Trump and the 14th amendment, Iowa Caucus
Former President Trump was removed from the primary ballet in Colorado and Maine late last year. The court in Colorado ruled on the grounds of the 14th amendment to the constitution. In Maine, the Secretary of State unilaterally removed Trump from the primary ballot also citing the 14th amendment. The court in Colorado and the Maine Secretary of State used Article 3 of the amendment specifically, which is the insurrection clause.
Whether you believe Trump incited or participated in an insurrection or not is only an opinion. He was never charged with insurrection in a public court. He was acquitted of insurrection by the Senate after his impeachment the second time.
Where the court in Colorado and the Secretary of State in Maine will have trouble with their case is in the reading of the entire 14th amendment. Article 5 states that “The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.” They either did not read the whole amendment or it is just political theater and trying to drag Trump through the mud. In the end I believe Trump will be on the ballot in both Colorado and Maine.
Last night was the Iowa caucus. I usually really get in to the presidential election process, but I am just not excited this year. I cannot vote for either of the major party candidates, so maybe that is why I am having difficulty getting into it. Another reason is there is no intrigue. I believe Trump has the nomination in the bag and we are just going through the motions this primary season.
The former president won the Iowa Caucus last night. No surprise. What did surprise me though was the margin. I thought most pollsters had predicted Trump would get around 60% of the vote. He only got 51.1%. That’s not a resounding majority. Governor Ron DeSantis garnered 21%, Nikki Haley won 19% and Vivek Ramaswamy got 8%. If you add up all their vote totals they still don’t surpass Donald Trump’s total, but if only one of the three had been on the ballot it would have been closer.
I know Iowa is not the deciding factor in presidential nominations, but the margin was closer than I expected. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few weeks. The New Hampshire primary is next week. And as I type this my interest is now piqued. I still think Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee, I am just curious what his win margins will be.