Beating Biden tops list for GOP caucusgoers, Iowa Poll finds. Here’s what else they’re looking for.

The ability to beat President Joe Biden is the quality likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers most frequently pick as “extremely important” for a presidential candidate to possess — and it isn’t even close.

A new Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows that when presented with a list of desired qualities for candidates, 74% of likely caucusgoers say the ability to “beat Joe Biden” is “extremely important,” with an additional 16% saying it is “important.”

Only 9% say it’s “not that important.”

While fewer caucusgoers emphasize the importance of candidates’ approaches to foreign policy, their personal faith and their openness to bipartisanship, they see the ability to oust Biden and take back GOP control of the White House as “the top criteria,” pollster J. Ann Selzer said.

The Oct. 22-26 poll of 404 likely Republican caucusgoers was conducted by Selzer & Co. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

The findings come as former President Donald Trump demonstrates a commanding lead among a field of nine Republican candidates.

“I feel like he could win,” poll respondent Bob Pritchard, a 62-year-old Maxwell resident, said of Trump. “I travel a lot around Iowa, mostly rural, and I’m confident that his support is super strong in those areas."

Pritchard said he believes that in a rematch between Trump and Biden, the former president will win — “assuming that the trials he’s facing don’t take him down.” He plans to caucus for Trump.

Poll respondent Edward Walter, 58, of Hamburg said it was critical that the Republican nominee be able to defeat Biden.

“He has no concept of what’s going on most of the time when he’s up there speaking,” said Walter, who supports Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “He’s just an old guy that needs to be gone.”

Iowa caucusgoers value ‘America First’ approach but want a strong US global presence

Amid multiple ongoing overseas wars, likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers indicate a desire for candidates who can affirm the U.S. presence on the world stage — even as they place a priority on focusing on home.

Asked about belief “in a strong American role in world affairs,” 54% say that such a quality is extremely important when evaluating candidates, behind only the ability to beat Biden.

An additional 39% said it is important, with just 7% saying it is not that important — the lowest of any quality listed in the poll.

In addition, almost all likely Republican caucusgoers assign some importance to a candidate who “has foreign policy experience,” with 45% saying it is extremely important and another 45% saying it is important.

Brenda Christian, 65, of Tracy, who is planning to caucus for Trump, said it is “important for America to be strong” in international affairs.

“We need to have a strong president who isn’t afraid to use the powers that our military has, doesn't really want to use them, but he’s not afraid to use them,” Christian said. “And that’s what we projected to the rest of the world.”

But a focus on domestic U.S. issues and spending — which Trump labels as his “America First” agenda — remains a priority for many Republican caucusgoers.

Asked about the belief that “America should focus at home rather than overseas,” 49% say such a quality is extremely important in a candidate. Another 38% say it is important, with 12% answering that it is not that important.

Christian said, “Many people in this country misinterpret what the ‘America First’ agenda is about.”

“It’s about keeping our country strong, it’s about doing what is fair and right by our country, like in trade deals,” she said. “We had been taken advantage of for so many years.”

Selzer said it's not necessarily a contradiction that a majority of likely Republican caucusgoers (54%) see it as extremely important that a candidate believes in a strong American role in world affairs while nearly half (49%) say it's extremely important that a candidate believes in the nation focusing at home rather than overseas.

“I think it’s reasonable, given the way that these are phrased. They didn’t have to choose one or the other,” she said. “They could say they’re both extremely important.”

More caucusgoers interested in candidates reaching across the aisle than fighting solely for GOP priorities

Presented with two approaches candidates can take to governing, more likely Republican caucusgoers are receptive to candidates open to bipartisanship than those willing to stand for Republican goals without compromise.

Half of likely caucusgoers said a candidate’s ability to “work with the opposing party to make Washington function” is extremely important, and an additional 38% said it is important.

Asked about a candidate who will “fight for Republican priorities without compromise,” only 33% call it extremely important. An additional 44% list it as important. However, 22% said such an approach is not that important — the highest rate of any quality listed.

Diana Lamphier, 70, of Center Point, is supporting U.S. Sen. Tim Scott. She believes a candidate’s ability to reach across the aisle is critical for functional government.

“We’re never going to get anything accomplished if people keep going ‘hail to the party, everyone’s got to march to this drum,’” Lamphier said. "The only time anything’s going to get done is when somebody compromises. That’s what the whole Constitution was based on was compromise in a lot of places.”

What Iowa Republicans think about being an ‘adult in the room,’ having personal faith and ability to win the caucuses

Likely GOP caucusgoers were asked about several other qualities that a candidate might possess.

Asked about a candidate who “can be the ‘adult in the room,’” 51% said such a quality is extremely important, 37% say it is important and 10% say it is not that important. (Two percent say they aren’t sure.)

Lamphier said such an approach is important to earning her support, citing Scott’s “good control on his temper,” adding, “I haven’t seen him lose his cool yet.”

As Scott and other Republican hopefuls continue to court Iowa’s evangelical voter bloc, 36% of poll respondents say it’s extremely important for them that a candidate “is a person of faith”; 45% say it is important and 19% say it is not that important.

And while the ability to win in a general election against Biden is top priority, fewer potential caucusgoers emphasize the ability to win the caucuses themselves: 33% say that is extremely important, 48% say it is important and 19% say it is not that important.

Trump, who won the 2020 caucuses as the incumbent with no real challengers, placed second in the 2016 caucuses behind U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. In recent cycles, candidates who performed well in or won the Iowa Caucuses have not won the nomination, including Rick Santorum in 2012 and Mike Huckabee in 2008.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at gbacharier@registermedia.com or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

About the Iowa Poll

The Iowa Poll, conducted Oct. 22-26, 2023, for The Des Moines Register, NBC News and Mediacom by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines, is based on telephone interviews with 404 registered voters in Iowa who say they will definitely or probably attend the 2024 Republican caucuses.

Interviewers with Quantel Research contacted 3,028 randomly selected voters from the Iowa secretary of state’s voter registration list by telephone. The sample was supplemented with additional phone number lookups. Interviews were administered in English. Responses for all contacts were adjusted by age, sex and congressional district to reflect their proportions among voters in the list.

Questions based on the sample of 404 voters likely to attend the 2024 Iowa Republican caucuses have a maximum margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. This means that if this survey were repeated using the same questions and the same methodology, 19 times out of 20, the findings would not vary from the true population value by more than plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. Results based on smaller samples of respondents — such as by gender or age — have a larger margin of error.

Republishing the copyright Iowa Poll without credit to The Des Moines Register, NBC News and Mediacom is prohibited.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Poll: Beating Joe Biden is caucusgoers’ top desire in a candidate