Trump’s religious ties: A new study looked at 807 federal judges named by seven presidents as of late 2020, the New York Times’ Adam Liptak reports.

The study found that “judges named by Trump had ‘stronger or more numerous religious affiliations’ with churches and other houses of worship, with religious schools, and with groups like Alliance Defending Freedom and First Liberty, which have won a series of major Supreme Court cases for conservative Christians.”

A twist in Iowa: But a “top man of God” — as the Wall Street Journal characterizes Bob Vander Plaats — wants a GOP nominee other than Trump.

The WSJ’s John McCormick writes:

Vander Plaats, who is contemplating an endorsement of someone other than Trump around Thanksgiving, has a record of picking winners — in Iowa, at least. He backed Ted Cruz in 2016, Rick Santorum in 2012 and Mike Huckabee in 2008, all of whom won the caucuses before failing to secure the GOP nomination.

Most top Republican elected officials in Iowa don’t plan to endorse before the caucuses because they want the state to be welcoming to all. So Vander Plaats is one of the biggest names for a potential endorsement in a state where Christian conservatives dominate the GOP caucuses.

In Vander Plaats’ view, “Trump can be beaten in Iowa.”

Insight into voters: The best political story I’ve read in a while is this one by the WSJ’s Aaron Zitner and Simon J. Levien.

They go in depth to explain why the 2024 election is — at its heart — a fight over America’s way of life.