Frontrunner Donald Trump continues to top polling.

By Aleksandra Vujicic
[email protected]

Des Moines resident Gretchen Todahl is “hungry” for a presidential candidate who wasn’t always a politician.

Naturally, her first choice is Donald Trump. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina came in as a close second choice.

“I believe that President Obama’s presidency has strengthened most Americans’ desire for an unconventional candidate, and I personally am very hungry for a nonestablishment president,” she said.

Todahl isn’t alone.

A Sept. 11 Quinnipiac University poll found Trump leading in Iowa, with the support of 27 percent likely Iowa Republican caucus-goers. The survey had a margin-of-error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson trailed Trump at 21 percent, with Iowa’s former front-runner Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker slumping to 3 percent.

This past weekend, Trump made his way to the Hawkeye State, including an appearance at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames Aug. 12, wearing a camouflage hat featuring his well-known slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

A flock of people awaited Trump’s arrival in a lot designated for tailgating, some standing in protest and others whocheered his name.

Iowa State University sophomore Maggie Kraemer was among the supporters.

“Our current president, everything that he’s done is socialistic; we need to get away from that,” she said.  “[Trump] is doing what America needs even though it might not be politically correct to say.”

Kraemer also highlighted Trump’s effort to self-fund his campaign.

“I love it because he doesn’t have a puppet behind him telling him what to say; he’s just straight up honest about everything,” she said.

ISU senior Blake Andera said Trump would create jobs and secure the border while using his business background to point America in a new direction.

“Basically, America is a brand, and Trump is going to sell America’s brand to the world again,” he said.

Retired ISU faculty member Jan Flora was among several who protested Trump’s immigration plan at the GOP tailgate, which Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul also attended.

He said Trump’s lead has pushed other candidates to change their approach on immigration policies.

Trump’s campaign website outlines the specifics of his immigration plan, which includes a wall built on the U.S.-Mexico border. The website also says, “any immigration plan must improve jobs, wages, and security for all Americans.”

“They had more positive approaches to immigration reform,” Flora said. “They’re now backtracking on that, so he’s definitely having a pernicious impact on the actual race.”

Still some say Trump’s biggest effect on the race is the amount of attention he’s bringing to political system.

UI senior Corey Ferguson said if elections were to be held now, he would not vote for Trump, but he noted that he appreciated how Trump’s publicity has cast light on the issues and the presidential race as a whole.

“He’s not a politician, so people are interested in what he’s going to do or say,” he said, highlighting the amount of media attention Trump has generated.

Fox’s GOP debate in August was the highest-rated primary debate in history bringing in 24 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Christopher Larimer, a University of Northern Iowa associate professor of political science, said it’s hard to say at this point whether Trump’s popularity will carry over to caucus season, or if it is a temporary peak, noting that Trump is still tapping into general voter frustration.

Larimer has found it somewhat surprising that in a number of polls Trump is doing well among what pollsters define as frequent voters, not just people who are frustrated with the political cycle.

“The way that Donald Trump speaks and the way that he probably comes off as genuine in his own beliefs, it doesn’t come as if every statement has been pre-tested with a focus group,” he said.