Political Professor weighs in on Iowa Caucus results and path forward for GOP candidates

(Des Moines, Iowa) -- A Political Science Professor and director of the Study of Politics and Government says while the Iowa Caucus results are staggering and historic for Donald Trump, he is not willing to call the GOP Candidate Race for the former president quite yet.

Larry Jacobs, The U of M Political Science chair, shared his thoughts on the Iowa Caucus results with the Steve Hallstrom Show. He said some key takeaways from the caucus show a historic win for Donald Trump, and said he is currently in a fantastic position.

However, he also called the Iowa Caucus a poor predictor of telling who the future president will be. This is largely because the most recent time the GOP winner of the Iowa Caucus became President was with George W. Bush in 2000. In addition, Jacobs said New Hampshire and South Carolina are likely to be states that lean more in favor of Nikki Haley, who has been focusing her efforts in the two battleground states.

Additionally, Trump still has to convince moderates to lean towards him. Including the Republicans who currently support other GOP candidates.

"If you think of Haley and DeSantis and Ramasawmey as the opposition, they are almost at 50%. If you think of Donald Trump as the incumbent, which for me is reasonable because he was the president... it's striking that there are almost 50% that are not on board with him yet, said Jacobs, 

When asked about who he believes the Democratic Nominee for the president will be, he said current President Joe Biden will be on the ballot in 2024. He cited campaigning done by the Biden team and the president himself as reasons for this belief. However, Jacobs said the more interesting conversation is who is the best candidate against President Biden. He cited polling that showed Trump Vs. Biden is largely a toss up, but an election between DeSantis Vs. Biden is favored towards the Florida Governor, and a race between Haley Vs. Biden favors the former South Carolina Governor even more.