Sunday, January 31, 2016

Final Iowa preview.

Republicans
Odds Cruz 52% Trump 48%
Percentages:  Cruz 29% Trump 28% Rubio 19% Carson 7 % Paul 6% Bush 3% Christie 3% Huckabee 2% Fiorina 1% Kasich 1% Santorum 1%
Rationale. 
                This is an incredibly close call, which really comes down to a coin flip. The public polling shows Donald Trump winning and expanding the electorate, and that is impressive.  He is also doing well enough with the traditional electorate that he could win even without a flood of newcomers. However in the end a combination of three factors hold promise to do him in. 1. His overall favorables amongst Iowa Republicans weigh in at the meager plus 3 (49 approve/46 disapprove).  2. It is now clear to all in Iowa that only a vote for Cruz offers a chance at stopping Trump, so those who view Trump unfavorably may allow Cruz to gain. 3. It will be harder for Trump to get out his supporters than it will be for Cruz, whose supporters were all likely at Church this morning.  The history of Christian candidates beating the polls, which was highlighted in a recent post, still matters and the slight collapse of other candidates suggest Cruz’s rise will be just enough. It should be remarkably close, and Trump has better odds to achieve a win with a meaningful margin, but Cruz is still the slightest of favorites to win by a nose.

Democrats
Odds Clinton 70% Sanders 30%
Percentages Clinton 53% to Sanders 47%

                The Sanders campaign has had an impressive ride and run a remarkable race.  It is entirely possible that geographic distribution of voters will lead to a splitting of the National Convention delegates.  Yet overall this very much remains Clinton’s race to lose at the state level delegate race. Clinton has regained the polling momentum.  Hers is a small but durable lead. Clinton is taking older voters and Sanders is taking younger voters.  That is good for Clinton on two key fronts.  Older voters are more spread out throughout the state, which, because of how delegates are awarded, provides a Clinton advantage.  Older voters more reliably turn out than younger voters. These demographics, the  overall polling lead, and Clinton’s lead with Democrats as opposed to independents gives Clinton a clear edge. 
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The Scorecard is a political strategy and analysis blog. Our hope is to provide information and insight that can be found nowhere else into how and why things are happening in American politics. Unlike many political pundits, we will tell you who we think is going to win as an election approaches; we will tell you why; and we will give you a sense of our level of confidence. Ours is a holistic approach, one that takes in as many numbers as possible but is also willing to look past the numbers if need be. When we turn out to have been wrong, we will let you know. When we are right, we’ll let you know that too.

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Author Jason Paul is a longtime political operative who got his start as an intern in 2002. He has been a political forecaster for almost as long. He won the 2006 Swing State Project election prediction contest and has won two other local contests. He had the pulse of Obama-Clinton race in 2008 and has been as good as anyone at delegate math in the 2016 race. He looks forwards to providing quality coverage for the remainder of the 2016 race.