According to data obtained by NPR, the recent Donald Trump blowout victory could be an electoral version of a paper tiger. Monday's much anticipated Iowa State Caucus ended with what most of the who's who in politics and media cited as a massive victory for Trump. With just over 50 percent of the vote, the victory for Trump seems like a crushing defeat of his opponents, with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson both dropping out shortly after the results were announced. 

There is just one small detail that shows a potentially big problem for not just Donald Trump but for all Republicans on the ballot this election cycle. According to the data, just over 108,000 Republicans voted in the caucus. That equates to 14.4 percent of all 752,000 of Iowa's registered Republicans showing up to vote. This is both pathetic and appalling for both Trump and the national Republican party in general. 

There could be several reasons as to why the turnout was so low, like the bad weather and a general lack of interest in the race due to voters possibly assuming that Trump would win, regardless of their individual efforts or votes. Historically, however, this is the lowest it has been since the 2000 Iowa Caucuses, where only 86,440 Republicans voted. But there is a difference here in 2024 compared to 2000, besides the 24-year passage ot time. The political field for both Democrats and Republicans today is hyper-partisan, and the divide between individual American political views has seemingly grown to a point where a large portion of voters don't trust either party.

When I first got involved in politics over 10 years ago, I was very naive and thought that Republicans of all people would vote en masse in every election; oh, how wrong I was. The more I dove into it, the more I found that some Republicans can be the laziest voters of all. For the past three elections in 2018, 2020, and 2022, there has actually been a higher-than-average voter turnout, according to Pew Research. However, this election year so far has shown there could be a cause for concern if the trend continues. 

When the GOP candidates running for president couldn't get more than 14.4 percent of registered Republicans to show up and vote, that is a problem. Regardless of how you feel about Trump's apparent certainty to win the nomination, you have to get out and vote. It absolutely IS our civic duty as Americans. No matter how you feel about this election, we all need to agree that this upcoming presidential election is probably the most important contest in decades, and just one voter who doesn't vote is a bad thing. To be blunt, I hear complaints from some Republican voters who say things like, "My vote doesn't count so why should I vote," or "The system is rigged so I won't vote." Both excuses have very strong similarities with a pile of dung -- they stink. 

It has been my experience that organizing Republican voters is like herding cats; it's incredibly difficult and they don't always go along with you. Then there is a consistent theme in so-called red states like Tennessee or others with Republicans being not just disinterested but also sometimes ignorant of the looming threats in front of them. A good friend of mine from the great state of Tennessee told me that California conservatives are going to save us. He was alluding to the fact that California Republicans know what can happen when the forces of the left take over complete control. 

Again, if what happened Monday in Iowa keeps happening, then we can kiss any chances of winning in 2024 goodbye. We all need to vote and get involved in politics as if our lives and the lives of our friends and family depend on it because THEY DO!! Those Republicans who do not vote have no ground to stand on when they complain about how bad things are.