'Mission impossible': Iowa caucuses a 'sad circus' as GOP candidates fail to 'imitate Trump'

One day ahead of the first nominating contest to determine the official 2024, The Guardian reports the Iowa caucuses so far have been "a rare anti-climax for political aficionados" — because it's not much of a contest.

Referring to Trump, former 2020 GOP candidate Joe Walsh told the news outlet, "I expect him to win big," emphasizing, "Both Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, everybody in this primary, it's been f**king mission impossible. This is Trump's party and none of them have been trying to beat him. If you attack Trump, you're done as a Republican. There's no anti-Trump lane in that party. Period."

Mike Draper, the owner of the Des Moines novelty retail store that has hosted US presidential candidates since 2008, suggested the energy oozing from voters feels different this year. "We've always had a fairly good finger on the pulse and it's normally a circus but this year is just a sad circus," he said. "People are still going through the motions but there’s no real drama to it."

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The Guardian notes, "Such is the lack of engagement that, when Draper's staff mounted a display to celebrate the caucuses, curious onlookers assumed it must be related to Presidents' Day in February or Independence Day in July. The store responded with characteristic dry wit on a T-shirt: 'Election 2024: You’d think battling a fascist takeover of America would spark more interest from people.'"

Donald Trump continues to dominate polls despite facing four indictments and 91 criminal charges.

Brown University political science professor Wendy Schiller said that, still, "For people like Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis, first-time candidates, Iowa's important to be there in person" to win over voters from Trump. She noted DeSantis is "not quite as good in person on the stump as people had hoped he would be and that was a problem. DeSantis tried to be Trump version two but the problem for him is that version one is running. At the end of the day, people like the original."

Schiller emphasized, "That happens in American politics: if you are unique – and Trump is, we can argue safely, unique – it's hard to imitate it. You've seen all these candidates who try to imitate Trump fall flat on their face. Ron DeSantis is just an extended example of what happened to Senate candidates in 2022. As long as Trump is out there and is walking, talking and breathing, nobody wants the imitation."

READ MORE: DeSantis says Fox News too scared to hold Trump to account: 'Worried about losing viewers'

The Guardian notes, Haley, on the other hand, "has donor money and momentum on her side. A strong finish in Iowa would set her up well for New Hampshire, where some polls show her cutting Trump's lead to single digits, and where the anti-Trump candidate Chris Christie’s recent decision to drop out could give her a further boost in support."

Still, Trump "is poised to complete his political resurrection on Monday with victory in the first nominating contest to decide which Republican takes on the Democratic incumbent Joe Biden in November’s election."

However, the former president was forced "to cancel three out of four in-person rallies over the weekend" due to severe weather, "opting to hold tele-rallies" instead, which didn't draw many supporters at all.

The Guardian's full report is here.