… Iowa’s dramatic change has been both abrupt and a long time in coming. In 2008, the state propelled Mr. Obama to the White House. A year later, it was the first in the Midwest to legalize same-sex marriage. But last November, Mr. Trump won Iowa by a larger margin than he won Texas. And now Republicans control the governor’s office, the Legislature, both Senate seats and three of four in the House. …
Pundits might think otherwise, but places like Clinton and dozens of other small towns like it along the Mississippi River have already gone red, the result of a long economic decline that changed their makeup and eventually their politics. Like many towns in Iowa, they have been losing more college-educated voters than they retain, leaving a less educated and less mobile group of voters more likely to vote for Republicans, whom they see as more in touch with their lives and beliefs. CONT.
Michael Tackett, New York Times