we now move on to the unexpected turn of events that has taken place between Iran and Pakistan this week, the neighboring nations extended cross-border airstrikes on what they claim more militant hideouts and safe havens being used against one another. The strikes began with Iranian airstrikes on what Tehran describes as the bases for Sunni separatist groups in southwestern Pakistan. All this was followed by Pakistani airstrikes and what is found about described as training camps belonging to Baluk insurgents in southeastern iran. Recently, the foreign ministers of Iran and Pakistan have agreed to de-escalate the situation and say they are committed to maintaining mutual trust and cooperation between the two nations.
The House and Senate approved stopgap measures spending bill to fund the government through early March. The new spending measure maintains a two-tier structure where some agencies would run out of money on March 1, and others would remain funded. through March 8. The measure is the latest in a series of short-term measures meant by lawmakers time to continue the work of drafting and advancing a full suite of 12 annual government spending bills, which have been slowed in large part because of internal disagreements among the wafer-thin House Republican majority.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently suspended his Republican presidential campaign on Sunday, and then his 2024 White House bid just before the New Hampshire primary and endorsing fellow candidate Donald Trump. This leaves former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley as the last major Republican contender in the race. The census decision, while perhaps not surprising, given his 30-point loss last week in Iowa, marks the end of an extraordinary decline for a high profile Governor once thought to be the largest threat to Donald Trump’s campaign primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire, the suspension of a political campaign in trouble in the Middle East, and more temporary solutions to a government funding issue have shown that the US political system can change at the drop of a hat as the 2024 election grows ever closer. Both presidential congressional and gubernatorial candidates continue to make their case for why they should be elected. Thank you. I’m Adam, and this has been Simplifying the State.
