Trump rivals get cold reception from Iowa voters: 'That's the standard GOP stump speech'

Republicans who have either announced their intent to run for the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination or are testing the waters, are running into skeptical voters in the key state of Iowa as hit the state to try to build up support.

According to a report from Politico, it is not only attempts to peel voters away from frontrunner Donald Trump that will be the hurdle they need to surmount, it will entail coming up with a message of their own to draw in voters who are on the fence -- including younger voters who are sold on the Republican's Party growing extremist rhetoric.

To make that point, Politico's Natalie Allison noted a recent appearance in Iowa by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) where he struggled to reach everyone who came to see what he had to offer.

According to the report, Scott spoke at Drake University and, while he received a "enthusiastic" reception from conservatives who sat at the front of the room, "his message was a harder sell to some of the other young voters who didn’t respond to his lines about gender identification and the teaching of racism. Later, they confided that they would never vote for him. After all, they were Democrats."

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Gavin Hoedl, a 20-year-old student, was unmoved, telling Politico, "That’s exactly what I assumed he was going to say. That’s the standard Republican stump speech.”

According to Politico's Allison, "Over the course of three days in Iowa this week, the political pitfalls and opportunities of the state already became apparent. Any candidate for office can be rewarded for the right amount of gladhanding and pork eating and farm marveling. And those with an eye on the presidency in 2024 gave it their shot. But the voters In Iowa are picky too. They don’t hide it."

Steve Scheffler, Iowa’s Republican National Committeeman, claimed even Trump has work to do in the state.

"Even though Trump is probably the favorite, I wouldn’t say it’s in the bag. If Iowans feel like they’re taken for granted, it doesn’t sit too well," he explained.

"Still, there is fear that Iowa this cycle may not play its traditional role. With the exception of Trump, who last week announced top staff hires in Iowa, none of the candidates or prospective candidates appear to have yet established any robust campaign operations in the state," the Politico report continued. Democrats have left Iowa behind in the party’s nominating process, voting to move South Carolina first on the calendar. And even Republicans in the state are worried about what the change could mean for them."

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