This week, voters in Iowa are waking up to a new ad and they're watching it on television. He probably doesn't wake up about 50 emails from his attorneys about current or possible indictments. That's every day of his life now. And that kind of hurts me to say because I had Trump flags up in my house on one of my front yard. I was that guy. Not not this time. I felt like I met my hero when he let me down. So with fewer than six months to go until the first Republican primary, primary nominating contest, the anti-Trump super PAC Win It Back is hoping to steer voters away from President Trump. But the question is, does Trump's lead in the polls reflect reality on the ground? And that's what I want to get to with Bob Vander Plaats. He is the president and CEO of the Conservative Christian Group, The Family Leader, and a very influential voice for Republicans in Iowa. Good to see you. Thank you so much for joining me. You just heard a snippet of that new anti super PAC ad. I know we should make clear for our viewers. You've said in no uncertain terms that you do not and will not support former President Trump You're in touch with conservative voters every single day there. Do you think that what you just heard is a message that will resonate Well, I think that message is resonating, Dana, in regards to we've seen different versions of that ad where people are basically saying, hey, there's a lot we can thank the former president, his administration, for what they've done. But there's an exhaustion level right now about a complaint about the past, the continuing indictments and the more indictments coming that people just really they want to turn the page to the next generation leader, somebody with a fresh vision. And I think Iowa's wide open for that person. To emerge. So we'll see when and if that happens. So you say that there's exhaust and of course, there's another side to that coin. And I want to give you an example of that. This is a voter who in Iowa who spoke to The New York Times, the name is John Charles Fish. And he said each indictment gets me leaning toward Trump. He's 45. He is from walk on Iowa. He said it wouldn't take much for me to change my mind Hmm. Well, I think what it is, is that the indictment is a lot of people are personalizing that they're seeing the attacks on Trump being an attack on them, and therefore, they feel with their heart in regards to they still want to support the former president, but then they start thinking about we need a win in 20, 24. And they believe and like I believe that the former president, although he's done a lot of great things. He presents our biggest risk of losing in 20, 24. So therefore we need to choose and choose well but we need to think clearly what we're choosing. Well what are you hearing on the ground there in Iowa in your conversations with Republicans every day that we just can't see here in Washington Well, I think what it is, is that just the boots on the ground, the people are I mean, you have Ron DeSantis here all the time. You have a Vache Ramaswamy here, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence now making the debate stage. Tim Scott's on the air all the time. People are really kicking the tires. And for example, Dana darling, I took Ron and Casey DeSantis to church on Sundays, something that we do to to different candidates. And just organically, people just started forming lines. They want to meet with him. They they really thanked him for running. A lot of them pledged their support to him there. They wanted to meet with Casey as well. That organic nature, some that the polls don't pick up and a lot of people don't pick up, but which indicates Iowa's wide open. You mentioned Ron DeSantis. So I'll ask you about the news today that he just replaced his campaign manager another shakeup. What does that tell you? Well, I think what is is he's refining his campaign. He's playing he's playing to win. I think every candidate has to go through that. I think in 20, 15, I think Donald Trump, it took about six months for him to get his sea legs running for president. It's a tough job. It's a tough job. Just not for the candidate but that's a tough job for the staff as well. So my guess is each campaign will go through different versions of what their campaign looks like. So I don't think this is inside baseball. Only a lot of people pay attention to it. They're going to be more concerned about the message in the messenger. Well, it is Inside Politics, so we're just going to go there on an Inside Baseball. I want to talk about something that is not inside baseball, and that is the the question in the issue of abortion. CNN has some fresh polling today about it. And just the sort of preface here, I should tell people, is that your organization, of course, is staunchly pro-life and you personally are advocating for a national abortion ban and encouraging Republican candidates to embrace that message. But I want you to look or at least listen to the findings from this poll, and it shows that among voters who approve of the decision to overturn Roe versus Wade, people like you. 66% of Republicans say they think that this should be a state issue. 71% of independents say the same. 71% of independents say it should be a state issue, not a national issue. So the question is are you concerned that you're pushing candidates to take a position that might work in the short term, but might be politically unpopular in a general election? No, no, not at all. We don't believe abortion of the sanctity of human life is a state rights issue. We believe it's a human rights issue. And so states like Iowa passed the heartbeat bill. South Carolina has done the same. Florida has done the same. But we do believe what's out of step and what's extreme was what Governor Newsom, Joe Biden, and others basically project, and that is abortion on demand till the time of birth. That's why we think there needs to be a limit at the federal level. And right now, what we're saying the pain capable makes a lot of sense, the 15 week limit. But there needs to be some type of limit to rein in the extreme positions of the left like Newsom and like Biden So I don't think that's an extreme position. I think the polling on that is about 70%. Okay. I just want to say that I have not talked to a Democrat who wants abortion on demand, told time of birth but we're going to have to leave it there. We have a lot more to talk about next time. You and I have a conversation. Thanks for joining me. Appreciate it.
