Donald Trump has Shanen Ebersole’s vote. Having many concerns, but no hesitance whatsoever.
It’s clear that Ebersole is endorsing Trump, she declared. With the options we have, I’m content to do that. I really doubt that I could cast a ballot in any other way.
When we initially met, just before the Iowa caucuses, Ebersole was rooting for Nikki Haley. In conservative Ringgold County, where Ebersole was one of only sixteen votes for the ex-governor of South Carolina, Trump received 59% of the caucus vote.
Ebersole considered casting a third party ballot after Trump secured the Republican nomination. Unfortunately, there are boundaries to her rebellious nature. Coming home to Trump allowed her to prioritize her family and farm.
According to her, “the American people must always come first” when she was interviewed beside the Ebersole cattle farm’s fence. I believe the measures implemented by the Harris-Biden administration have been detrimental to this. The people of the Midwest and the rest of our country are the ones most harmed by them.
As part of our All Over the Map project, which aims to follow the 2024 campaign from the perspective of people in crucial states and voting blocs, Ebersole is included.
With his 2020 loss, his actions on January 6, 2021, and the numerous criminal and civil court proceedings he has encountered since leaving the White House, Trump’s hold on the Republican Party was put to the test in early 2024 in Iowa, the first of many such tests. With 51% of the vote in the caucuses, Trump launched his nomination campaign, demonstrating both his continued strong hold on the party and its critical vulnerabilities.
The first was among Republican women like Ebersole who backed Haley or other GOP candidates because to their disapproval of Trump’s aggressive and sometimes nasty demeanor and, for many, their belief that he has strayed too far from the conservative ideals that initially attracted them to the Republican Party.
Obviously, Iowa is not seen as a key state in the upcoming presidential election. One possible explanation is Ebersole’s “pretty simple” choice to back Trump despite her misgivings.
Throughout the twelve presidential elections that have taken place in Iowa since 1976, the state has remained politically neutral. Still, Republicans have been in control recently. Two years in a row, Trump was victorious. Six of Iowa’s seven constitutional offices are Republicans, and the state’s two senators are as well.
People who think things were better when Trump was in office are worried that the Democrats have become too liberal.
The tendency in the Democratic Party, according to Ebersole and many others, is toward more liberalism, coastalization, and support for government mandates in land and climate policies.
It’s not that Ebersole is denying that there is room for improvement; she just wants to clarify. However, if you speak with many of us, you’ll find that we’re already at work. In the Americas, there is a sizable regeneration movement—my decision, not theirs. To me, the freedom to choose is the most important aspect of politics. None of this is being forced on us. We simply yearn for a rural life where we can tend to cows and provide food for our fellow countrymen.
The president’s trade policies, according to Ebersole, were beneficial to her company.
“Importing beef was considerably more challenging,” she said. “It worries me that the majority of the meat sold in American grocery stores isn’t even beef from the United States.” Compared to President Joe Biden, she thinks Vice President Kamala Harris is more liberal and would support activist government.
Ebersole linked Harris to California’s policies by saying, “She is willing to push her agendas on those of us who live a totally different life.” As a result of government policy, our rancher friends in California have been wiped out. Not due to their climate or anything else, but because of official government policy.
Harris has been active in Washington since becoming a senator and is currently vice president; she served as attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017.
In contrast to the swing states, the tone of the discourse is different here. Some of our Republican voters who are not supporters of Trump have expressed their willingness to give Harris an opportunity to present her argument during recent travels to states like Pennsylvania and Arizona. Even while they may have problems with Trump and his most outspoken MAGA supporters, the Republicans in our group in Iowa were quite critical of the vice president and were more at ease returning to the GOP.
“The majority of Trump voters are simply average folks who want to be left alone,” Ebersole remarked. “We are prepared to request that those individuals reduce their volume.”
Given that Iowa is a solid red state, it may seem like a strange time to come, especially when thinking about how each contender is trying to earn over 270 electoral votes. Those who were harshly critical of Trump during the campaign’s early stages are now willing to back him, and we wanted to know why. We were interested in seeing how our Iowa group, which was the first one we visited in August 2023, perceives the race now that Harris has succeeded Biden as the Democratic ticket’s leader and selected Tim Walz of Minnesota, a governor from the Midwest, to accompany her as her running mate.
“He’s trying to figure out how to deal with her,” Cedar Falls businessman Chris Mudd said of Trump, whom he passionately supports. I feel like he complains and attacks too much. His stride will be apparent, I believe. In my opinion, he will mount his horse again.
Midwest Solar is owned by Mudd, and the company is doing well in part because to the clean energy tax incentives put in place by the Biden administration.
Nonetheless, Mudd would gladly forego such assistance if it meant supporting Trump’s immigration and regulation ideas.
Speaking in an interview conducted at his residence, Mudd expressed his belief that company would not be thriving if government subsidies were his only product offering. “However, that is not our product. We’re offering the ability to assist individuals in cutting costs.
In Mudd’s opinion, Trump faces greater challenges on the global scene.
The current events in the Middle East are something that Mudd considers. Who would I choose to mediate that settlement? Donald Trump or Kamala? And it’s easy for me.
The vice president seldom answers reporters’ queries, according to Mudd, who shares Trump’s and his MAGA media allies’ complaints that the media is too gentle on Harris. Additionally, he restates Trump’s earlier statement that Harris cannot win an honest election.
According to Mudd, there were some shady dealings when asked about his thoughts on Harris being president. Even in a fair fight, I don’t see her winning. To put it simply, I do not think that is feasible. I truly don’t. Something definitely went wrong if Kamala Harris receives 81 million votes, as I’m sure many others would agree.