As Haley tries to stop Trump, many pundits downplay his Iowa landslide

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When Donald Trump won more than half the vote on a frigid Iowa caucus night, journalists and pundits – even those who can’t stand the man – had to admit that it was an impressive victory.

That didn’t last long.

By the next morning, a counter-spin was emerging. Sure, Trump had captured 51 percent of the vote, but that meant almost half of Iowa Republicans had voted against him!

WHY TRUMP WON A LANDSLIDE VICTORY AS DESANTIS STAYED ALIVE WITH 2ND-PLACE SHOWING

Well, nice try. Trump had beaten three other contenders, with his closest rival, Ron DeSantis, at 21 percent. It would be different if the former president had faced one opponent, but that didn’t happen. DeSantis and Nikki Haley are still in the race, dividing the anti-Trump Republicans, while Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamay are out.

CNN anchor Phil Mattingly said that "an incumbent pulling 51 at an Iowa caucus or caucuses, not exactly great, and an incumbent that has 30 percent of the party that doesn't feel like voters that feel like if he's convicted they don't want to support him. That's problematic."

Another way to look at that is that two-thirds of Iowa Republican voters said in entrance polls that they would continue to back Trump even if he’s convicted of criminal charges. Any other candidate would be toast. Gauging his chances in a general election is certainly up for debate.

As I noted on