A just-released survey of Iowa AARP members who plan to attend the Republican Party’s Caucuses finds about three-quarters of them have yet to choose a candidate or might change their current allegiance to another presidential hopeful.
Gretchen Straw, director of research for the AARP, says nine out of 10 Iowa Republicans surveyed indicate they are closely following the race. "So they’re connected to the campaign, yet their decision-making is no where close to final," she says.
About two-thirds of the Iowa Republicans AARP surveyed said they don’t know enough about what the candidates think about key issues. "So we have a situation where people are engaged, yet they still don’t know where the candidates stand and they are likely to shift preferences as they learn more," she says.
According to Straw, a similar survey question was posed in September to AARP members who intend to participate in the Iowa Democratic Party’s Caucuses. "In both parties, we’re seeing that folks say they are still likely to change as they learn more about the issue," Straw says. "The figures were very, very similar."
The survey released today questioned 501 Iowa Republicans who are not only AARP members but who have participated in the Iowa Caucuses before.