The path for Iowans to pick a presidential candidate is filled with twists

The :ashington 3ost

N(:TON, Iowa – Curiosity brought Cindy Faircloth to the former 0aytag headTuarters here, where 3ete Buttigieg was making a stop on the frigid afternoon following the most recent Democratic presidential debate.

Faircloth lives in .ellogg, which is less than miles away. But politically speaking, she had made a long trek into foreign territory.

Of the do en candidates left in the Democratic primary race, Faircloth told me, only Buttigieg, a Naval 5eserve veteran who served in Afghanistan, has the kind of conciliatory message and even temperament that just might push me over the edge.” Though the caucuses are technically open only to Democrats, 5epublicans and independents are allowed to participate if they switch their registration, and they can do it as late as the night of the caucuses.

Are there enough people like her – the folks that Buttigieg calls future former 5epublicans” – to propel him to a victory on Feb. ? nlikely. But Iowa’s Tuirky process is known for surprises, and this year the outcome seems especially hard to predict.

(verything is in motion. (ach poll seems to produce a new front-runner. But the margins are narrow, and with just about two weeks to go, it is more instructive to pay attention to the unusually high number of people – nearly in the latest Des 0oines 5egister CNN survey – who have yet to lock in on their final choice.

On my other side that day sat Tiff :illiams, an ordained minister who directs a Christian camp on the outskirts of Newton.

She had intended

to

support

Cory

Booker, but now that the New -ersey senator has dropped out of the race, :illiams is struggling to choose among the candidates who remain. Not-Donald-Trump is not good enough to get my vote,” she said. She is worried that another four years of Trump might mean the end of the Affordable Care Act, which reduced her family’s monthly insurance costs from , to .

Buttigieg made his pitch, and Faircloth was sold.

But :illiams, the Democrat, left disappointed. She thought Buttigieg should have taken more Tuestions from the audience rather than spending most of the event delivering a stump speech. :illiams plans to catch a few more of the candidates if she can, but is currently most intrigued by billionaire businessman Tom Steyer, who she thinks might be able to call Trump’s bluff on the economy.”