Neutrality Has Its Benefits
Iowa will again host the first-in-the-nation Republican presidential precinct caucuses in 2024. Exactly when is yet to be determined, in part due to jockeying for position on the Democrat side, but it is set now for early February or late January of next year.
Iowa’s leading elected officials…from the four members of Congress, to the two U.S. Senators, to the Governor…have all pledged to be neutral and not endorse any candidate publicly. That’s smart, to help Iowa be as open a process as possible so as many candidates as possible come here and campaign…and not incidentally, spend money.
Rarely has a top Iowa Republican elected official endorsed anyone. Gov. Terry Branstad endorsed fellow Gov. Lamar Alexander one time, and Sen. Charles Grassley endorsed fellow Sen. Bob Dole on another occasion; those were due to personal relationships, and did not keep other candidates from participating…no allegation of a rigged process was ever made.
But this time around, having early on taken a “vow of neutrality” could actually help those Iowa politicians avoid thorny questions about support for front-runner Donald Trump. I have no doubt that each of them could quite skillfully navigate the waters and properly respond to any question asked…but you know how folks like to stir things up, and constantly trying to see if Elected Official A was ready to renege on a Trump endorsement would take a lot of air out of the room, and improperly steer focus away from—heaven forbid—the actual discussion of issues.
So in short, the failure to endorse anyone allows Iowa officials to have an open process, to have their own hands be clean if a candidate stumbles, and to avoid any mud sticking to them should the tide turn against one candidate or another. Smart play…but they didn’t get elected to those high-ranking posts by being dummies.
