Trump’s campaign banks on its loyal supporters to turn out and caucus in Iowa despite frigid weather

URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — Donald Trump was stuck in Florida, forcing his presidential campaign to cancel his in-person events two days before Iowa’s kickoff Republican caucuses.

But at his campaign’s Iowa headquarters in a nondescript brick building northwest of Des Moines, volunteers were busy working the phones, trying to turn out the vote for Monday’s contest as the snow whipped in frigid winds outside.

“He has sacrificed so much for our country and I need to do my part to support his efforts to save America because America is dying,” said Melissa Davis, 56, a small-business owner from Windsor Heights who has spent the past few months phone-banking, knocking on doors and encouraging voters in her district to turn out on Trump’s behalf. For Davis, who will also serve as a Trump caucus captain on the night of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, the connection is deeply personal.

“I couldn’t love him any more,” she said. “He’s like a member of my family.” She lost her father in 2012, she said, “so I think he’s kind of taken the role in my life as a father figure.”

It’s people like Davis who are giving Trump’s campaign confidence that his supporters will turn out even as Iowa braces for the coldest caucus night in modern history, with temperatures forecast to plunge to minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 degrees Celsius).

What to know

• The details of how the caucuses work can surprise and mystify even hard-core political junkies. Your guide to Iowa.
• After months of campaigning, the Republican candidates vying to unseat President Joe Biden in November are facing their first formal test from voters.
• Why does Iowa launch the presidential campaign? Let’s go back to January of 1972.
• Donald Trump’s campaign is hoping to generate