WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa is living up to its reputation as the home to voters who make up their minds at the last second.
Iowans have been welcoming candidates into the state for close to 11 months and have been bombarded with television and radio ads from the candidates for what can seem like an eternity.
Yet, some voters — namely those looking for an alternative to former President Donald Trump — are still weighing the pluses and minus of the candidates less than 48 hours before the caucuses on Monday, when they will brave frigid temperatures to indicate their choices in churches, high school gymnasiums and community centers.
Some of these late-deciding voters are honest about the fact that they cannot put their finger on what exactly they would need to hear from the likes of former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for them to win their support.
Others know exactly what it is.
Roger Lutes, for instance, turned out for a recent Haley event because he wanted to hear the former South Carolina governor rule out serving as Mr. Trump’s running mate — something she has been reluctant to do.
Otherwise, Mr. Lutes, who wants the Republican Party to move past Mr. Trump, said he would likely swing his support behind Mr. DeSantis.
“I would love to ask her and get a yes or no,” Mr. Lutes told The Washington Times before the Haley event. “If I can get a question in that is what I am going to ask her and I am going to tell her that if she can’t say ‘no’ I can’t support her.”
Ms. Haley, however, neither touched on the subject nor took any questions from the audience — leaving Mr. Lutes to ponder his next move.
The final Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll before Monday’s caucuses showed there could be a lot of last-minute movement.
The support for Mr. Trump, who holds a commanding 28-percentage-point lead, is the most rock solid, with 82% saying their mind is made up and 18% who say they could be persuaded to pick another candidate.
As for Ms. Haley, 63% of her supporters have made up their minds and 37% could jump ship. It is a similar story for Mr. DeSantis — 64% are sticking with him and 35% could support someone else.
The findings help explain why Mr. DeSantis, Ms. Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy continue to race around the state in below-freezing temperatures looking to pull the holdouts into their camp.
Tom Chambers caucused for Mr. Trump in 2016 but said this year he is deciding between Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley because of all the “chaos” that follows Mr. Trump.
“I’m still trying to figure it out,” the 74-year-old said, as he waited to hear from Mr. DeSantis here in the Des Moines suburbs.“DeSantis I think is more of a domestic guy, Nikki Haley has got a real handle on international affairs.”
Asked what would swing him, Mr. Chambers said: “That is a good question, and if they don’t screw up and say anything stupid it is going to be tougher.”
“So I am just waiting for somebody to really seal the deal,” he said. “At the last minute, there will be a decision.”
After listening to Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Chambers, on his way out the door, said he liked what he heard.
Then he added with a grin, “I’m still deciding.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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