Here’s a curious little item from Craig Robinson of The Iowa Republican:
In the past few days, a Grassley fundraising letter has appeared in Iowans’ mail boxes. It’s the typical fundraising letter we are used to seeing in Iowa. It’s as much about the presidential race as it is about Grassley’s re-election bid. The reply device is called the “2015 Iowa Issues Survey.” It asks you to answer 20 simple questions on issues ranging from the Second Amendment to Obamacare and return it with a check ranging from $250 to $1,250 – at least that’s what my letter asked me to give.
Everything looks pretty standard until you look at the final question on the back of the survey. The question asks, if the caucuses were held today, which one candidate would you probably vote for? Again, pretty straight forward.
The Republican choices are Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.
The Democrat choices are Joe Biden, Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb, and Donald Trump.
That’s right; Grassley’s fundraising letter lists Donald Trump, the current leader in GOP field in Iowa and national polls, as a Democrat. If that’s not bad enough, the Grassley letter completely snubs Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a colleague of Grassley’s in the U.S. Senate, altogether.
Robinson kinda hints that ol’ Chuck (who will turn 82 in a few weeks) might have had an understandable senior moment in dealing with a 17-candidate GOP field. More likely, the mistake was made at the other end at the age spectrum by some 20-something staffer, with or without malice. It is likely that Trump and Cruz are Grassley’s least favorite candidates. But I doubt they can be disposed of by leaving them off the ballot in the Caucuses.
