How Trump might destroy the decades-old playbook on how to win the GOP Iowa caucuses - The Boston Globe

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

78% : She believes Trump is a man of faith and that "the spirit in me recognizes the spirit in him.
72% : Because he changed my heart."
69% : He, as many Iowa evangelical voters did, also cited Trump's moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as a very positive development.
57% : Unlike his previous runs for president, invocations from a local pastor have become a key part of the programming at Trump rallies, turning sidewinding prayers into political calls to action.
57% : But what would it mean if Trump somehow breaks the traditional mold with a big win in Iowa, as he is expected to do on Monday night?"It's an atypical caucus.
50% : Interviews with over a dozen Iowa political experts, activists, and everyday Iowa evangelical voters suggest there are many reasons why Trump is so successful with this group and why DeSantis appears to have fallen short.
49% : Trump has barely campaigned in the state but still had a dominant lead in every poll taken this cycle of likely Republican Iowa caucus voters.
49% : A Des Moines Register/NBC News Iowa poll in December found that among evangelical voters specifically Trump had 51 percent, DeSantis had 26 percent support, and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley had 12 percent.
49% : There is also a huge divide between leaders of churches and those in the pews, according to Bardwell, the religion and politics researcher.
48% : "God looked down on his planned paradise and said, 'I need a caretaker,' so God gave us Trump," the video began.
47% : In the last one, by Suffolk University, Trump held a 32-point lead over the nearest competition.
47% : He described the evangelical support for Trump as partly transactional.
43% : Shellie Flockhart, 52, of Dallas Center, a hair salon owner and ministry leader at a non-denominational evangelical church, said she's voting for Trump in the upcoming caucuses because he "will remain strong" and is someone "who can put their foot down in the cultural war."
43% : "Trump has worked very hard to cultivate this image, especially here in Iowa.
43% : In the final days before first votes in Iowa, Trump posted a video called "God Made Trump" to his social media site.
43% : The couple voted for Cruz over Trump in the 2016 caucuses.
37% : During his presidency, Trump not only delivered a Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade, but stood up "a movement from the last 50 years of trying to remove God from the country."
30% : Interestingly, where Trump is emphasizing faith themes, DeSantis largely does not.
23% : "Trump rubs the church elite the wrong way, but they are afraid to say anything that may anger those who show up every Sunday," said Bardwell.

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