Donald Trump and Ben Carson are tied at 23 percent and Carly Fiorina is stealing third in the new Monmouth University poll of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers released Monday.
Former GOP Communications Director Doge Heye, appearing on CNN’s “At This Hour” with John Berman, argued that the rise of the non-establishment candidates “speaks to the anti-Washington atmosphere that’s throughout this country.”
John Berman: There’s a brand new poll out, I can’t wait anymore to share with you that comes from Monmouth University. It shows Dr. Ben Carson has pulled into a tie in that state. I don’t think we have the graphics so I’ll read it for you. Donald Trump and Ben Carson both tied at 23 percent in the state of Iowa right now. That’s on top of the Register poll we showed that showed Ben Carson closing in on Donald Trump. But Ben Carson with a meteoric rise here that’s simply undeniable at this point, sharing first place in one poll. How do you explain it?
Doug Heye: Well, I explain it for the same reason we see Bernie Sanders doing so well on the Democratic side. This is no surprise. There are a lot of Americans, Republicans, Democrats, Independents who are upset with what’s going on in Washington right now. Anything that smacks of Washington, anything that speaks of Washington, we’ve see so many voters react negatively to. That’s why we’re seeing Trump do well, Carson do well, and Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side. It’s a rejection of Washington.
Hilary Rosen: I think that’s right ironically that Bernie Sanders is a senator but he’s a registered Independent. But there’s sort of one more piece of this which is interesting. If you played in Iowa politics as both Doug and I have, you know that Iowa voters actually take this responsibility of being first in the nation super seriously. So they tend to look outside the mainstream. They’re constantly looking for, you know, who are going to be interesting choices, who are going to be the right candidates. They’ve consistently over the years rejected the candidates they see as status quo, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that ultimately that’s who they think should be president, but they do see it as kind of their responsibility to air the next thing.
Berman: And Doug, Carly Fiorina by the way in third place in that poll with Scott Walker, Doug, slipping precipitously. Jeb Bush slipping.
Heye: Yeah, absolutely. It speaks well too, what Carly Fiorina has put together over the past few weeks. As she’s trying to get into the CNN debate coming up next month. She needs more national polls that show her doing well. But this again speaks to the anti-Washington atmosphere that’s throughout this country and isn’t just on specifics of policy. Which we’ve talked about before and how important they are. This is an attitudinal situation where Republican and Democratic candidates find themselves in now. Where they’re rejecting anything that’s Washington right now. But that’s also one of the important things about the Iowa Caucus. The Iowa Caucus, whoever emerges victorious on either side, Democrat or Republican, doesn’t necessarily tell you who is going to be the winner. What Iowa really does, and does well is it begins to winnow that process down.